To think that I can go to this baby class?

Language development for a 12 week old! Seriously????

So, you couldn’t point out where I was being ‘angry’ because I wasn’t! Also, I don’t have to be kind, it isn’t a prerequisite of being a woman. OP and her child are as entitled to join in any group she likes and it is not her duty to gatekeep places within those groups. For all you know, OP could be very much struggling with being a mum and needs interaction within these groups, I would argue that your inability to see that, is unkind.

I hadn’t thought about local parents FB groups, thank you - I’ll have a look for one.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the cafe noticeboards and the general local FB group but I’ve only seen the children’s centre, one library class and an outdoor toddler thing. We didn’t used to have an NCT class nearby but I’ll check in again if we reach that point.

I don’t to take a much needed place from anyone but it’s hard to know where to start when you know nothing!

The point some people are making is that a teacher will be likely to already have the kind of basic parenting skills that will be taught at this course - eg knowing that it’s really important to talk to her baby all the time. Not everyone is this competent and needs the extra help. In that sense, she’s not as deserving, because she doesn’t have the same need to take the course. It’s not to do with money.

Idk whether you should go to the class or not, but I am also a teacher and my son is also summer born, and I would say don't worry so much. Unless your baby has some kind of SEN their language will develop just fine! I never went to one of those classes and my son's language is fantastic. You just have to talk to them. I'm not saying the classes cannot be extremely valuable; just don't feel too worried if you don't end up going.

Sorry, I misunderstood you were just being kind

If you want to go then go , if it’s being subsidised by the council then surely it’s people’s council tax that is helping towards the cost so as far as I’m concerned if you pay your taxes then you are entitled to use the facilities/ classes .

You think that’s ‘angry’?! I’m pleased you’ve lived such a very sheltered life! Do tell, which bit was ‘angry’?!

Your baby is only 12 weeks old and you are a teacher who has an understanding of language development- I very much doubt these classes are meant for you.

To be honest if I went along to a baby group and encountered someone with attitudes like yours I would probably be put off going back. It wouldn't matter what class I was. I would not want to spend time with someone as narrow-minded as you are coming across.

LOL at "language development" for a 12-week-old baby! Or 6 months come to that - PFB nonsense. Talk to the baby in daily life and barring any learning difficulties they will eventually talk to you.

Came to say the same. Child services are one area where support can really be targeted in this way, so I'm sure the council would have set certain criteria if this was a concern. If they find it isn't achieving its aims after one round (which won't last more than a couple of months) then they can make it more targeted in future. No point second guessing it in the meantime.

The children’s centres in our area are also called Family Hubs - they’re all in deprived areas, but attended by people from all across the city, regardless of income.

If the course is open access, please attend - it’s highly unlikely it will be full or oversubscribed, and actually if it is and you end up on a waiting list, that’s actually good in terms of funding for further cycles of the course.

I attend a stay and play session with my LO at the Family Hub nearest me - it ostensibly has a ‘focus’ each week (language, listening, movement etc.) in terms of discussion, but actually in reality it is just a group of babies and their mums talking, playing, and helping each other where possible. I’d hazard a guess not one person there could tell you the income or social class of another person there, although logic dictates it must span a fairly wide gap. All that being said, there has never been more than 8 mums/babies at a session, and it’s usually 4 or 5 pairs instead - they’ve asked for us to mention the sessions at any other groups we attend, as it really is a ‘use it or lose it’ situation.

And just to add, SureStart closed because of austerity and the Tories, who had no actual insight into what the centres did and how invaluable they were - it was nothing to do with the social demographic who did or didn’t access them.

I would go. When I was on mat leave I attended all different classes. Not sure what people mean about councils then stopping the courses if only certain people attend? Surely the more people that attend the better!

I feel very passionately about open access to these centres - just because you earn a middle class wage or more, or are educated, or come from a middle class background, it does not mean that these classes aren't useful for both parents and kids. When I had my twins the local children's centres were an absolute lifeline for me - I was living in a place where I knew no one, let alone other mums, off the back of a traumatic pregnancy, doing long days alone with two screaming premature babies, not a clue what I was doing, useless HV, and probably pretty severe PND.

