To bin off baby sensory

[autoclave]

Hi all, FTM posting for advice.

After a long time on a waiting list, I recently became eligible for baby sensory in my area. It's incredibly popular here and one of my friends raves about it.

I've now been to 4 sessions and I hate it, I'm just wondering whether it's important for development to go to the class. From what I've experienced everyone sings a song with matching sign language (which seems a bit culty to me but I admit that it could be my opinion clouding my judgement). Then the leader seems to go around the room handing out rattles. We listen to a song shaking the rattles, and then they're collected and we get given pom poms to shake while we listen to music, and the rest of the class follows in the same way.

I find it incredibly tedious to attend, but I'm not sure if I'm missing something as it's so popular! Baby doesn't seem to care about any activities and I'm just wondering whether doing things like rhyme time (free at the library) might be just as good as paying for the class.

YABU: Baby sensory is important for their development. Suck it up and do the class.
YANBU: sack it off and get a coffee instead

Messages you can hear.

YANBU, it’s shite and the most cliquey class I’ve ever been to, including the teacher. Didn’t even get a hot drink and biscuit. Find a free church group or something with toys and go there or a library sing and rhyme session.

I'd rather sit on a cactus than go to anything like this. You'll be back at work before you know it - don't waste your time off being bored!
Enjoy your coffee!

The only real benefits of any classes under the age of say 3 are that it gets you out of the house and chatting to other mums.

Say hello to the sun…

My daughter is about to turn 6 and this still occasionally pops in to my head 😂

I wasn’t a huge fan either but stuck it out. I later found other groups which we much preferred and I felt like I was getting more for our money/were better for her development.

Leave if you’re not enjoying it. Try another group. They don’t all have weird songs 😂

I think Baby Sensory was worst of both worlds actually, as the babies were all too young to give a shit but it was all so scheduled that there wasn’t time to actually speak to other mums other than 10 mins in the middle when everyone just split into their groups.

I like classes/groups where you can dump baby on a playmat with some toys strewn around, get a coffee and biscuit and then talk about your birth trauma to someone you’ve only just met.

I loved my baby sensory classes! I don’t think the opening song is culty though, it’s just a song with actions you sing each week to start the session.

Tbh it sounds like baby sensory just isn’t for you so if you don’t like it I’d stop and give your place to someone who will enjoy it.

I took both my DC but I wouldn’t say it was of any benefit to them. They did enjoy it when they got closer to 1 though. It was more for me as it gave me something to do and got me out the house, meeting other people.

I think action songs are great for babies. And we enjoyed the sensory activities at a similar group. They would tire my baby out, though.

But if you and your baby aren't particularly enjoying this group, then by all means save your money and try the free sessions at the library instead.

My NCT group bought some of those 29p foil blankets from Amazon and some 80p shakers and let the kids all have a sensory experience with a disco light on a foil blanket whilst we drank wine on Fridays and ate cheese.

I feel like I had an exceptional NCT group.

Otherwise church groups did us fine for a quid and that included a free biscuit (M & S too - it was a Naice area).

My kids are exceptionally well developed so didn't do them any harm.

I hated baby sensory, I quit altogether when the leader pulled me to one side to recommend I practice the signing song at home more "until you get to grips with it a bit more". Hartbeeps suited us better.

Definitely don't feel you are doing anything wrong if you hate it!

Baby sign language is one of the classes that is worth doing I think. Both DDs learned quite a few signs and DD2 especially used them to communicate before talking, and I think it did stop her being so frustrated sometimes. They still use them sometimes now. We did Tiny Talk.

Bin it off, and go back when baby is a toddler, for toddler sense. Much more fun and they are one enough to appreciate it.

I worked ( self employed) from 5 mnths so didn’t have much time for baby groups. DS was at nursery for 3 days a week where he had a lot of activities to stimulate him. The only class I religiously attended was swimming, the one where you learn to half drown your child so they can survive falling in a pool. DS became a superb swimmer competing successfully for his school. It also helped with his confidence and other sports.

