Am I a bad mum for not taking 9 month old to groups???

[Nikki1stbubba]

I just cant seem to get out of the house on time for any of the crack of dawn ( ok maybe not crack of dawn but 10am is bloody early!) groups in my area!

Me and DS are up from normally around 7am - 9am(on a good day :) but I still cant seem to get out that door on time without looking like chucky's bride and the baby not in his PJ's

I dont even sit down with a cup of tea in the morning so its not that I get caught up in Jezza or anything!

Routine is:

Wake up, change babys nappy, chuck him in his walker with some raisins whilst I make his breakfast, give him his breakfast, wash up and do bottles, hoover while he's still eating it ( he likes to take his time with breakfast) Then I jump in the shower, get dressed, chuck some slap on, by this time now the babys getting tired again and is being a bit needy. I then dress him, give him a bottle, he'll either fall asleep now or fight the sleep like a trooper and then look at the clock............oh dear, we've missed it again!

I really dont know how to speed things up in the morning or how to cut corners to make sure we get out the door in one piece and matching shoes on!

How do all you groupies do it? Any tips?

Hi! I totally sympathise with you! How is it that when you have a baby time seems be stuck on fast forward?!

I have two kids now and found that I had to sacrifice things like morning showers. I had to shower at night time and then a quick wash in the morning. Not ideal but it does cut out alot of time.

OR if you have any friends with babies, ask them to come to yours for your own baby play group! I suggest starting with only inviting one baby at a time to see how it goes first!

Good luck!

Hey!

Sometimes I have to check 2 clocks as I just can not believe where the last few hours have gone! Our house us really noisy so the shower wakes DS up!

I've had friends over with they're babies but they always seem to stay too long (I'm talking 4 hours plus) and its always my house that ends up a tip!

Oh well, we're moving soon and bathroom is further down the hall so hopefully I can shower nightly instead if in the morning. I do feel really bad not taking him to places when there are other mums who are here there and everywhere and still look glamorous. That's the pressure of being a mum I suppose, who's the model mum and who's the slacker. Well I'm a slacker and not ashamed to admit it :o

Could you get up before bubs and do the shower, prepare breaky etc? I've got a 5 mo and not been to any groups yet, but would like to.
I'm quite lucky as Dh works from home so he can looks after bubs while I do the shower etc, but I do agree, the time flies!!!

You're not a bad parent for not taking your child to groups. DD is 22mo and we've never been to any kind of group.

If they're not convenient to you, then don't stress yourself about getting ready to go. They're there if you want to go, to enhance your day, not to increase your stress levels trying to get yourself out of the door to sit and sing songs in a hall with people you don't know

At 9mo your baby really won't care about groups, it's more about you getting a coffee and some adults to talk to at this stage. If it's too much hassle to get there then they aren't compulsory!

If you really want to get out to them then have you looked for afternoon groups? Our SS centre does a mixture of times so you're a bit more likely to catch something. I've also found swimming and music groups are often available in the afternoon.

It won't be all that long now and your baby won't need quite such regular sleeps, they're more likely to stay awake for a group and will get more enjoyment out of socialising and having different toys to play with.