Playgroups, swimming, and other activities

Hi there, any of those things, a playgroup or Gymboree might be fun. You may just have to try it and see how she does. My son came home at 7mos and he was in a foster home with another baby. He loves being around other babies. But, he didn't always enjoy big parties w/lots of people oogling him. You could tell that stressed him out. I think you will be able to tell after one or two times if your daughter is enjoying it. As for swimming, a Mommy and Me class might be fun too. I did one with one of my sons. I don't know that he swam any sooner, but I'm sure the experience in water was good for him.

I found my playgroup invaluable support to both ds and myself. I took a baby massage class for 6 weeks, and we kept getting together after the end of the class for the next 3 years!As for swimming, ds hit the pool at 4 months, just treat it like a big bath tub, take toys and just sing and play and splash a little. Mom and me swim classes are fun, but at 7 months, dd will get just as much out of spending time with you in the pool playing. Mommies need playgroups as much as the kids do!

It depends what you want from the play date. If you want to meet up with other parents, then it's never too early to start. But if you want to socialize the child, then you might as well wait until she's a lot older--more like 18 months--even then they pretty much do parallel play. They don't really start interacting until after 2, generally. Ages 3 and 4 are great ages for interacting with other children -- they have so much fun together. As for swimming, there are infant Mommy and me programs (my understanding is you don't want to submerge a child that young). My dd started taking swimming at 20 months and adores it--she's 4 now. Honestly, at this age, anything you do is going to be more for your socialization, rather than hers. It's nice to meet up with other mothers to compare notes, and get ideas.

We usually started swim lessons when our children became mobile... We live in FL and most of our friends have pools, so swimming is a must.. I think we'll start Bryce this summer when she's about 11-13 months..

Kathryn was a year old when we did our Mommy and Me swim class. It was lots of fun and I can't wait to do it again this summer with both my kids. Playgroups are the big thing in my area. Both of my kids (21 months and 7 1/2 months) are in one. It's a great way for kids to learn to interact with one another. It also offers lots of support for the mommies. Good luck and have fun!!!

I joined the MOMs club (a national group) which has weekly play groups. In our group, the kids' ages range from 8 months to 15 months. We meet at the park or we rotate at each member's home. Lia loves to play with the other kids' toys and is now starting to interact with the kids, too. We're also enrolling in a 7 week class called "Ooey, Gooey, Messy Fun!" :) I haven't looked into swimming lessons yet . . . but it's in the 80's now and we're starting to go to the community pool. Have fun!

I started taking Guapo to a baby reading group at our public library once a week when he was about seven months old. It only last half an hour and they sing songs, tell a little story and the babies get to crawl around and at the end they play with a big box of toys. I think it's great for socialization for me and for Guapo to have a change in routine. It includes children up to eighteen months and it's free. You don't have to register or commit to anything, just show up. They have bilingual groups in my area too.

You might want to look into some local mom's groups - MOMS Club, Mothers and More, MOPS (there are probably others) They usually offer lots of options for playgroups and outings. I have belonged to MOMS Club for over 7 years and have meet so many people through it I started going when my older son was only a couple months old when it was more for me to get out, and now I am doing playgroups and outings with my younger two.

My son was 8 months when we started going to a play group. He lived in a hogar so I think he kind of misses watching all the other babies. He likes crawling around with the babies in playgroup and watching the older babies. We also go to baby lap time at the library and one of our local churches has a baby music class. It's like kindermusic but free!

Our gym starts swimming lessons at 9 mos., we started just before his one year birthday. It's fun and he's getting really comfortable in the water although he can't really follow the commands like the older kids (e.g., he drinks the water instead of blowing bubbles :eek: ).