I’ll be honest, when I had my first baby I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. What I’ve learned, is that most of us feel exactly the same way. Am I engaging with my baby enough? Is he developing properly? Is he getting enough social interaction? Here’s what I think: If you’re asking yourself these questions, the answer is probably yes.
But, we still want to do all that we can for our children, and getting them out of the house and exposing them to new things is part of the learning process. I tried classes and storytimes, every park and museum known to man within the local area, and hit up every playground available.
Here are my top picks for babies in Charlotte:
1) My Gym
I’m a huge fan of My Gym, because of the classes they offer for all ages of children. They have classes for 6 week old infants. Now, in all honesty, I’m not sure how much they are picking up at this stage, but any excuse to get out of the house as a new mom and be an environment of other new parents is a valuable experience in my book. Not sure if it’s for you? Check out My Gym at one of their free-plays. Non-members pay a small fee to experience what they have to offer.
2) Public Library Storytimes – FREE
If you haven’t been to one of the storytimes at our public libraries… GO! They are free, most are available without pre-registration, and it’s a great way to socialize your kids and expose them to books and storytellers. We are regular visitors and hope to see some of you new moms out soon! Here’s a list of local library storytimes: http://www.cmlibrary.org/programs/programListing.asp?ag=&et=Storytime&dt=dr&ds=2012-9-16&de=2012-10-31&df=list&cn=0&private=0
3) Carolina Place Indoor Play Area – FREE
This is the place to take your kid when they are learning to crawl and walk. The floor is padded, and they have age-appropriate, soft crawling features for the little ones to pull up on. Avoid this place when school is out (no baby enjoys being trampled by a six-year-old), but when Graham was around younger, we would go at least once a week and set up shop. Mall info here: http://www.carolinaplace.com/
4) Small Hands Big Art (starting at 18 months)
I think y’all know how much I hate messes and crafts and messy crafts, which is why we go to Small Hands Big Art, where they manage all of this for me. Graham held his first paint brush here, where I felt like he got a lot of focus on motor skills. Added bonus? Relatives tell me how much they love his art as gifts. And, I love that I don’t have to keep paint brushes in the house.
5) Charlotte Nature Museum
The Nature Museum is the smaller cousin of Discovery Place and Discovery Place Kids, but it has it’s charm, and for the little ones, it’s just pure gold. It’s a small museum, with various rooms for tots to explore, scheduled storytimes and puppet shows, live animals, a butterfly room, and play room with tunnels, and water and sand play. Non Discovery Place members are charged $6/per person. For additional details including hours and location, visit: http://www.charlottenaturemuseum.org/
6) Charlotte Aquatics Baby Swim Lessons
I have mom guilt about not getting my oldest in swim classes early enough, so my second is getting a much earlier start. Charlotte Aquatics offers swim lessons for babies as young as six months old. Parents are in the pool with their child at this stage, and it’s a great bonding experience as well as an opportunity for your child to get comfortable in the water and begin to learn the essentials of water safety.
What are your favorite spots to hit up with babies?
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