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?

I didn't find that many classes I wanted to go to (but that might be because I'm on my second). If the baby napped I used that time to chill. I don't have FOMO whereas I wanted to do it all with the first!! I'm just more tired this time. I go swimming, but not a class so can go whenever with baby and also have a soft play type class which has classes everyday and you can rebook if you can't make one

I tend to just crack on and go to classes with my DS who is 7 months old. I wouldn’t miss one for a nap. When he was younger he just napped wherever and whenever. Like some people have said, it was more for my sanity at that age. He would also fall asleep in the car- still does! I don’t stick to a strict nap routine as such, but now he’s much more predictable and he tends to nap before a class in the morning and also sleep in the car. Trying to wean and make sure he naps and going out and doing stuff is a whole new ball game!

We do swimming lessons, my DS loves them.. we have a mid morning time so we would try and make him nap before we go, earlier in the morning (he’s usually up at the crack of dawn!) and then he would sleep in the car- at the start it was hard to get him to nap so he wouldn’t be fussy in the pool, but after a few weeks he just got used to napping beforehand so now it’s part of his routine

Same here. I just booked the one that suited me.

Also rural and so dd's sleep on the way there / back / during
I'd rather take a chance and get out to do it than miss it for a nap

I have one friend who genuinely cannot understand why classes aren't offered at 8am as that suits her babies nap times.
Nothing to do of course with the school run, venue availability, or the fact that most of us, if up prior to 7am are not in a state to leave the house by 7.30 to get to bloody sing and sign!

Just go for it - bookings are usually a half term so it's 6 weeks if it all goes wrong!!

mine is nearly 9 months and we’ve been going at least one a week since about 6 weeks.

the younger babies often fall asleep especially towards the end and it’s perfectly normal.

now he’s older he stays awake but I’ve just changed his class time for next term and he will have to adjust his naps around it so I expect some tired tears at first.

mine also has a cat nap in car on the way there.

@walkinthewoodstoday how do you find swimming with baby in a “not class”?

my local council don’t do classes but do have times when babies/young kids can go and I want to go but also scared as it’s not an actual class so what if I have no clue what to do with baby in the water (how to hold them afloat etc).

do you take your own baby floaty?

We couldn’t get DD in a routine for love nor money so I didn’t do classes: gave up after paying an arm and a leg for baby massage and in the first four sessions she: did a massive poonami that took most of the class to sort, cluster fed for the full hour, slept through the next one, howled through the next one.

I took her to the library sing sessions when she was a bit older and needed fewer naps. At 3m the classes aren’t for the baby, they’re for the parent to socialise really – but I was quite happy marching around the seafront and countryside solo then sitting down with cake and tea and a book somewhere once a nap magically took hold.

I was never a ‘routine ‘ person for ours , they had to fit into my horses routine so they both generally slept in the car .

Hi-
I have a membership to a sports club which is really flexible. It has a baby pool too. I do have an inflatable but I did water babies with my first so feel a bit more confident splashing around with him. 25 mins tops with Him in baby wetsuit. Sit him on the edge and he sort of jumps to me (he's 10 months), hold under his arms and swish him around. Maybe if you Google there might be some ideas or videos.

@Lullabies2Paralyze or if you have a friend who has done classes, ask them to show you.

@Miriam101 that's definitely gone through my mind about the swimming, but having not gone with my wee one yet, I feel like classes might give me confidence. However, the cost is very high!! And the timing, location etc also made me wonder if we'd make the class leading to my initial question.

I was also hoping for some £1/2 classes for tea & chat, but I know of none of those so far. And don't know any locals to ask so I'm looking at a couple of the well advertised classes and hoping to tap into the quieter, local things that way.

@Lullabies2Paralyze fall asleep at classes?! The 1 class I've been to so far was as loud as a disco!! Can't imagine anyone, even a tired newborn falling asleep in it... as for the car, my baby is far too nosey to sleep.

I'd do the classes, at such a young age I don't think the naps are as important and they'll probably fall asleep anyway. I found the routine was more important after about 8 months so baby would sleep through the night (hated the routine but the night sleep was worth it!)

