What has your Baby Gym experience been like (i.e Gymboree,etc.).

[cchavez]

We have tried two free classes this week. The first was at The Little Gym which is 5 minutes from my house. Both Diego and I had a blast!!! It was great. The instructor would tell the mommies what skills we were working on and it was very physical....great for my active son! In addition, the instructor played the guitar and all the songs (even on CD) were very child appropriate.

Then I went to My Gym Childrens Fitness Center yesterday. The age range was 6-18 months but there were a few kids in in there that we were almost 2 years old!!! Diego was the youngest at 9 months. I felt like we were in a structured playground class. The instructors seemed like high school students or college students and they mostly played rock music!! Diego did have some fun but it was not developmentally appropriate for him. We do have a gift certificate to this place but I will hold off on taking him there until after he turns one.

I have a friend that loves Gymboree classes. She is coming to visit on Monday so hopefully she can fill me in but I doubt I would take Diego there b/c it is not as close to our house and the classes are too close to his nap time. But I think I might try a free Saturday class so that DH can experience this too.

So what have your gym experiences been like? These classes are not cheap have they been worth it for you and baby??

[cchavez]

anyone???

[MelissaTC]

We used to go to My Gym. I really liked it. We did not have the same experience you did in terms of age of the children. My DS was the oldest in the class but everyone there was around his age (within 2 months). We took a 12-18 month class and that is what was there. This was structured as well but there was also plenty of time for discovery. There were two teachers- one is the owner, and the other is an assistant who is a college student. It is VERY popular around here, especially since it is new and all of the equipment is new, etc.. I liked the music and so did DS but then again, I play the top 40 station in my car. As far as the actual class goes, DS LOVED it and I did too. There was always a new skill to learn, circle time, puppet show, adventure, social interaction where the parents stepped back and let the kids play, etc.. I thought it was great and we are going to be signing up again for the next session. DS will be moving up since he is 19 months now...

Edited to add that we started going when DS was 14 months. It was a perfect time since he was becoming very physical and active and this always seemed to poop him out. :)

[lisams]

We started Gymboree when DD was 9 months old, and it has been FABULOUS! She loves it so much, especially the ramps, slides and tunnels. I like that there is unstructured time because at 14 months she is not willing to sit for more than five minutes when there are things to explore. It is more expensive than our local YMCA (which offers nothing for babies under 18 months) and the city's parks and rec classes (went to one and was disapointed) but it is well worth it to me.

Lisa

[JenCA]

We're trying out a free GymCrawlers class at Gymboree this Saturday. I'm really excited about it! If we all enjoy it, I'll be signing up for the spring session of classes. Will be back to post how the class went!

[jec2]

Ok, since this is Baby Bargains, here's the bargain. I just went to my first class like this today. Loved it! It was 1 1/2 hours and we had the parachute, songs, puppets and physical development assistance (good excercises to do at home, baby massage, etc) But, for the 10 classes....only $10 (that's $1 per class) How? Thru our university Adult Ed program and no, you don't have to be a student. Our community college has some Mommy and me classes too that are inexpensive. Although i haven't checked them out yet, I am sure they are just as good.

[cchavez]

Wow! That sounds great! All of our adult/ed or park recs classes are for 12plus months!

[jec2]

That's a bummer. This one I went to was for babies--newborns to I maybe 6 or 12 months. But, the oldest baby was probably 6 months.

[winterwonderland]

How much are Gymboree classes? I called to find out from a center but I had to leave a message and no one has called me back.

[kristine_elen]

We did Gymboree for a while but then Jack's nap pattern changed so we missed most classes (and makeups). I think it depends on the instructor and the other people in the class. Some classes were kind of uptight while others felt very relaxed and fun. There's something a little too corporate about Gymboree for my taste (that Gymbo clown and the way they use the word Gymboree in all the songs) but we MIGHT do it again once Jack's naps are more structured. ... They did have different activities for different purposes, such as balance training, etc, but I have read that you don't need to worry about that and kids should just develop naturally, so I generally just let Jack roam around and do what he was interested in (which did win me some disapproving glances from one of the more uptight instructors).

[cinrein]

You can enroll online. Just start the enrollment process and then cancel before you enter your credit card info. You should be able to find out how much they are that way.

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[redhookmom]

Just as you found I think these classes are extremely instuctor dependent. There is no Gymboree near us but a few Kindermusics. I have gone to 3 different ones and had totally different experiences. So, we always do a trial class before signing up for anything. HTH