Baby groups

[fraggy]

Hi

I have a a wonderful ds who is almost 8 months and we do lots of things together but I sometimes feel he would benefit from more interaction with other children. We have a local bounce and tumble club on every few weeks but I never get round to taking him.

The problem is me, I'm really shy and not very confident but I don't want him to suffer because if my problems. I don't have any friends who have any dc's so can't even let him play with others in the house.

Does anyone else feel like this?

Yes i have a similar problem. I have tried to go to local toddlers groups but the "regulars" never speak to me, and i'm not sticking about to find out if they ever will! I go to a lot of softplay centres, that way ds doesn't miss out and i dont feel like i've just crashed a party.

do you have a local NCT branch? They probably have listings of what's on. If you take your ds to a toddler group, you don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to. Why not just go and play with him there in a different environment? It'll probably do you both good if you can get into a routine of going regularly. Good luck.

thanks for replying, going to take him to a soft play area at the weekend and see if he likes it.

The NCT branch is miles away so probably wont be able to go as DH needs the car for work and buses don't run from here.

I plan on taking him to the local park if it ever stops raining long enough for us to leave the house..lol

how many times have you been, to see if they start talking to you? cos ive found sometimes even if you go like 3 times in a row you become like a regular yourself? but you can just focous on your child and play with your child if you feel shy, you dont have to go straight into chatting with everyone, he would still benefit. i find the surestart ones mostly really friendly. you could also try to library, although i find them less friendly in there but its not too bad. the park will be good.
actually the more u take him you might become less shy. with my 1st dc i was quite shy when he was a baby, now as they get into toddler yrs u have to take them daily sometimes cos they get bored in the house and play up so i just take him out everyday, i will happily go in new groups now i dont care if i know anyone or not, so i think the more you go you develop that kind of attitude. im sure some others there would be feeling shy too though you wouldnt be the only one

Do you have a sure start children's centre anywhere near you? Ours are great and the leaders are good at getting new people to talk to the regulars. It seems to vary a lot by area though.

The bounce and tumble class I went to was in our local library which is tiny and was for aged 0 to 5 so there was lots of older kids running around playing etc so my ds was a bit scared.

I looked at the sure start but i stay in Scotland and we seem to have something different up here which turns out to be the class i took him to.

I plan on taking him swimming when I lose the rest of the baby weight so maybe in a few years time...lol

I am going to try and be more sociable though for his sake.

Honestly, a lot of people feel shy and I find that I "cling" to the people I know, which probably seems a bit aloof to new mums coming along to groups I do try on my less insecure days, though.

DD is far more sociable now she's 6 months old, so it's a far easier ice-breaker than when she was new born, perched on my knee

at least you have the right attitude and are actually trying your best to get out with your child. someone I know doesn't take her 2 dc anywhere and they have suffered because of it.

you can meet other mums in loads of places, not just toddler groups. don't feel you have to go to these to meet others. the play park is a good place to start on a sunny day, you'll find you won't be the only one there. plenty fresh air also helps them sleep!