[cluckyluckyducky]

DD is 5 months and we are in a Mothers' Group of mums and bubs of 5-6 months of age. Our group meets once a week mostly at the local park if the weather is fine or in local cafes and some of us also do Rhyme Time at the local library. But I'd like to suggest other ideas for our gatherings. What does your Mothers' Group do or where do you meet up? Please give me some ideas. We are in an inner-city area ( Sydney).

Thanks in advance.

[Jekaho]

Up to 3 months was the structured group run by the local MCHNs... for a month after that we met at a cafe. From when the babies were about four months until one year old we met in a function room at a local pub once a week. We brought a big mat, and toys, and we chatted and ate and drank while the babies played/we played with them.

From when they were one, we met at each other's houses, from 10:30am for 2 or 3 hours. And we still do now that they are almost 3.5 years old. We go to the park on different days depending who is available. But we just meet at each others houses each Thursday - the kids enjoy it so much just hanging out and playing with each other, and each others stuff. It helps that a lot of us live in houses with a trampoline or swing set etc. So we can play outside as well as inside.

We didn't see the need for structured elements, such as going to a storytime or softplay together or whatever. The kids and us mums just enjoy each others company. Would your group be open to meeting in each other's homes??

(I should add our group isn't small - when we were at the pub there were up to 15 of us - so 30 all together, plus the occasional older sibling. Even at one year old there were still 8-10 of us meeting up every week. Then when the second siblings started coming from 13 months, it made the group swell again each week up to 12 or 18 bodies easily. We still have six of us able to meet each week, plus another two who will be back on maternity leave soon. So it can be a bit squishy - especially if it's wet weather and we're all stuck inside. We might have yards, but most of us don't have big houses!)

[cluckyluckyducky]

Thanks for your response Jekaho. I'll definitely look into the idea of a function room at a pub or similar. Did it cost a lot to book the room? I guess with winter coming, we're looking for other places to meet up. Cafes can be a bit cramped as the group is largish (10 mums and 10 bubs) and the babies are getting to be at an age where more room is required for them to play (not happy just to lie or sit in pram or lap).

Each other's homes are also difficult as many of us live in tiny apartments or terraces with tiny backyards.

[Jekaho]

They let us have it for free - no one was at the pub that time of day so there was no inconvenience to them. And we made sure to buy food/coffees from them, rather than bring our own for us mums.
When the bubs started moving around more, it got a bit tricky as the floor wasn't always very clean. That was why we moved to homes. And yes, we did have squishy times (there were four of our group still in apartments then, three have since moved to houses/townhouses) but it all worked out ok. Maybe something to think about when they are a bit older and the weekly group naturally shrinks a bit with people going back to work etc.

[Joey11]

You could talk to your local council re: spaces available to hire at a nominal rent - there may be library meeting rooms, neighbourhood houses, health centres or similar with suitable spaces. Or churches may have meeting rooms too.

Usually a pub should let you have the space free during the day so long as you buy some drinks.

[Soccer Mum]

Hi at that age we mainly met at a cafe or at people's houses. A local cafe would open up their back room for us and we sat around and put the babies in a centre on a rug so they could interact. We also did rhyme time, and later kinder gym etc. There were mums and bubs sessions at the movies too, I personally couldnt take DD to any of them as she was an active crawler at 5 months and wouldnt sit still but the others had a ball. We also did some things like go to mothers and babies markets and have somebody do a demo of cloth nappies, cooking products etc, go for a walk with the prams if it was a nice day, stuff like that. Its a bit easier as they get older too and you can do more play related things. I really love mothers group, I have gained so much support and enjoyment from it. Have fun

This post has been edited by Soccer Mum: 13/05/2012, 09:15 AM

[Lully]

My DD is about the same age as yours. My mums group decided to meet at our local playgroup. It's about $10 per family per term which we thought was very reasonable. There's heaps of different toys for the bubs to play with and us mums don't have to worry about making sure our house is tidy etc! They have tea/coffee facilities and we take it in turn to bring morning tea each week. Works great for us so far!

[Roobear]

Our mother's group meets at a local playgroup now as well. Works out well as the babies are moving around so much, and they have heaps of toys there for everyone to play with.
We paid $25 for the year

[Georgie01]

I was going to suggest Playgroup, sometimes they have spaces that you can use just for your group if there's a timeslot available. My Council has a building that they hired out to Playgroups. Most of these groups were 5-10 people who met at Mothers' group.

[LoveMy3Kids]

My mum's group first started meeting when our now 6.5 year olds were 3 months old. We met a couple of times at people's houses but it was a bit squashy as there were 12 of us plus our bubs. We found a room at our local library we could use for free, so booked it each week. We went there until our bubs were almost 1 and then the group reduced to 8 due to people going back to work, so we started back meeting at each others houses.

Once the 2nd and 3rd kids came along, people's circumstances changed and houses were getting a little difficult so we met in a room at a local community centre. It had toys and an outdoor area, as well as a seperate kitchen. It worked really well and we continued to meet here well after the first kids had started school. We also met at playgrounds and play cafes, depending on weather and what we felt like doing.

Our group no longer meets every week as more girls have gone back to work and most don't have kids at home now, but we meet regularly either just mums out for dinner etc or on a weekend for a bbq etc.

I think it really comes down to assessing the needs of the group at the time. Active bubs don't suit certain environments but are great in others.