Thanks all, sounds like it's a case of booking in and getting on with it! I think that'll suit me better than being a slave to naps. Hopefully my LO will agree when we get to more classes.

Definitely depends on your baby's temperament. I used to be agog at babies falling asleep in clases, mine were way too interested. They were also awful sleepers and the first advice about bad night sleep always seemed to be 'get the day naps right'. I found organised paid for classes to be too stressful so I only did one per baby and they were at times that worked with us. Everything else I just did drop ins if they worked for us. I felt a bit lonely sometimes if everyone went for lunch and I couldn't but then they all had babies who would just nod off in the pram and mine just used to stare at me!

I've wondered the same OP, also looking to start a class with my 3 month old but don't have any kind of schedule with her as she won't be put down to sleep so i can't do like you and put her down in her cot if I think she's ready for a sleep.

She usually falls asleep either feeding, in the car or in the pram, so it's hard to predict and also means if we walk to a local one she will likely fall asleep on the way. She always wants a feed when she wakes too so I'm worried I'm going to arrive and then spend the majority of the time feeding her

@TheRookieMum ahh I do Baby Sensory so it’s pretty gentle. Occasionally there’ll be a lot of noise if we have bells or a loud song but it’s mainly quiet-ish. Especially the hello baby sessions which we started with.

I did do hartbeeps for a bit but didn’t enjoy that as much. Was quite chaotic and definitely not much napping chance there haha.

@walkinthewoodstoday ah thanks I will look on YouTube I didn’t think of that haha. I do have a couple of friends who’ve done structured classes with their little ones so will ask them for some tips too.

Hi @TheRookieMum i haven’t read all the replies. Personally I would work around naps. You can always leave earlier and get there earlier, so they can fall asleep in the buggy/car and stay there. I know so many mums who wouldn’t leave the house if the baby was due a nap and they were so miserable. Smug too. Not sure why. If you need to miss one class because they’ve had a bad nights sleep, then fine. But don’t not book a whole term because of it! Baby classes are good for the mum too!

also worth remembering that if you pick a time for a class which suits baby now, say 11am, by the end of term in 3 months time, 11am could be bang in the middle of nap time. You just have to play around.

don’t let naps run your life! Until they’re 6 months they sleep 3 times a day so you can’t let them dictate your life!

@Mammamia23 I hadn't thought of the naps shifting either. Definitely more arguments for booking classes and working naps around them. Thankfully the classes I'm eyeing up, swimming aside, book in 4 week blocks max so nap shifts shouldn't be a problem, hopefully.

Your baby doesn't need any classes at all. He came pre-programmed to develop into his unique self. The sooner you believe that he's doing it exactly right for him, the happier and more contented your Motherhood will be.

Those classes are for the MUMs' social benefit, so arrange them to suit yourself. Don't wear yourself out.

Its a “just do it” thing with baby classes. Don’t think on it too much at that age. Loads of parents do it and they’re all in the same boat as you. At 3 months old, naps are so sporadic and they’re usually pretty good at napping on the go. I’d enjoy that while it lasts. Totally normal for babies to sleep, eat, be changed, all in the middle of a baby class. You’ll see others doing it. Baby classes are mostly for you to socialise anyway, not the baby, so wouldn’t worry about it too much!

We did baby swimming and really liked it. Had them scheduled for a very early (8am) time slot and it worked out. He would fall asleep on the way home.

Just re swimming- if there is a council run aqua babies class it's much much cheaper- £20 a month for us here and this is a weekly class plus access to any of the open sessions too. The teachers have been amazing and my eldest has then gone up through the system and is now in the preschool class with same teacher. Younger started at 6 weeks and we'd just have a pram nap after (while I treated myself to lunch!)

Expensive classes will not really benefit such a young baby.
But they will benefit you (i hope).

Forget the expensive classes and join baby /toddler / nct groups. You're much more likely to make friends there and baby will benefit just as much as something that lasts a shorter time and costs several times as much.

tbh i'd book classes for you rather than baby. and wrt naps do what makes your life easier. my first never went to classes cos i had to go back to work soon. no2 went to toddler group once a week (more for my sanity) but 3 and 4 didn't go to groups cos by then no1 was at school so i had people to chat to at the school gate (naps also go out the window when school runs come into things).