WAG Baby in the gym?

[wallinbl]

A former coach of DD's had a baby while coaching. A few of the team moms chipped in and held him/walked him during practice. Sure, there were times when she had to take a quick break to come and deal with something, but it wasn't any big deal and everyone was really pretty happy with the situation. I thought she held command of the team practice quite well while having the baby there.

 

[wallflower]

I guess I should also add that DD started at gym where her coach did this and it was a disaster! DD was only 5 at the time and it was one of the reasons we left as well. Then again the coach was incompetent to begin with so it's no wonder she couldn't find a way to effectively coach and have her child at the gym.

 

[Bajanswife]

OP, I'm assuming you're thinking of doing this because you feel that 6 weeks is too young to leave them in daycare, but you'd be willing to do so once the baby got older, say 4 months (like you did with your first child)? In that case you are only talking about a period of 2.5 months or so, and you're not talking about a mobile baby. I think that situation is probably quite a bit different from having your baby there until they are a toddler! It's also not your first child, so you are less likely to want to run to the baby for every noise etc. Sounds like the situation has the potential to work out - it would be up to you to come up with how best to minimize disruption to your gymnasts.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

I was picking up DD after her 3 and a half hour gym practice on a Friday night. Open gym was going on and had a half hours left. She and other preteamers wanted to join open gym for the last half hour. We had to fork out the money. Then staff member asked me to hold one of the coaches babies for that half hour. I couldn't find anyone to give her back to when my six year old came out to go home. Doesn't sit well with me at all. The office staff asks us to help them with various things and then they nickel and dime us. And their kids run around the gym all the time for free. Doesn't sit well with me doing other people's jobs while they bleed every last penny they can. Designate an office staffer as babysitter if this is necessary.

 

[Muddlethru]

I sympathize with the OP. It would have been so great to bring our kids with us to work. But my experience at seeing this done at our gym was pretty bad. The organization and coaching was already problematic to begin with and this added more to the chaos. Nonetheless, dunno has a successful program. If his gym has been able to do it, then I am sure there are ways around it that is not distracting or lends itself to an unsafe gymnastics environment. If is important to you, before presenting this situation to the gym owners, I would research ideas and suggestions so that the gym owners will buy into having you bring your baby to the gym.

If you have a big gym, an office staff (front desk person) could be designated as a babysitter. We had and have no staff outside of the coaches and at any given time, there may be 3 coaches in the gym coaching upwards of 40 kids, Level 7 and up. There is not even enough coaches to cover all 4 apparatuses. My daughter is a level 9 and as it stands she and her other two teammates get very little attention from coaches because the coaches are focusing their attention on our large L7 group. If you have a well run, properly staffed gym, it may work. Otherwise, you'll have some pretty unhappy parents.

i said it can be done and it can be done right. many of us club owners have done it and our gymnasts still went to nationals and Visa's during this time. that some of you are in programs that don't know what they're doing, i can see where they wouldn't know what they were doing once they had their own kids in the gym. but this is just not so for the majority of us that did this. that's all.

 

[pt coach]

I did it with my first child. We had a team mom who stayed during practice anyway and she adored babies. She would grab him out of my hands the minute I walked into the gym and cuddle and play with him the entire practice. I wasn't distracted by him being there at all. This lasted until he could move on his own...then I stopped bringing him because he could climb out of anything and it was distracting. My 2nd child would not go to anyone and would cry if I sat her down at all during the practice. She came to the gym just once!

 

[BarCoach]

Wow. Thanks to everyone who responded. This will only be a short-term situation. The baby will stay with the babysitter or enter daycare when it is probably 4-6 months old. I just dont want to start that at 6 weeks.
I will start by coming up with ways that it could work and then present those to my boss. I do have a few parents who always stay for the entire practice who might be willing to watch the baby. I like that option. I have occasionally brought my toddler with me for warm-up only and the girls get their fill of him before practice starts and then they and i have been able to focus (95%!) on the workout while he happily plays. I was thinking of bringing a bouncy seat or swing for the new baby, but as someone mentioned, it will depend on temperament.
Hmmm, lots to consider.

 

[chalkbowl]

I know several coaches who took/take their young children with them to practice, and do it successfully. One only does it for a few hours until her husband is off of work and can come pick up the child from the gym. They have a pack & play set-up and bring their stroller for the child to sleep in. They can watch DVDs on a the portable DVD player and be changed in between rotations when necessary. The child does not interfere with the gymnasts nor are they held during the entire practice. My personal coach also had her young ones with her in the gym. Although it was sometimes a distraction, I did not feel it hindered my gymnastics ability nor was the gym ever unsafe.

