How much do you pay for baby groups?!

[blublub]

I was talking to a friend I hadn’t seen in a while who has had a baby. I asked her if she managed to get to any baby groups with them yet (3 months old, remember I was going potty at home alone at that age and they helped me) and she said she had been going to a class but couldn’t afford to keep it up because it was £12 a week! Now I don’t remember them costing this much, am I out of touch?! I only paid a couple of quid at most with mine 10 years ago, I’m sure I did. There’s inflation but that seems crazy! I felt sorry for her, I remember how hard it was getting out with a baby but it really kept me sane. Is this the new normal now for mums and babies?

I did Joe Jingles and Tumble Tots with my eldest-think they were about £5 a week each. By the time the others came along, we had discovered toddler groups! They were in a church hall, you got a cup of tea gland some toast and it cost £1-what a bargain! I wouldn’t have been able to afford multiple groups costing £15 a week on ML! I think a lot of franchises have been set up over the last 15 years!

Yep, same as this is my town. I only go to our church toddler group with my 4 year old now, which is £1 and we get a tea and biccy. If we went to a more structured group, it is more expensive!

There’s 2 types of baby/toddler groups.

One is run by volunteers or charity and costs about £2 or may be free, often with food and drink included. Often associated with churches or children’s centres.

The other is someone’s livelihood and will be significantly more, £8-12 a week perhaps. These usually have a specific focus rather than being a room full of toys. Often require block bookings for a half term or month at once.

£12 for a baby group is towards the more expensive end but not ridiculous.

I think heartbeeps was about £12 a session, it is after all paying someones wage. Baby groups at the local community centre were £1-2 and then 50p if you wanted a hot drink and a biscuit. Sessions at the local library were free.

Stay and plays are a couple of pounds, but classes like this are leader run and do cost around this much. Painful but true

Trendy bit of London, average baby class price was £15 a session. There were some council funded ones and one church one but they were harder to come by.

Problem with church hall type playgroups is that they aren’t much good for non movers. You just end up sat with your baby hopefully shaking a rattle. They can be OK for toddlers, although it depends on the toddler and the playgroup. I used to go to one on a Tuesday morning but the toys just weren’t very good.

I did baby sensory and swimming, along with a couple of groups I did with DS (he was a lockdown baby so didn’t get a chance to do those with him as a baby as much.) It is costly though.

I guess times have changed. She said it was a ‘bloom’ class with songs and toys. Nice to hear there’s still the normal church hall stuff going on. Will let her know to have a look there. Isn’t it just the same thing though as a ‘class’? How can they charge so much. Being alive for a baby is a ‘sensory’ experience. Unless you lock them in a cupboard!

Being alive for a baby is a ‘sensory’ experience

Sure it is but like anything, some sensory experiences are nicer than others. Some lights, bubbles, silk scarves and a few props being waved around is fairly enjoyable and you get out of the house, have a bit of structure in your day and get to talk to some adults.

I’ve done two maternity leaves; one with baby classes and one without, and I can tell you which one I’d want a third time, if I wanted a third, which I don’t!

depends on the class, we are £18 per swimming lesson (30min), £10 for baby massage, £9 for baby yoga, £4.50 for gymnastics, there’s some free or £2 per family play groups I use too but they’re not as interactive or based on quality time with your child

The best class we’ve done (still do!) is Sign Time. The lady who runs it is amazing with all the kids and is fluent in BSL but teaches it in a baby/toddler friendly way. I don’t think it can be coincidence that all the children that go regularly seem to have great language skills for their age. I don’t know how it works but apparently learning signs early also has an effect on spoken communication.

It works out about £9 a week and it’s the one thing that I move heaven and earth (and naps) to get to.

Rhyme time at the library- free
Stay & play at ex-sure start - free
Messy play at older DC's school - free
Play group at toy library- £1.50
Ducklings (Swimming) at Council pool - £2.80

Kids are 6 & 9, so was still doing toddler groups until 3 years ago, though I suspect I was quite lucky with what is available locally.

I will remember this post next time i am contributing to a 'families can't afford one patent to be at home anymore' thread. £75 A WEEK is crazy.

Why on earth would you apply one individual’s spending to any other families?

Took the words out of my mouth, what a daft post.

No, going to a class where someone leads songs, baby massage, provides lights, toys and fancy dress on a different theme each week, baby yoga, swimming or football etc is very much not the same thing as sitting in a church hall with a biscuit and a few toys put out for the kids to fight over.

Both have their place, and some people will prefer the second, but they are different and one requires rather more input and resources than the other, hence the higher cost.

Well quite. Our church groups are on church property and run by church volunteers with a cupboard full of the same (mostly donated) toys wheeled out week after week. Baby Sensory & Sign Time are in rented premises, with a trained leader who provides different resources each week. Of course they cost more.

And ironically, my 4 yo, (who we believe is a little on the spectrum somewhere), absolutely DESPISED bloom.
cry, scream, you name it. We tried it twice. Most expensive baby class = sensory overwhelm he absolutely hated it!!!!!!

I've seen quite a big change since the 9 month funding came in.

Most mums on maternity leave now aren't going to the church hall playgroups, they go to expensive music, sensory, messy play classes.

The traditional playgroups are mostly childminders and grandparents now.

We used to pay £8/ session for messy play for our toddlers. But the group used a lot of materials for the 8 play stations (beans/ sands/ coloured foam/ spaghetti you name it) so it never seemed unreasonable. There are some franchised group ones- (Hartbeeps?) which were that expensive round our way but we used the library and church/ surestart ones instead, they just take a bit more looking to find.

Yes. I pay £60 a term for baby sign classes. £30 a term for swim “lessons” and £65 a term for baby sensory.

He’s 6 months old. My eldest is 12, but even my 9 and 5 year old, these groups were much cheaper.

my children’s centre has 1 small baby group that often has no spaces. And our churches seem to no longer do their groups as well. These were much cheaper. So I double checked if any were still running.

£6 for three playgroups a week. £2 each

I’ve found this too. I’ve tried some of the church ones and yet to find one where I can meet other Mums with similar age babies. I prefer the classes for non mobile babies as everyone tends to be at a similar stage but they are also expensive around here.

How have you seen this?
Both times I was on mat leave no one really brought a 4-8 month old baby to a church hall type group with children as old as 4 running around. It’s not a pleasant place to be with a tiny baby.
If you’ve been at these groups predating Sept 2025 you must be going to groups quite catered to a much older child.

Went back to work when my dd was 12 months old (now 2) but I took her to free council run classes.