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Home › Articles › Guiding Baby's Development › Study Buddies

Study Buddies

The Fun and Variety of Baby and Me Classes

By Kelly Burgess

Pages:  1  2  3  

While yoga may be the newest thing, aquatics classes are definitely the mainstay of mom/baby bonding. YMCAs have long offered classes of this type, as do private fitness facilities.

Short classes that teach songs, finger plays and nursery rhymes are commonly found not only in centers that focus on baby and mom classes, but also in libraries and community centers. Danelle Eikens, of Middleburg Heights, Ohio, takes a class at her local library and likes the fact that her daughter, Payton, is learning nursery rhymes and simple skills such as counting through songs and finger play. "I was a teacher before becoming a stay-at-home mom, so I was very interested in her learning at an early age," Eikens says.

Sign of the Times

One type of class that's growing in popularity is sign language. Lora Heller founded Baby Fingers, a New York-based center where babies learn American Sign Language of her own experience in deaf education and music therapy. She feels that signing, in addition to verbal communication, strengthens the bond between mother and child as well as reinforcing vocabulary skills in children.

"The moms and babies that come here are developing a lifelong mode of communication and second language," Heller says. "It's really something special that happens between them."

4 Tips for Choosing a Baby and Me Class

The following checklist for choosing a "baby and me" class comes courtesy of Kim Balint, founder of Mind, Body and Baby, a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based family fitness center.

1. Goals. If your goal is to get in shape, look for an exercise class that Baby can also attend. If you want to stimulate your baby's intellect, look for a story or finger play group. If you just want to bond, something gentle like yoga may be right for you.

2. Cleanliness. The class should maintain a high standard of cleanliness, since a lot of work is done on the floor. Any toys or equipment should be thoroughly cleaned between classes.

3. Safety. If the class is held in a facility that is not primarily geared toward baby classes, is the area baby proofed?

4. Sick Policy. Do they have and enforce a policy of not bringing a sick baby to class? If your baby gets sick and you miss a class, will they allow you to make it up at no charge?


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