As for all the sensory stuff, unless you keep your child in a padded low lit room 24/7, everyday life provides all they need to grow up to be a balanced functioning adult.
My SIL attended lots of classes but never took her children shopping. In contrast DS used to go everywhere with me. I once had to take him ( age 3) to an appointment to have a scan on my heart. The sonographer was a bit off with me, commenting that they had no child care. I explained that he would sit quietly until it was done. He did and she asked me how I did it. I explained that we had rules and he knew what was expected from an early age.

Constant exposure to everyday life is far better than artificially contrived situations. My DH would come home every night, put on a CD and DS and him would “have a disco” using anything to hand as microphones and air guitars.

You don’t need organised and structured play, spontaneous play is so much better. We once spent a whole afternoon making a football stadium out of a cardboard box. Drawing the faces of the supporters was a bit time consuming. But it all started with a delivery of something in the box and DS playing football with his dinosaurs.

I was just cringing about this song the other day and I can't believe I continued to go with dd1
Never went with dd2 and she turned out just fine. Find something else you prefer and spend your money else where as it's not cheap is it

I thought I'd be the sort of parent who goes to baby sensory religiously, but I too hated it. Don't spend money on something that you don't enjoy. I highly recommend (cheap, leisure centre-based) swimming classes but I love the water.

I held off on Baby Sensory until DC was about 9 months old but caved in when it got harder to amuse her at home. It was as far outside my comfort zone as it was possible to get. I hated it at first but DC seemed to enjoy it so I did persevere. Changed classes and the second group were slightly more welcoming but I still didn’t make any mum friends.

Saying that my DM now takes DC to Toddler Sense and everybody chats to her so maybe I’m just not very approachable…

Baby sensory was my own personal hell for the 3 months we went. Fair play to those who enjoyed/found the sessions beneficial - it just wasn’t for us, and my daughter doesn’t seem to be disadvantaged because of it.

I think all baby groups are for the benefit of then parents taking them.

I didn’t do baby sensory but did a number of baby groups- I had just moved to a brand new area when 35 weeks pregnant and my sister had died when I was 20 weeks pregnant. I needed some routine and to make some new friends.

I tried a number of groups and found a few that seemed nice (library nursery rhymes and a local community centre toddler group).

I think sometimes these threads are a bit sneery towards parents who use baby groups, it’s a bit like threads about school mums as if the parents who use baby groups (or take their kids to school) are some other ‘lesser’ species. Shockingly they’re just normal people muddling on through like the rest of us.

It's for mums to meet other mums. Wave the scarf, sing the song then make a pal go for a coffee at the nearest garden centre and talk about how silly baby sensory is.

Makaton is good for development but not essential.

I had my DS in Covid, there were no classes on and it was so lonely, I would have bitten off someone's hand to go to baby sensory and make a friend.

Same. Dc2 also was a 2019 baby so all baby classes stopped just as he could have slightly got interested in them. We did find 'the baby club' on cbeebies was a good replacement if you want any ideas of what to do with babies (who lets be honest are SO boring)

I did baby sensory for a bit with my first but didn't find it helped me make friends, most people were there with others they already knew from NCT. I found other smaller scale local groups friendlier and more focused on mum to mum chat time etc, it hasn't impacted by babies development at all.

Babies learn from you mostly, and a happier more relaxed mum is better than one sitting through a class they are paying money for and not enjoying!

I also have friends who rave about it though, so no shade to anyone who does, we all like different things!

It won't harm your baby if you don't do this. Agree with PP, it's more for the parent and it's not for everyone.

I absolutely loved Baby Sensory but the leader was fantastic and really great support for me through some darker times. That said, I tried Hartbeeps and hated it so much that I wanted to run away halfway during the class and never go back.

it’s about finding a class that works for you and for baby, doesn't matter if it’s the ‘in thing’ or something you feel you should have to do. If that’s none of the classes, that’s fine. Baby will develop just fine without an hour a week singing about sunshine and corn.

This is what I think too. If you're not getting anything out of it, just leave it and spend your time doing something else. I never attended any groups when mine were babies but as toddlers they enjoyed parent/ toddler groups and I didn't mind those as even if I was getting nothing out of it, at least they were having fun and running off steam. I don't think any baby classes, particularly ones that aren't cheap or free, are essential.

This was me. I went to two separate baby sensory classes and just couldn’t get it. Hated it and sacked them off completely!

I ended up only doing classes that I enjoyed