Starting a yoga class (babies stay in car seat or on blanket)

[Queentwisle]

Hi, I'd like to set up a yoga class (45 mins/1 hour) for Mum's where the babies do not participate. The Mum's do the class and the babies either sit in their car seats or on blankets at the side of the room. Does anyone think this would be appealing? Obviously there would be a little disruption in the class with crying/ baby noises. Does anyone have any knowledge of the legal standpoint of having babies in a class? Many thanks, Sue

What would the babies be doing whilst mums do yoga? Just lie there staring at the ceiling?

Are you a post natal yoga instructor as this should be covered in the training? If you aren't a post natal instructor then you might not be qualified to run the class. I'm a PT and that's how it works for us.

You're going to lose a lot of mums, as many (probably most) babies will not happily sit or lie down for 45-60 minutes, at least not predictably. There might also be issues with car seats as children aren't meant to be in them for that long.

Well these classes already exist as I went to them with DD1 when she was a baby (5 years ago) and I’ve recently noticed that they’re run in the village I live in now too, so I assume it’s fine from a legal standpoint!
Worked fine for us. The babies were generally content for half an hour watching/playing with their toys. I did it until DD1 was mobile at 6 months.

I’m not sure you can expect a baby to sit still for an hour (unless they’re asleep) and just watch their mum. There’s also the danger if they’re on a blanket by the side that anything requiring balance could be tricky. Imagine stepping back and a baby has crawled behind you! I think you’d be better finding somewhere with a crèche for a new mums class. I used to do this - drop DS at the crèche, have an hour to myself and then undo all of the relaxation within moments when I collected him!

Babies shouldn't be in car seats for long periods, so that's not a great idea.

We didn’t leave them in car seats, just lay them on a mat on the floor.
Honestly these classes exist in quite a lot of places.

Yes I did a class like this. Works best when they are little and sleep anywhere.

Only works until they're mobile. So I did a post-natal pilates course where you took your baby, but then there's the crying and unpredictable feeding and sleep patterns when they're tiny. Then when they're a bit bigger they get bored, and want entertainment. Then they can move and it's pointless.

So, it can be done if you pick your timing right and if you are clear that it's for parents of babies 6 weeks-6 months, say. But then you need a genuine parent & baby class to move your graduates on to at 6 months.

Firstly the babies can't stay in car seats. They could be in pushchairs or bouncer chairs or on mat/blanket on the floor.

Secondly if it's just for the mums they won't be able to do it all because they will invariably have to stop to feed/change/comfort baby several times throughout the class. Which is fine. Not my cup of tea (I tried it once and found it annoying so decided to leave baby at home with DH and go to a class by myself instead!)

Thirdly you will need postnatal yoga training/qualifications.

Thanks everyone for your comments and sharing your experiences with me. Lots to think about.

Bit late to the party with my reply, but the Mum and Baby yoga class I took ran from 11 to 12.30.

We went round the room and introduced ourselves and our babies and answered a question - something like what new thing did you try this weekend- at the start of every class, and again at the end (obviously a different question). We also had biscuit time at the end where the instructor brought up a baby related topic and we just sort of discussed it a bit. It wasn't anything too taxing.

Babies were used at one point a bit like a weight!

I had to stop going once my son was mobile. I would love it if there was a class available for mums with mobile babies. I don't know how that would work though.

Another class which I took that was a bit different was Kanga Training, first half was I guess aerobics? Second half you wear your baby for the exercises. Definitely a good work out!

I went to one, I loved it. As Queen said, we sat in a circle, introduced ourselves and babies. Teacher asked each one of us in turn how we were doing. She made it clear it was fine to stop and feed or cuddle baby any time. She would, with our permission, give the babies a cuddle when necessary so mum could relax into whatever posture and would make funny faces at all the babies to distract them. We did 10min introductory chat, 20mins yoga alone, with babies on the mat, 20mins with babies (horsey horsey, row your boat etc) and then a 5 or 10min relax at the end in a comfy position propped up with bolsters holding /feeding baby. I never managed a full class, my DS always got tired /hungry at the same point. But it was great to get out and meet other mums.

Can I just say though, new mums are very vulnerable so I think it takes an extra special, super kind teacher to make this work. I'm not saying you're not, but if your main motivation is to make money, please reconsider. If you would genuinely love to work with mums and babies then great. As a pp mentioned, you absolutely must be qualified in pp yoga or you'll cause someone an injury