When it was approaching my maternity leave, I was so excited! All I could think was ‘no more work for 9 whole months’. I was preparing for activities I was going to do with Noah and looking into baby groups we could attend. It was all great and id already booked some baby classes before Noah was born. All this changed though when my first wage came through with just my maternity pay. I knew it was going to be rubbish pay but I hadn’t really prepared for how rubbish (we could only just manage our bills).
After a couple of months of paying on average £6.00 per class per week (we were attending 3 classes per week), it became apparent that this was just not financially sustainable. I felt terribly guilty that we had stopped going, it made me feel like I was neglecting Noah and him achieving his milestones. It wasn’t until I sat myself down and gave myself a good talking to that I actually realised how miserable it was making me attending the baby classes.
I found when I started the classes they were small intimate groups of around 6 babies. This was perfect for me due to suffering with anxiety, I don’t feel comfortable in crowded places. But as time went on, my area must have experienced a baby boom because all of a sudden there were up to 12 babies in each class. I really dreaded going and I think Noah picked up on my anxiety because he became really upset during the sessions. The only class we both really enjoyed was the baby massage class which ran for a total of 6 weeks and had only 6 babies. I might add that Noah also attended swimming lessons from being 6 weeks old due to my apprehension of children around water!
So I knocked all the baby classes on the head and saved myself almost £200 a month! I then started to look into places we could go to get out of the house that were either free or cheap as chips where both me and Noah would be happy. Here are my top 5 places to go on maternity leave…
- Walks around reservoirs – I have previously done walks around reservoirs with the dog so I already knew of a couple we could walk around but I wanted to try new places too. Yorkshire water website has a list of all reservoirs in my area and gives a guide on whether it is pram friendly or not which gave me the choice to take the pram or a baby carrier. Fresh air, free and Noah was introduced to nature.
- Walks to the park – Our nearest decent park is 1.5 miles away from our house. I’d put my walking boots on, get Noah in the pram and off I went. A good 3 mile walk, fresh air which helped with my mental health and Noah got to try out the swings. Again free and full of fresh air.
- The Library – Well I never knew that you could sign baby’s up to the library! I went on to our council website and joined online. We then walked to our local library to get our cards. Mine was a plain one, Noahs has the hungry caterpillar on the front! We started doing library Wednesdays picking 7 books for the week and having a read in the reading corner while we were there. Sometimes if Noah was sleeping I would grab myself a coffee (they have machines, each drink around £1) and a book and have 30 minutes to myself! Again free or low cost if you fancy a drink and its educational.
- Local stay and play groups – Sometimes these can be hard to find because a lot of community centres have closed down. However I found stay and play sessions run at local churches. Generally they ask for a donation of what you can afford or £2-£3 for unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits and your children can play for a fair few hours. You also get some adult conversation which you will definitely be thankful for. Low cost activity, warm and toasty and a chance to gain some sanity.
- Soft play – This is something me and Noah didn’t attend until he was around 9 months old, simply because I didn’t know at what age soft play areas allowed children to start attending (a lot of places don’t make it clear online). Looking back I would have probably started going when Noah was around three months old especially during the week to the soft play centres that have designated baby areas. We actually attended a soft play that was free for under 12 month olds and an adult on Wednesday mornings so it literally cost me a coffee (and a piece of cake, obviously)! Most other soft play centres usually offer discounted entry fees for children under 12 months which is usually around £3. Again, cheaper than a baby class.
I continued to pay for swimming lessons for Noah throughout my maternity leave and we still attend now. Noah loves them and at 11 months old I am amazed by how confident he is around water! On average most lessons work out at around £12 per lesson. For me, you cant put a price on children’s safety.
These are the 5 activities I would do every week, and it meant me spending time with Noah one to one and we both really enjoyed it and created a fantastic bond. Don’t be put off by going outdoors during winter with a baby, wrap them up in their pram suit with mittens and a warm hat. It’s so much better for them than being cooped up in a warm house where germs can multiply.