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Original poster

Pregnant- should I begin to budget/save for baby classes?

43 replies

Onth3fence · 11/05/2024 15:41

My sister and her friends seemed to go to loads of classes, 3 a week or more. I think she found them to be really positive experiences and got her out the house. I have just heard though that it’s £70/80 for a 6 week block!

If you did 3 a week, that’s easily £200 a month just on that which seems a lot!

How many did you go to/would you recommend?

OP posts:
AnnetteKurtan · 11/05/2024 15:42

i went to a big fat zero

Beamur · 11/05/2024 15:43

Really depends on the baby. I did very few as DD rarely seemed to like any of them! Howled through baby massage. Howled at swimming...
If it wasn't her crying it was me!

mum11970 · 11/05/2024 15:44

Same as pp - a big fat zero for me too

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Families
Parker231 · 11/05/2024 15:44

Depends on each individual - they weren’t something I was interested in so didn’t do any.

Mumoftwo1316 · 11/05/2024 15:44

I hated them and don't recommend them at all. Enforced cheeriness, loud banal songs, awkward small talk, you have to be fully engaged with the activity, the equipment is slightly dirty...

I'm sure many mums love them, but I'm far too much of a grumpy misanthrope.

Save your money for the soft play, a year on. Perfect way to put your toddler down so you can have a cup of tea.

Alwaystired23 · 11/05/2024 15:45

I went to my local mother and baby group in the community centre. I think it was £2/3, a cup of tea and toast included. That's it. Other than that, it was park's, swimming, soft play as they got older, lots of outdoor walks.

TheShellBeach · 11/05/2024 15:45

OP are you talking about antenatal classes?

qwertyasdfgzxcv · 11/05/2024 15:46

No! You can go to bounce and rhyme at your local library for free

Youdontevengohere · 11/05/2024 15:47

It depends what you want to do! I went to baby classes because we moved to a new country when I was 6 months pregnant and I didn’t know a single person there apart from my DH, so I would have been very lonely without them. I didn’t spent anywhere near that though, I went to a combination of paid for activities like Baby Sensory, mixed with free/very cheap stay and play type sessions at village halls.

WithOneLook · 11/05/2024 15:49

It's very personal..... As a baby I just did the free/very cheap church hall type ones and to be honest we still go to one fairly regularly and she's 2. Around a year I started going to a music class (Moo music) but my daughter was old enough to actually show she was enjoying it(or not as the case may be) although circumstances mean that we can't go anymore. I'm currently considering a sports based group for her to channel her energy, but other than that it's the park/library etc which are free.

purplepencilcase · 11/05/2024 15:50

I avoided classes. I found they were the opportunity for everyone to dump their anxieties on each other and massively compare their babies and sometimes a fair amount of oneupmanship (probably stemming from anxieties).
I felt quite a lot of pressure from them, weirdly.
There's loads you can do with your baby without paying money.

VioletMoonGirl · 11/05/2024 15:52

I bloody hated 99% of them… but went to just about every thing going regardless. But then I didn’t have any friends or family around and a very challenging baby. Not leaving the house was not good for either of us. If I’d had friends to visit or hang out with that would have been better, but the baby classes gave my weeks structure at least.

mynameiscalypso · 11/05/2024 15:53

I did more adult-orientated ones, mainly the kind of exercise classes where you bring your babies. Otherwise, they're just to get you out the house really.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 11/05/2024 15:57

I was skint, so I did the free Mums and Babies at the community centre.

If I'd had the money, I would have liked to do baby swimming - not because she would have become a County Level Champion or any such stuff as that, but because I'd have liked the chance to go in the pool when it wasn't so full with other people (and the local pool was booked out by schools, swimming clubs and the baby swimming sessions throughout the week).

Other than that, a cheap baby sing and play that I hadn't known about was on a Saturday from 11-12 in a nice pub - if I had known, I'd have gone, as the active Evangelical Christian recruitment drive that was the actual motive for the free Mum and Baby sessions wasn't my thing, whereas the sing & play turned out to be somewhere a lot of people who became friends much later had all met.

WhereIsMyLight · 11/05/2024 15:59

I went to probably one a week. When I was on full lay at the beginning, it was baby massage and then it changed to a sensory class. Then it changed to a cheaper music class. I didn’t really like any of them but it got me out of the house. There are usually free groups or very low cost but if I’d paid for the term I definitely felt that I had to go. Having structure at least one day a week was good. I also spent a huge amount of time in the library, not necessarily when things were on and I hadn’t necessarily finished my book but it was free, took 30 minutes to walk and warm inside.

EdithGrantham · 11/05/2024 16:13

I tried so many classes with my first and enjoyed lots of them but will definitely be more selective with baby number 2. Will still go to a postnatal yoga and a baby massage then maybe some sort of sensory class when they're over 6 months if I can find a good one. Other than that I'm just going to rely on the free ones at the library and children's centre.

Snailandwhale2024 · 11/05/2024 16:17

I went to about 5 or 6 different ones and hated them all.

I would recommend booking onto a trial session to see if you can try them out before committing to the whole term, as you may find one is more your bag than others (or indeed in my case, none of them are your bag!) Blush

Luxell934 · 11/05/2024 16:20

Do you actually want to do the classes firstly?! Who cares what other people do?

Are you extremely social? Do you want to meet lots of new mums and make friends? If yes then possibly you might enjoy them.
But £200 a month is madness on baby classes, not a chance I would pay that. They do some free ones in libraries and things like that and my health visitor recommend me some. They are more for the mums than the babies though when they are still so tiny.

I found most were mid morning and that time frame just did not suit our routine at all.

ThomasineMay · 11/05/2024 16:21

Didn't bother with overpriced classes

You will however find me at baby groups most days of the week!

QueSyrahSyrah · 11/05/2024 16:21

I'm going to try one or two but have also looked up local church hall playgroups, what goes on at the library and some free group buggy walks in our area.

Some of the organised classes around us are phenomenally expensive, one baby massage class is £22 a session, and on reading between the lines the organiser seems to be using it as a way to flog her Tropic massage oil ConfusedAngry

FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee · 11/05/2024 16:22

I go to one free one a week because I absolutely hate them.

Needmorelego · 11/05/2024 16:24

No baby needs "classes".
Take baby to groups like Stay and Play and Rhyme Time etc.
Cost is either free or a couple of quid.
They usually take place at community centres, children's centres, church halls and libraries.

chatty28572 · 11/05/2024 16:28

For £2 a week I use to go to our local church who did a a stay and play with tea and toast for everyone. Also our local library/health centres did similar events.

I think a lot of the classes are just for mums to get out and speak to another adult. The babies were either indifferent/hated it or asleep!

WeightoftheWorld · 11/05/2024 16:31

I went to lots of groups but they were mostly in churches (Free - £5 a session), or children's centres (free). I never did any expensive things you had to book a whole 'course' of, that type of thing is not for me. The only thing I went to most weeks that was on the pricey side was baby cinema which I loved on both mat leaves and would really recommend it if you have one near you.

PickupaPension · 11/05/2024 16:37

I did put DS in to a nursery one morning a week for gym and swim. I attended two Mother and baby groups, one in a church and another in a health centre, they were both free but it was years ago. I then fortunately made good friends with another Mother in one of them and we deserted that group which was dire. Still friends and the kids are 23 now.