Nannies: Baby story time, classes, infant play dates, etc?
![[Post New]](/nanny-forum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| At what age did you start introducing your infant charges to local activities? I have always loved local story times and music and movement classes for young infants, it is never too early to learn! I will be bringing my 3 month old charge to Books and Babies class starting soon and we love play dates with other nannies at a local park! What activities do you do with infant charges? |
Anonymous
| As soon as I started working (baby was 4 months old). We went to art fairs, parks, hikes, museums, aquariums, etc. |
Anonymous
Same here, charge was 10weeks when I started and we started right off with the zoo, museums, nanny group play dates, storytime, etc. Its not an every day occurrence (he's 9mo old now) but at least 2-3 days per week. Baby lights up when we stroll around toys r us pushing toy buttons and touching soft loveys 
|
Anonymous
| She was 7-months-old before we started doing anything consistently. I think earlier than that is entirely for the nanny's sake, so while I don't think it damages the children in any way, I wouldn't have felt comfortable asking for money for the zoo or museums. Free things though, sure. Didn't do any kind of play dates until she was 10 months old, because 1) she wasn't interested and 2) we didn't want her picking up a ton of germs when she was little (she was a preemie). |
Anonymous
| I care for an 11 week old little girl and we love our playdates! I disagree that its just for nanny sake. We have been doing mini park playdates with other infants since 8 weeks old. It is great for her to see other infants, she completely lights up! Its great socialization! We go to a similar sounding books and babies class and baby yoga once a week. I am also looking into a baby music class to start soon! |
Anonymous
This is one of the more ridiculous things I've ever seen on this forum. |
Anonymous
Why? I am the nanny of an awesome 5 month Old and we have been doing similar activities since he was 3 months old. Not everyday of course, but a couple times a week we engage in activities that be stimulating socially for him. I have met a couple of other nannies at our local park but do not have any nanny friend in the immediate area so we are still meeting people for play dates. We attend music class once a week and would love to find baby yoga! Movement is so important! MB loves that I get him to these activities! |
Anonymous
| Early on, it is for the nanny's sake. I'm a nanny and I have no problem saying that. I started taking baby to the park as soon as I started working, when she was two months old. Often, she would just sleep in her stroller. We started library story time when she was around a year old. Ten hours per day with an infant can be quite isolating. |
Anonymous
It is fine if you go to these activities, but be an adult and recognize they're for your benefit, not a three-month-old's. Nannies need adult interaction during the day, that's fine, but pretending it offers any benefit to a child under 6mo is absurd. |
Anonymous
I disagree! I have always felt interaction in a stimulating environment outside the house a couple of times a week is very beneficial to the infant. There are so many studies proving music and movement are helpful for development. Social interaction is also key in development, so why not through play groups, movement classes, infant yoga for muscle development, etc? |
Anonymous
| Please, PP, share with us the peer reviewed studies that advocate socializing an 11-week-old infant and I will apologize. Until then you must know how ridiculous (and now with this new claim, kind of ignorant) you sound. |
Anonymous
| We will have to agree to disagree. As a career nanny, I strongly believe in early activities with infants, encouraging babies to use their body through music and movement,develop the skills to understand sounds and language through story time, and to learn socialization through watching other children. |