parents of babies/toddlers - which paid classes do you take them to?

[stayinbed]

which are the best? Gymboree? tumble totls? monkey music? none of the above?

Depends on the child. My two loved the very informal music class we went to - just singing nursery rhymes and doing action songs. We then moved to Music Train which is more structured and they hated it. Equally, DS1 hated Tumbletots though loads of kids absolutely love it. Try a couple of different ones but be wary of signing up for too many where you have to pay for a whole term in case your child hates it.

I don't take ds to any.

Most of them are in the mornings - he still sleeps 1-2hrs in the morning.

I also couldn't find anywhere that didn't insist on a whole term, and neither ds nor I are that reliable! poor, deprived phd's baby...

what do they do at tumble tots? are these classes as expensive as gymboree? that one is a fortune?!

ds (2.8) goes to soca tots and he loves it www.socatots.com

Mostly with babies you find one where you get on with the other mums and can go for coffee and a moan cake afterwards. Doesn't matter if it's baby singing, swinging or gunslinging.

Toddlers - something to wear them out so you can stop for coffee in peace on the way home while they snore in a buggy.

the best ones are cheap or free with decent teabags, because, you see, the babies don't give a shit. until the child is about 4, it's all about the biscuits

tried tumble tots - not so good! lol. (DS was like a whirl wind!) (mine was £5 for the session and £25 up front for the insurances)

we do mumbubba (singing/dancing £3.50) & a toddler group in the church hall - £1.50 (different craft activitiy each week), also swimming on our own.

plus he does 4 hours in a creche so loads of fun n games there with other kids!

Just swimming. Its quite pricey- £10 a pop- but worth it, I think.

i always go the the parent and toddler session where there are no big children and it only costs £3

i think a toddler group / and a singingy type group is more than enough..

also all of the local leisure centres down my way have a toddler session... soft play / bouncy castle / cars / balls / slides / tunnels etc AND in the middle a singing / parachute game session. There are a couple of sessions a week where you can drop in (PAYG, about £2.50) and they are good for if you feel like going, but you dont have pay upfront or anything like that

also baby rhyme time and libraries is good