Am I the only Mum to not take a 6 month old to baby groups?

[Stillmonday]

He's only 6 months and we do a lot of play at home, I just don't fancy the idea of a baby / play group but everyone I speak to keeps asking me if I've joined any yet.

Am I the only person to not go??

baby groups saved me from boredom. Apart from a few times I barely talked about the kids. I now have a great group of friends and we go out all the time together with and without the kids. Just been at a festival (without kids) last weekend with loads of them. Means kids have
loads of mates, we have loads of support and as we have no family it's a lifeline. I would have gone fucking insane without them as as my old friends mainly don't and won't have kids it would have meant I had no one to bounce off over thise dull but crazy early days.

What do you do all day though? I go to loads and I would go crazy without them.

I hated them. All the childminders from the area went en masse to each one.
They were one big clique and it felt awkward sat by yourself!

I used to go to baby yoga but that was more for me, the babies would roll about the mats and the DMs (and one dad) did yoga. I loved it.

I also tried baby signing but then I realised I was being silly to get two buses to half heartedly sing songs and sign while DS tried to sleep/chew on toys/crawl away.

I think a lot of these posts are really harsh. I have no family around or any friends with children, I can't imagine not going to groups I would be so isolated and every one I go to the mums are lovely and not as described below.

I like the structure of my day to have an activity and a big walk. We stayed in last week when it was raining and it was never ending!

I go to stand up comedy bring your baby, ted-style talks, baby cinema, yoga, hartbeeps, sensory, classical concerts, gospal - they have everything in my area and I love going to them.

It also makes me feel more connected to my pre-baby life, being able to go to the cinema and yoga.

Plus I think my DS really likes it!

No, didn't bother with either and happily filled my days. Lots of walking outside with the pram, shopping while baby napped and it was bliss. Knew both babies would be going to nursery after maternity leave so wanted them all to myself before I had to work again!
Had loads of friends (most without babies so enjoyed meeting them and talking about other non baby topics with them), so definitely didn't feel the need for Mum friends.
Do what makes you happy OP. For me those baby years were very happy and I'll always treasure them.

Groups made my maternity leave so much more enjoyable and I think saves my sanity. Maybe people have lots of friends/ family around but I didn't. I met lots of friends, several I still see now 7 years later. I have found that my friends who live in our hometown don't really go to groups as much and tend to spend their day visiting family (as friends working)- absolutely fine.
If you don't want to go to them then that's fine but they are good for adult convo, my dc loved them- even at 6 months and gave us structure to our week. Each to their own.

I think it depends on your circumstances.

I started taking dd to groups and classes at 11 months old because she was an only one, we had no other children in the family, all my friends' children were in their teens, and I was concerned that she needed to experience other children.

Indeed, I've noticed with dd that she learns more from other children than she does with us. She was a late walker, and I got worried about it so took her to a local playgym three days on the trot. After the third day, she finally made an attempt to walk. It was as though seeing other children her age do it made her realise she probably ought to be doing it too.

At 6 months though, my head was still in a whirl and we hardly went anywhere.

No I didn’t go to any and all my kids have turned out quite normal. Well as normal as their father and I.

Nope never took them, they don't need it... some mums go mad without adult company, I had DP working from home so had him to chat to.

Loved them. It was lovely watching my baby’s face light up at the songs, lights and bubbles of baby sensory. He loved swimming too.
They helped me too. I liked chatting to the other mums and it stopped us getting in a rut of mat/toys/bouncer and housework.

I'm not a big person for baby groups, don't think it makes a major difference to children under one. I did baby swimming weekly and dropped in at another few things here and there. Enjoyed swimming but often found it hard to get to the other groups as the baby needed feeding/sleeping or I would forget something and need to go home. On the whole, even now with a toddler I find the groups a bit difficult socially and find it hard to make mum friends at them,might go more if I knew more mums. I enjoyed chilling at home, meeting other friends for lunch/coffee or doing a museum/exhibition much more.
Expecting my second now and think I'll do baby yoga and cinema some days but going to see how it goes,not going to put much pressure on myself.

