Baby naps vs baby classes

[TheRookieMum]

I want to get my currently 3mo out to classes come the new year when they all start up again. I'm thinking 1 a day, 2 to 3 days a week to benefit baby, and help keep my sanity. All classes round here must be booked and paid in advance and can't be cancelled last minute. And, being rural, I have to drive to most & they're all in different places, at different times

My question is, how do people manage to balance creating & keeping a sleep/nap routine while also attending a variety of classes?

Is this one of those "just do it" things, babies will adapt & it'll be easier the older they get? Is it normal to prepay for classes but acknowledge I'll miss some due to naps?

People make different choices.

I wasn't a slave to naps/nap routines so we went out as and when. Sometimes ds would sleep during a class but at that age it was for my benefit more than his anyway!

I wouldn't have missed a class for a nap to be honest. I had friends with strict nap routines and they seemed forever miserable, waiting for the next nap.

I've never missed any classes due to naps. I either just woke them early or tried to plan naps around whatever we had on that day. But we are not routine people and both babies have been fine with disputations to normal routines! I know some people at our classes do miss some due to naps though.

Plan naps around the class not other way round. Will be so beneficial for you both to get out and about

Part of the reason that I chose some of the classes I did was that they were at 'good' times to fit around naps. But there is more choice being in a city maybe.

We did have a fairly good routine but I'm not a slave to naps. It's more about the order than the exact pin point timings so if things shift either way it's not the end of the world.

As a mum of 3 I just went to classes and generally they napped as we were leaving or on the way home. I couldn’t not go pick up my other kids from school or activities because of nap times so they learned to sleep on the go even the oldest just napped wherever. They are all good sleepers and we are often complimented on how easily they go to bed. I think it helped long term plus I enjoyed groups etc

It kind of depends on your baby. Both mine would only nap at home in bed so once I had a routine sorted I tried to work around that- was much simpler when they were down to one nap a day.

My three year old still has an afternoon nap so we plan our days around mornings and lunch out then a quiet afternoon while he has a sleep.

The benefit of working around nap times is you get some peace and quiet too as well as a lovely time at a class. Most classes around 45cm a/1 hour so you should be able to find something to suit

I usually walked (45 mins) to classes so they had a nap in the pram either on the way/way back and my DS always woke up the second the pushchair stopped moving anyway.

If you think they’ll nap in the car, maybe just set off a bit early to let them have a snooze beforehand?

Earlier days (post 4 month sleep regression) I would miss a class for a nap and just take the financial hit. That's because my baby was a poor sleeper for a while and I didnt want to build up a sleep deficit. He was also a grump throughout a class if I woke him up or kept him awake for it lol. If I had a good sleeping baby I reckon I would've prioritised classes.

It was for a class that I eventually started planning naps and getting into a schedule, although when he was a bit older than yours. Since it was swimming it was expensive so I couldn't miss it and I couldn't have him crying and fussing throughout. Therefore I HAD to have him fall asleep by a certain time to wake up rested in time. It was military level precision lol and eventually he started falling asleep that time every day.

Now he only naps once a day so I just only book classes that don't coincide with this one nap.

It's very frustrating OP. I understand providers can't take the financial instability of drop-ins all the time but the need to book entire terms in advance etc is really not baby friendly, at least for some babies lol.

When they are that young, they nap a lot and mine didn't usually have a set routine so my baby would usually fall asleep on the journey there (and sometimes back). You usually have to book a term at a time anyway (like 6 weeks) so you can keep reassessing you routine and classes as they get bigger - when my baby reached near 1 and had a schedule, I'd pick a class that usually started after her first nap. Not that she always stuck to the routine anyway!! Sometimes she'd not nap before the class and have a mammoth one when it finished. I wouldn't over think it too much tbh! And even if they fall asleep in class, it's not a problem. Plenty of them do!

The groups were in the morning, so afternoon was for naps. Sometimes in the pram or buggy, while I ran other errands, and did school runs, this fitted in quite well at nursery and childminder too which followed the same pattern. Then up again for mid afternoon, time for some playing, sometimes the park or ferrying siblings to their activities, dinner, bath, and bed. Then I caught up on chores or work in the evening, on the nights I didn't have to go to sleep the second they did. I was never a slave to the routine, and my kids always napped in the car seat, pram or buggy, so their cot was for nighttime which worked well, they got the difference between days and nights.

I'm a routine person. I'd take them wherever and whenever I went, if they woke they'd join in the class if not they didn't. It's a great place to meet people with babies the same age and get support. I'd never wake them to join in, if they want to sleep they'll sleep

I didn't do many pre-booked classes but I tried to get to the free ones at the local children's centre. My baby used to sleep for quite long stretches at that age and that was my break time. The thought of waking her early to get to a class was too stressful!

