NCT groups - how long did you stay in contact for?

[Diamond345]

Curious as to how long you stayed in touch with your NCT friends for?

Did any drop out of joining in conversation early on?
Did you meet up often?

In my group, 3 of the women rarely spoke or came out when we arranged regular meet ups. We also did weekly classes and coffee after but again they didn't ever join in with that either nor respond. But would now and then say something. The rest of the mums are great and we are still in contact after a year so far.

I thought most people did NCT for the friendships and support group with other mums with babies the same age, rather than the course content as much!

Just wondering if others experienced this with their NCT group!

Still in touch with some (the ones I gelled with!) 15 years later 😊

There was 8 couples, 1 dropped out fairly early on. I don't think they joined for the friendship element.
The last time the other 7 got together was about 2 years ago for a picnic.
There's a smaller group of 3 of us that are really close still now and we see each other quite often. 7 years later the 2 of them are some of my closest friends 😊

Am only in touch with one of the couples from my first NCT group, but they have become genuine friends of mine even though we moved away after a couple of years. We still see them every couple of months and our kids are friends. Have known them for 13 years now.

Second NCT group, for second-time mums, in the same town where I'm now living, and I'm not in touch with any of them. The only one I started to become friendly with unfortunately moved far away so that was the end of that.

NCT, not at all. There were 4 or 5 couples, can’t remember, but we never gelled and it was obvious we wouldn’t stay in touch. We did the one standard meet-up after the babies were born but that was that, and I’m not sure I can even remember their names now (13 years on).

I did go to a BF support group when my baby was 3 weeks old and started going every week - met a lovely group of Mums there. I’m FB friends with a few and still real-life friends with three, one of whom is one of my closest friends to this day. So if NCT doesn’t work out, don’t despair. I wish I’d saved the money tbh!

Lovely stories of how so many of you are still good friends with them many years later!!

Its a shame that the others in my group dropped out so soon, we do wonder why. Perhaps they didn't feel they gelled with us but they barely gave us a chance

DH and I became good friends with two couples and shared summer holidays with them/visited each other occasionally. We all now live in different cities 100+ miles apart but are still in touch 15 years on.

I’m “Facebook friends” with four other mums, one of whom moved overseas, but probably would have been closer if we hadn’t moved away 10 years ago.

I think it’s worth trying to connect — a lot of us were first-time parents and we did a lot of things together with our babies (walking with prams at country parks, baby swim classes, massage and sensory sessions, eventually inviting each other to our children’s birthday parties). Really nice to have a group of friends who were sort of in the same place, parenting wise, as the kids grew up.

None. We didn't even stay in touch after the classes.
Fortunately I found a circle through my local community. I was really disappointed as I thought nct would be a ready made social group.

30 years so far. Not antenatal classes though - we met at local NCT coffee mornings.

Our “babies” are all turning 8 now and out of the seven original couples, six of us are all still in touch even though most moved away over time (we met in London). The mums get together from time to time and we message regularly. One of the group has become one of my closest friends; our children are friends (both had second babies around the same time) and we’ve been on holiday together.

@GrimDamnFanjo thats a shame, why do you think that was?

I don't think being invested has much to do with it. Reading the comments virtually everyone joined with the intention of making friends, but if you don't gel, then it seems to drop off after a year or so. It sounds like you got really lucky.

Still in touch with one couple but my son is nearly 24.
One of my best friends is someone from nct coffee meets.

I don’t think everyone does do it for the social aspects. I did it because I felt a bit clueless about looking after a baby and wanted my husband to understand a bit more about childbirth.

I actually didn’t really want to make more friends, be added to whatsapp groups and do group activities but I ended up really liking most of the other couples and we are still friends 7 years on. We tend not to meet as a big group due to logistics though - which I prefer!

Group of 5 - stayed in touch and met up for about 4 years. Two mums moved away; the other two fell out (nanny poaching was involved).

Group of 6. I meet them every year in Summer for a night out. Our kids are 23 now.

Some of them are much closer with each other and meet up much more often. But I only go to the annual "do". My son is autistic and on a very different trajectory so it's a bit strange when we meet to find out theirs have graduated, off getting jobs etc whereas I am celebrating that my son has walked half a mile to McDonald's on his own.

It's splintered fairly quickly.
I've young cool Mom in her early 20s. We tried, she wasn't interested. The other 6 met up through maternity leave but two of them lived very close and got on very well. After about a year we didn't see them but still on Facebook list.
The other four of us kept on touch and meeting up. It's got harder and harder with two due to distance and work and life. We had a meet up this last summer and I keep planning coffee with one, we still message periodically and it's lovely seeing all the kids together who just get on with each. Kids are 8, I should add.
One of those Moms lives near me and we have a mutual friend who's twins are the same age as our boys so we messenger each other often as a three, meet up around kids, do Xmas and birthday presents for the kids etc. I've known the third Mom separately a decade before kids so no reason to assume we won't be friends once the kids grow up.