Nope i didn't take mine to any.

Went with DS1 all the time. Caught every evil bug under the sun as mum's take their snotty/ill babies/toddlers with them.

Went to 1 group with DD, once, never went back.

Never went with DS2.

They're shit. Not needed, and your child won't miss out.

I'm rather antisocial and prefer my own company. However I'd rather be subjected to any kind of baby group if it means I'm not on my own all day with a baby. I actively seek them out now, whereas pre-baby I'd have rather poked my own eye out than go to any form of social gathering.

They were a godsend when lo was a newborn. He's high maintenance but loves watching and interacting. It was a relief to see him quiet for an hour and not constantly screaming because I'd e.g. had the audacity to go for a wee without him.
At one point I made sure I had something to go to every single day. At first I'd just sit there and not interact but people seem to like to talk to me, so I've made a couple of mum friends now and they seem to cross over with other groups we go to. Unfortnately everything seems to stop over the summer, but we've been going to swimming classes so can carry that on ourselves, as well as going walking/running with the dog and inflicting ourselves on friends and family.
I cope better with him if we've been out/to a group. If we stay in all day he's really hard work and I just want to throttle him. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm really looking forward to going back to work!

I didn’t do them with my eldest three. I had three under three and I found it incredibly difficult to even leave the house, I also had severe social anxiety so that played a part.

I had a six year gap between DC3&4 and matured a lot in that time. I take DC4 to a few baby groups and really love them, kind of makes me regret not taking the other three now.

They saved my life tbh. Got some structure to the day and some adult conversation / company. Made some great friends, lots of whom I’m still in touch with.

I agree *pinktinder! I have a two year old and four month old and it takes til nearly four for me to leave the house with all the naps and feeds! I hate feeding in public as my arms ache and it takes ages!

It's just not everyone's cup of tea; certainly isn't mine.

I did make sure that DD did some socialising with other babies though by meeting up 1-2-1 or in small groups with women from my antenatal class.

Up to about 10 months, they are absolutely for the parent rather than the baby. I went because I hated being at home all day with him and I found they were the easiest way to entertain my kid. I'd sit there chatting and he'd sit on my lap watching what was going on, perfectly happy. Win/win. But he would have been just as happy doing the same thing at home with me and a couple of friends. I did swimming, baby cinema, massage, baby sign, NCT, singing and playgroup with DC1. DC2 I went to one baby group and met up with NCT friends who'd had a second a couple of times. And we've just started going to playgroup now he's a bit older.

You absolutely don't have to do them if you don't want to, and if they're making your life harder, I wouldn't. However, you do really need mum friends as a parent. Your whole social life upends itself when you have kids, and people who are happy to socialise in the park rather than the pub are a lifesaver. Sometimes literally. It's also brilliant to have friends with kids at the same stage of development. Think of all those Mumsnet threads where people go "Don't you have any support?" And the OP says "No, I don't! It's so hard!" The reason you get so many despairing MN threads like that is because people who have friends with children nearby don't get into those panics in the same way - they call up their NCT mates and say "Can you mind DC for an hour on Saturday?"
Having said that, I didn't actually get many mum friends from baby groups. I got some from NCT and some from friends-of-friends who went "You should meet up with X - she's got a baby the same age as yours." And some from pre-existing friends who had kids at a similar time. And once DS started at the child minder, I started to make friends with his friends' mums.
If you already have Mum friends, I really wouldn't bother. If you don't, I think I would put in a bit of effort into trying to get some, because as your DC gets older, they will change your life. But I wouldn't worry about the effect it has on your DC - at this age, they're as excited by a hairbrush as they are by baby sensory. Go to a couple and pick ones YOU like. Baby cinema was my favourite, because I got to sit and watch films in the middle of the day. I always felt deliciously decadent.