Yep I'd just crack on with it if you can. If your LO can learn to be flexible all the better.

Plus make the most of 3-6mths fun, things get trickier (and IME less fun) the further down the weaning road you go.

Thanks for all the replies!

We have absolutely no nap schedule yet, I just put DS down when he's sleepy so booking classes in advance is total guesswork.

I do like the crack on attitude & planning naps around classes, not classes around naps for now. It's the swimming lessons that's got me, I think. £19 per session, 4 weeks' notice to stop... I really wouldn't want to miss one of those just for a nap... At the moment, he naps at random times and for random durations. But it sounds like as they get older, it's easier and they just nap wherever, whenever and in a slightly more predictable pattern, sometimes, maybe!

What a minefield parenting is!

When mine was a baby I just let him sleep on if asleep during a class. I sat in mum and baby yoga with him asleep in his pram and the other mums did the same. At that age it's also about you meeting other mums to chat and spend time with.

I do think it very much depends on the baby and their temperament. In the beginning I used to try and take my now 9 month old to classes but quickly realised he struggles to switch off if there’s stuff going on around him and wants to see but at the same time will scream the place down if he’s tired so unfortunately had to stop going if it timed with a nap. He also wouldn’t nap as long if I did manage to get him to fall asleep in the class which usually meant he’d wake up screaming and grumpy because he was still tired so it just wasn’t worth it for me.
I’d love to not be such a slave to naps and now we’re at two a day it is getting better and know it will improve again when we drop to one but it’s just the way it is. So yeah depends on your baby’s temperament and whether you want to deal with the consequences if they’re not a chilled out baby.

You've had plenty of good advice re naps OP so I won't add but just to say baby swimming classes are, in my entirely non-expert opinion, an enormous middle class con! There's a weird obsession with them which we fell for with our first but having seen how completely useless they are and how expensive they are we didn't touch them with our first. Obviously if you really want to do them then do but don't feel you have to as in the long-term I really don't think it makes a scrap of difference to how well your child ends up swimming. IMO a lot of the baby class circuit is a bit of a racket nowadays. The best kind are the ones in church halls where you can have a cup of tea and chat for £1 or something- but where I am they are vanishingly rare. Everything seems to cost £9 or more which is a bit steep I think...

I agree. I did baby swimming lessons with DD1. Ridiculously expensive and really just an utter faff wrestling them into the those wetsuits things to be in water for 15 mins and then having to get you both dried and dressed again. I didn't find it a pleasant experience at all. Did one term and noped out of there and we went ourselves at weekends with DH for a third of the price and much less hassle.

Been taking my baby to classes since around 6 weeks. To be honest they have mainly been for me (she's now 20 weeks). Sometimes she would sleep through the whole class when she was much younger, sometimes she has a nap in the group now but it's becoming more rare. I don't work my day around her naps. She is so interested now she usually falls asleep at the end of the class as she's too busy watching what's going on!

I'd go with work the naps around the classes not the other way. If baby sleeps during it, it doesn't matter.

For me, I found around 4-5 months was about right for the more expensive structured/block booked type classes. You may find there are stay and play type groups that are drop in and cheaper. We have more than you'd think as I don't think they're as well advertised.

For swimming, non essential and expensive as PP mentioned but we do enjoy it. I did wait until 6 months to start this time and found it a lot better as baby was more alert and naps were a little more predictable so changing after wasn't quite as stressful as baby wasn't beyond exhausted by the end of it.

I couldn't believe there were babies that slept through baby classes when I went with my son! He wouldn't sleep anywhere but my arms or the car, and if tired but not in his preferred sleeping environment he would SCREAM. What a shock that was, and I was so envious of those mums whose babies would just nap all the way through in their prams! I had cancel so many classes when he was smaller, with not knowing when he was going to sleep. If you have a chill baby who will sleep during a class, go for it!

I personally would always put babies sleep ahead of classes.

It sounds like you're trying to do a lot. Why not sign up for just one class a week to begin with?

There's usually lots of free classes you can attend at your local children's centers or libraries. Better than making a financial commitment.

Also something like swimming you could take when the time suits you. Don't forgot walks in the park, going to the library and things like that are all great sensory for such a young baby.

I created a nap schedule at 11, 2, and 5 for DS when he was approx 3 weeks old. So classes were between 8-11 or 2-5. When he’s a newborn it’s best just to get him out the house and let him nap whenever he wants - don’t get too hung up by schedules.

We used to go to an activity every day of the week when DC1 was little. I was lovely and bored at home tbh. It was mostly the £1/2 village hall and a cuppa types. We’d often leave the house early so he could have a snooze in the car or if it was in our nearest village (about a 40 minute walk) I’d pop him int he sling or pushchair for a snooze on the way there and/or way back.