Does anyone know if you can have either free or cheap Parenting classes? I've expecting my first child and trying to learn everything on how to look after my bub when it arrives, from how you change nappies and foot to toe in bed, how to breast feed etc etc, and my partner and I would really like to be able to attend some sort of evening class to teach us some basics. I have been reading books but they dont answer all my questions. Does anyone know if these classes are possible or how I could go about fining out?
New parent classes
- Thread starter -Cat-
- Start date
-Cat- said:
hi cat
your midwife will be able to tell you but you should get offered anti-natal classes at around 30 - 32 weeks thats if you get them down where you are but they usally cover everything
hope this helps
lesley+bump
not long now 21days till my c-section
I only had TWO Parentcraft classes! And they really only covered pain relief in labour and feeding. From what I can gather you will learn most of the day to day care while you're in hospital/from your midwife when she visits. Bit of a 'hands-on training' thing I think!
Have you tried the NCT? I think their classes are about £80-100 for the course, don't know whether you consider that cheap or not (I couldn't afford it unfortunately, just too many other things to buy).
http://www.nctpregnancyandbabycare.com/
Have you tried the NCT? I think their classes are about £80-100 for the course, don't know whether you consider that cheap or not (I couldn't afford it unfortunately, just too many other things to buy).
http://www.nctpregnancyandbabycare.com/
I tried the NCT course. It cost £100.00.
To be honest I really didn't think it was worth it and it got very technical. There were five classes and three of them were sunday afternoons 1pm - 5pm. Four hours of sitting at a desk learning stuff was a bit too much to be honest. I got the impression they were filling the hours to try and justify the cost.
They covered the stages of labour, pain relief, breastfeeding (very preachy), labour induction and we did practise changing one nappy on a plastic doll. Everyone was just picking the doll up by it's legs or head and not really trying to deal with it as a baby.
It felt more like lessons in midwifery, very technical and we used midwifery textbooks. It was a bit annoying because I thought it would be more practical. The breastfeeding advice was very good though, but again, nothing I couldn't read in a book or will be shown by the hospital staff after the birth. You will be given numbers of breastfeeding councellors so you can call with any questions whenevr you need to.
If you have sky TV, i've started watching all the baby programmes, such as desperate midwifes, a baby story etc. I feel more prepared from watching these and so does my husband.
Your midwife will write to you at about 30 weeks to invite you to the free ones. If they are free, I'd take advnatage, but I wouldn;t recommend paying for the NCT one. The only benefit was getting to meet other mums and knowing that you are contributing to a charity.
I've come to realise that nobody has a clue what to expect when it's their first unless they have babies close in the family. Hands on training looks like the only way to me.
To be honest I really didn't think it was worth it and it got very technical. There were five classes and three of them were sunday afternoons 1pm - 5pm. Four hours of sitting at a desk learning stuff was a bit too much to be honest. I got the impression they were filling the hours to try and justify the cost.
They covered the stages of labour, pain relief, breastfeeding (very preachy), labour induction and we did practise changing one nappy on a plastic doll. Everyone was just picking the doll up by it's legs or head and not really trying to deal with it as a baby.
It felt more like lessons in midwifery, very technical and we used midwifery textbooks. It was a bit annoying because I thought it would be more practical. The breastfeeding advice was very good though, but again, nothing I couldn't read in a book or will be shown by the hospital staff after the birth. You will be given numbers of breastfeeding councellors so you can call with any questions whenevr you need to.
If you have sky TV, i've started watching all the baby programmes, such as desperate midwifes, a baby story etc. I feel more prepared from watching these and so does my husband.
Your midwife will write to you at about 30 weeks to invite you to the free ones. If they are free, I'd take advnatage, but I wouldn;t recommend paying for the NCT one. The only benefit was getting to meet other mums and knowing that you are contributing to a charity.
I've come to realise that nobody has a clue what to expect when it's their first unless they have babies close in the family. Hands on training looks like the only way to me.
Thaks for your advice everyone. I have been reading up on baby books and feel resonably confident. The only thing that concerns me which will sound stupid is how will I know whn to change a nappy, I have a poor sense of smell and will use disposables, with exception of when the baby crys and I discover a full nappy I dont have a clue, do I change every time the baby wets?
I worry about that too. I read somewhere that for the first few weeks, it's better to use cheaper nappies that aren't as good at keeping it in, that way, you can tell when they are wet! After a while you can change to better ones when you become more confident.
I'm guessing that I'll spend every ten minutes checking
I'm guessing that I'll spend every ten minutes checking
With the nappy thing, I don't think they actually smell until the baby's older anyway. Certainly they say that breastfed babies' nappies don't smell and my baby's definitely don't! I usually know when she's filled it though by the noise! 
And if not, after a while you'll just wonder if she's got a dirty nappy and you just pull open the leg or undo one side and have a look. With wet ones they feel kind of heavy or more solid than they would if clean.
And yes, you should change each time the baby wets its nappy.
And if not, after a while you'll just wonder if she's got a dirty nappy and you just pull open the leg or undo one side and have a look. With wet ones they feel kind of heavy or more solid than they would if clean.And yes, you should change each time the baby wets its nappy.
