Antenatal / NCT groups if it's not your first

[Harriet1989]

Hey all,

I did NCT with my first which was 6 years ago and I'm still good friends with the families I did it with however.. they've all had their seconds since and won't be on mat leave when I am.

I want to try and have the same experience of having friends on mat leave at the same time but feel like if we go for NCT again we'll be the odd ones out not being first time parents.

NCT offer a course for those not having their first baby but I've heard not many have made friends from this as it's quite short

There's also a Bump and Baby Club near me which says they have some parents not having their first

So.. anyone tried Bump and Baby Club? How did you make friends for subsequent pregnancies? X

I have a gap between my 2 also, and made friends second time round by going to baby groups from about 6 weeks old. It was more difficult this time round as I had school runs to add into the mix so was more limited on which groups I could get to at certain times but I've made one good friend who I regularly meet up with 2 years on, on our mutual day off in the week.
It's worth having a look at baby groups in your area so you can see what's about and have a few things in mind for when you feel ready.

When I had my second I didn’t do NCT again as it’s mainly first time mums. I did pregnancy yoga from 4 months pregnant and met a group of second time mums there and we went to baby groups and meet ups together when our babies were born.

I have just finished my second NCT class as, like you, I made a great group of friends the first time which was 3 years ago.

We were the only couple not having a first baby, but it was totally fine. Most people are there to meet other local parents anyway! And it wasn’t a terrible thing to have a bit of a refresher to get in the ‘zone’. Babies have started arriving and we’ve met up a couple times already so I think
it was defo worthwhile.
I also looked at those NCT second time parent courses and the nearest one wasn’t that local to me so defeated the point if it was a bus ride away.

I would say go for it, do another class and hopefully you’ll make some maternity leave buddies. Good luck!

I also vote just go for it and do NCT again. The course is okay but the main takeaway is the friends you make.

Do NCT again for sure.

I volunteer with some local baby groups and what I’ve heard is most groups have at least 1 couple for whom it isn’t their first baby. Sometimes it’s one parents second, sometimes it’s a large age gap, sometimes first baby was Covid so they didn’t do it before.