The children's centres gave a lot of tips and knowledge that I wouldn't have known without them. They also did a great job at cutting through the dross that was bombarding me on social media and actually gave me some confidence in what I was doing. I built a community there - with a really varied mix of backgrounds and incomes. Sometimes I think the real issue is with accessibility - a paid for class just felt so far away from achievable for me and my boys in those early days, whereas a local, walkable open access baby group was just about feasible.

I am an oxbridge educated professional and generally pretty privileged. It doesn't mean I didn't desperately need the help and I really do think that these areas should be open to all no matter your background.

What a load of prejudices and nonsense has been spouted

anxiety over a baby class is a waste of energy , go or don’t , I expect much of it could be found online easier

This is such a good point.

Years ago I did a PEEP course at the Children's Centre. Places were first offered to targeted families, and spare places opened up to others who expressed an interest.

It wasn't groundbreaking information, but it was fun, interesting and reassuring. I went "for" DS2 but DS1 tagged along. DS1 was begining to slip into a speech delay which went on to require intervention and eventually resulted in an autism diagnosis years later. Knowing that I'd been doing things "right" was helpful. There were also little things that flagged up like DS1's prolonged attention span that came in handy down the line; I didn't think it was unusual for a 2yo to concentrate on his craft for 15-20 mins because it was his normal, but the senior member of staff was very surprised by it.

If the course is avaliable to you, go for it!

Loved Sure Start. My kids made lifelong friends at those classes. I did too. I learnt loads. It's one of the reasons our circle in our local area is so broad. And supportive. I'm so glad not one of those families was branded either selfish or deprived.

Came here to say what @SomethingInnocuousForNow and @Sirzy have said, it’s actively good if a range of people use these sorts of things - the whole point of sure-start was that it was this amazing universal leveller - if ‘middle class’ typed people also use these services it means getting early years help becomes less stigmatised, which is exactly what everyone wants - the whole point is for these things to be generally accessed and ‘the standard’ for parents - plus more social mixing is a great thing for everyone - also ad @Sirzy says if people don’t go these places lose funding for stuff like this - if there’s a huge waiting list of disadvantaged people wanting these classes that you’re elbowing out of the way that’s one thing but I bet that’s not the case!

God I'm so glad we can now afford that 80k loft conversion because I sucked up to the pta and didn't have to spend £10 on a jumper!

OP I'm a teacher and my child did end up with a speech delay so I went to some of these classes. I taught 7 year olds so wasn't an expert on early language. If you think it will be useful then just go. Don't overthink it. Your friend isn't in charge of the classes.

Personally, if you talk to your baby, avoid
screens, sing/read to them a bit that will be enough to develop their language. But classes are really helpful for all parents of all backgrounds. They connect you with your community, reduce isolation and obviously they are good for your baby too.

Often many of the language development classes are referral only anyway for children who have been identified as having speech delay but who are waiting to see a speech therapist so you may not be eligible.

Check out local libraries as often they do singing and story time which are good for babies language development.

You absolutely can go to the class if it is advertised as open to all. If the council running it only wanted to target a specific demographic they would have an inclusion criteria such as being in receipt of certain benefits, or make it referral only so you could only go if referred by your health visitor or social worker for example.

These type of courses and groups rely on people showing up so they can secure funding to continue running. So I’d say go

Of course you should go to the class. Maybe the content won't be completely new but that doesn't mean it won't have some useful insights.

We can't second guess whether we should or shouldn't use a particular service. If a service needs to be restricted, that usually means it's because it's very expensive to run or demand outstrips supply. If they needed to restrict the class for any reason, they would introduce a way of 'gatekeeping', like ensuring that it was only open to parents referred by a health or social care professional.

I saw a couple of comments on this thread about Sure Start. I just wanted to highlight that was an extremely successful programme that had huge benefits, especially for disadvantaged children. The decision to reduce the service was entirely political and not because so called entitled parents started to use it.

ifs.org.uk/publications/short-and-medium-term-effects-sure-start-childrens-outcomes