Is my mum right about this?

[Pelican63279]

My 12mo has a bad cold and we have been staying at home the last week or so as a result. I was saying to my mum how hard I'm finding being stuck at home and only going for a walk everyday, but she's really sick and will be very contagious so we can't go to soft play, baby class etc.

My mum said in her opinion 12mo is too young to be attending classes anyway. She says I didn't do any classes till I was 3 started a playgroup. My 12 mo has been doing classes since things opened up a couple of months ago. Mum says it's obvious DD caught her cold while attending these groups, which is obvious to me but seems pretty unavoidable.

Notwithstanding the fact I'll have to go back to work soon, even for SAHP do you think it's reasonable to go to baby groups and classes at 12 mo?

Baby classes are very important. My baby has been going since 3 months.

I mean at 12 months they certainly shouldn't be doing an organised class with structured activities but most of these things are just convenient places for baby to get their first socialisation and for parents to meet others with similar aged kids. The 'music', 'dance' or whateverother theme they invent for the class tends to be irrelevant.

What ? Of course they are great for them , most 12 month olds are talking, babbling and love staring at other children. My 18 month olds will swap things and hand things to others at classes, she watches and copies. Getting sick is part of life and this can happen classes or not.

Unless they have a temperature or streaming green / yellow snot they can go out. Obviously a cough is a bit trickier at the moment.

12 month olds don’t need these activities no, but mums of 12 months old do. Otherwise the days get very long. Your mum is being unreasonable to imply that you shouldn’t do these things to avoid colds. You can’t and shouldn’t avoid them, it’s normal for LOs to get a lot of colds because they are building immunity.

Baby classes gave us a sense of routine and interaction with other humans that otherwise would have been completely lacking resulting in crushing lonliness for me.

Many mums have towards a year of maternity leave and pay conditions are much better for this than 30 years ago.
With many mums working often away from the area where they grew up, there is less of a pre-existing social network who happen to have babies at the same time. Plus smaller families and fewer babies being born.

They are more important than they once were because the social network of new mums is very different to 30 years ago.

And while baby classes don't train up young prodegies, the simulation of a different environment and people is positive for babies and better than being constantly in one space.

Baby classes are good for the parents as well as baby.

When they are under 6 months baby probably isn't too fussed but playgroups etc are pretty vital for new parents to be able to get out and about and meet other people with similar age children.

From 6 months up baby will be more interested in what's going on around them and singing nursery rhymes etc is great for language development.

Babies do pick up lots of colds and bugs. There's no way around that and actually it's important to be exposed to ordinary viruses to build up a strong and healthy immune system.

I took my DC to groups at that age but it was as much for my sanity as it was for their benefit.

In fact I made some really good friends as a first time mum when I took DD to a group at less than a year old - we're still good friends 20+ years later so your Mum is talking rubbish. Of course it's reasonable to go to groups!

At one, groups are purely for the parent. That doesn’t mean you are BU to go to them. Many mums find them hugely beneficial for their MH.

12 month olds don’t need these activities no, but mums of 12 months old do.

This, and

Baby classes gave us a sense of routine and interaction with other humans that otherwise would have been completely lacking resulting in crushing lonliness for me.

This.

Parenting (mothering) now is quite isolating. Having somewhere to go, routine and the chance for some adult company is hugely important.

Baby classes and mum friends are life as a new mum.

Baby classes I found it such a lovely way to bond. We did baby massage from 6 weeks.

Mum friends were what to this day keeps me sane. She is going to catch colds but what do you do never go out anywhere.