Gymboree vs Mommy & Me

[bnme]

Any major differences here? I am going to an open house at Mommy & Me today and just wondering how it differs from Gymboree. I don't know anyone who attended Mommy & Me and very little knowledge of Gymboree.

The Mommy & Me class is 1.5 hours vs 45 minutes. The first half hour at MM is free play/Mommy chat time. My DS is almost 8 months old and this will be our first experience at a play group. Is 1.5 hrs too long? Some one told me a class like this was a waste for his age...any thoughts on that?

Is it worth the $$$ ($245). The only other type of groups I've heard of in my area is story time at the library (free), which I plan on attending this fall if it fits into my work schedule.

TIA, any thoughta appreciated!
:)

[Sarah1]

I have never been to Mommy & Me OR Gymboree (my neighbor went to gymboree w/her DD and really liked it), but the classes we have been to haven't been longer than 45 minutes. An hour and a half seems WAY too long to me, although I like the idea of "mommy chat time".

[August Mom]

I haven't been to an organized class like that either, but our playgroup generally meets for 2 hours or so. Then the kids are ready to nap and we go home. So, I think that an hour of playtime would be fine. The 1/2 hour of mommy chat time, if there isn't going to be play then too, might not go over so well, though. Assuming there are things to see and do during the whole time, though, I think you'll be fine.

[emilyf]

My ds is 8 months also and I am going to sign him up for a Music Together class. I was worried he might be too young, but I took a free preview class and he was entranced. It was about 45 min. He's not walking (or crawling even) yet so I plan to wait on a Gymboree type class. I'm interested to see what others have to say.
Emily
mom of Charlie born 11/02

[colleenfs]

We do both Music Together and Gymboree, and Julia loves them both! We started music at 8 months and Gymboree at 14 months. I wish we had started Gymboree earlier, as I find she is much more adventurous and physical now. Both are a lot of fun, and 45 minutes seems to be a good amount of time. I don't know anything about the Mommy and Me classes, but 1.5 hours seems quite long to me.

Colleen
Mama to Julia 1-10-02

[jenmcadams]

We started Gymboree with Abbie at 3 months (definitely much more for Moms at that point than the babies) and we've gone consistently ever since. I've really loved it and Abbie seems to enjoy it and all the new equipment/toys she gets to play with. For me, the $$$ has been worth it especially b/c my Gymboree makes low enrollment classes bonus class opportunities, so if you're so inclined you can get in more than one class per week (during the summer all classes were bonus classes and you could go an unlimited number of times during your enrollment period...this was great given our house's lack of air conditioning). We also have Open Gym time when you can take your kids to just play on the equipment. One final point on Gymboree is that generally Gymboree facilities have lots of classes for each age group, so you have plenty of make-up opportunities...Abbie has been going through some schedule changes lately and I've been hesitant to sign her up for anything where we don't have make-up options.

I haven't done Mommy & Me classes, but my guess is that 1.5 hours may be on the long side. Abbie's just now (at almost a year) getting to the point where she wants to hang out after our 45 minute class for the Open Gym time at Gymboree.

[egoldber]

For a "class", 45 minutes is generally a max for attention span time. But this Mommy&Me thing honestly sounds more like an organized plygroup. People tend to spend about 2 hour at my playgroup, so that timeframe sounds about right.

And classes at this age are NOT a waste IMO. 1) They are great for MOM! 2) I think it is nice for kids with SAHMs to have opportunities for social interaction. While the kids won't play together, they will get used to being around other children in social situations.

If you don't have a playgroup otherwise, then I think it would be worth the $245.

HTH,

[MelissaTC]

We don't have Mommy & Me here but we do have Gymboree, Little Gym and My Gym. I take DS to My Gym and love it! We chose My Gym because it is brand new so all the equipment, etc.. is in excellent condition. Oh yeah, he likes it too! 45 minutes is more than enough time for them at this stage. It is enough time to do circle time, sing a song, dance, try new skills, swing, climb, crawl, puppet time and sing some more. Sometimes they take out ride on toys for them to use. Today was all balls. He had a blast. I love the separation time. They ask the Moms to step back and let the kids play together with designated toys at a particular section. I love watching him. When they brought the balls out, he was fascinated and picked up a swoosh. He held it in his hand, played with it and then looked around for me. I smiled and waved. He came over, pointed to it and spoke his gibberish and then he ran back to the other kids. That was cool :)

If I were you, I would definitely do something. I look forward to the time for Matthew. He can release his energy and also learn new skills, some of which I can not teach him at home. We don't have the equipment or the space. I believe I paid $50 for the membership fee and then $125 for the 8 week session. We do get a discount for the next session because I am part of the local MOMS club (they didn't do this when I signed up).

I know this was long :( Hope it was helpful at least :)

[bnme]

Well, I just came back from the Mommy & Me open house & I was extremely disappointed! I was not happy with the facility at ALL. It just seemed to be a giant room filled with Little Tykes plastic toys -My vision of Gymboree is much different, but maybe I am off the mark on that, too.

I plan to check them out soon so I hope it looks a little more organized/interesting!

Beth, It does seem to be an organized play group, which I like the idea of. They have mom/open play time and do stories and bubbles and parachute play etc. I was just very turned off by the set-up of the place. The place just looked a little sketchy to me.

[deborah_r]

Our Mommy & Me is at the hospital (maybe they are everywhere, in which case that would be a stupid thing to say, sorry!) and I mainly chose it because we are a one car family and usually DH needs the car, and I live within walking distance of the hospital.
It is not very equipment-based. It's in the same big room where we meet for Childbirth Education and Breastfeeding Support group, and we just lay mats down on the ground for the babies (on their own blankets of course). We do a lot of singing and massaging/excercising/"stretching" the babies. There is also the parachute, which I think is the same that they do at Gymboree. Sometimes we do some Mommy exercise too. And there's usually some bubble blowing by the instructor which some of the older babies are fascinated by.

It is 2 hours, but really the first 1/2 hour is spent getting situated and feeding the babies if they are hungry. The last 1/2 hour the babies are generally tuckered out and it is discussion time or mommy exercise time. During the activities, you do whatever the baby is willing to do, and if they poop out, they can nap (mine did yesterday and missed parachute time); if they get hungry, you can stop and feed them. So I don't find it too long, but I don't know what life is like with an 8 month old yet, so I can't say how it would be for your DS.

I think DS enjoys hearing everyone singing (instead of just me) and he likes to look at the other babies and mommies. I do see it more like a big play group, but at this point I like it. I hear great things about Gymboree though!

Good luck!

[bnme]

I just came back from a Gymboree free trial class and we LOVED it! We are signed up for the Gym Crawlers class this fall and I can't wait for it to begin.

I was surprised that my DS was so into it. I thought he might be a bit overwhelmed by all the people/noise but he enjoyed himself the whole time.

Emily, I just wanted to add that it is totally not nesc. that they be crawling or walking yet. My DS is 7.5 months and doesn't crawl either (he rolls to get around). The trial class I was in was a crawler-walker combo and we had no problem -even considering it was our first time and it was the end of the summer session so all of the babies there were very used to the atmosphere and most were walking or very close to it.

There is so much to do and it seemd you didn't have to follow exactly what the instructor was focusing on-but go at babies pace and preference. She just guided you to do different things. My DS loved the bubbles and the parachute and rolling giant balls aroud. He was also fascinated with the singing teacher and her tamborine and all the other babies!

I am glad I decided to do this
:)