I know I personally do not make enough to afford hiring a babysitter (even a cheap teen!) or setting up night time daycare. At this time my option when I get to that point in my life will either be to bring the child with me until my husband is done with work, or to quit coaching for a few years.

 

[my4buffaloes]

I would be ok with it if done right. That being said, of my 4 children, some of them it likely would have worked for and others it would have never worked. You don't know what you will get for a child and it could very easily be a very demanding baby who screams if not held. So, I don't know that you could plan for it very much in advance. Again, I would be ok with it.

 

[AmandaLynn]

I know I personally do not make enough to afford hiring a babysitter (even a cheap teen!) or setting up night time daycare. At this time my option when I get to that point in my life will either be to bring the child with me until my husband is done with work, or to quit coaching for a few years.

This is the biggest struggle. In many areas, coaches do not make much more than babysitters. Especially if you factor in more than one child. Daycare isn't an option because of the evening hours. It's very difficult to balance family and gymnastics. You really have to have a passion for it in order to make it work.

That said... Dunno, between your recent posts about your facility in the "pit/no pit" thread and your posts in this thread, I'd love to come work at your gym.

 

[mommyof1]

Wow. Thanks to everyone who responded. This will only be a short-term situation. The baby will stay with the babysitter or enter daycare when it is probably 4-6 months old. I just dont want to start that at 6 weeks.
I will start by coming up with ways that it could work and then present those to my boss. I do have a few parents who always stay for the entire practice who might be willing to watch the baby. I like that option..

If you are presenting this as a limited-time deal, and there are several people involved who can pass the baby around instead of having one person stuck with the baby all the time, I bet you could find lots of moms who like holding babies and would be willing to help you out. And, by the way, congratulations on the impending arrival!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I'm curious as to how you make it work, dunno. On first read, I would be against it, but if someone could explain a way that it would work, I would consider it.

From what I've witnessed and experienced, it is very difficult to do both an excellent job at parenting while doing an excellent job at watching a baby at the same time. What generally happens when you try to do both, especially on a regular basis, is both baby and job get short-changed...while the mom gets stressed out and feels guilty because she can't give her all to either thing.

part of our success with this is that we are a husband wife team.

 

[gymcoach26]

I think in some situations it can be done. Our HC had her baby in the gym for awhile after he was born. She worked out a deal with a couple different moms who usually stayed to watch practices. They had trouble with all the costs of gymnastics so they basically babysat in exchange for coaches fee. This was actually the parents idea and the coach was happy to do it. The child was out of view from the coach so it was not a distraction to anyone.
my thoughts on leaving them with the office staff is that it's not a good idea. They have their own work to do and you are now taking away from their job or causing more stress. Example, answering phone calls or registering a new sign up at the desk and a baby is crying or needs changing or feeding. That wouldn't be fair just as it would not be fair to have a baby on the floor.

 

[GymBee97]

As a parent, it would bother me because new moms are focused more on their child than the gymnasts. And that is how it SHOULD be! But as a gym mom, it would concern me to have your attention so divided. To my way of thinking, there are two coaches because two coaches are needed. I hate that our country isn't more supportive of paid, extended maternity leave and new mothers have to make these kinds of decisions.

But good luck with the rest of the pregnancy and birth. Enjoy that new baby!

I agree!!

You have to decide what is more important to you keeping that coaching job or waiting until your newborn is older or using child care at an earlier age. The type of job you have requires your full attention on the gymnast for their safety. Having a divided attention on your child would concern me and could be a reason I would look for another gym or switch to a different class.

 

[aerialriver]

I do hope the op can find a way to make it work out for her. We have had parents that seriously had baby fever and wanted to watch a baby more than anything else! I also know our very busy receptionist hates when people ask her to watch their baby/kid for a few minutes because she can't do her work, but she then feels obligated. So I guess it just depends on your specific gym. If I were the parent of a gymnast paying tuition I would expect full attention from the coach.

The thing that bugs me about this thread and I am sure to get flamed over it is the sense of entitlement from some posters. If you choose to have a baby you need to plan how that is going to work with your employment. Can you imagine if all low paid jobs allowed people to bring babies to work (waitress, grocery checker, fast food worker etc.?) Somehow those folks manage.

 

[wallinbl]

The thing that bugs me about this thread and I am sure to get flamed over it is the sense of entitlement from some posters. If you choose to have a baby you need to plan how that is going to work with your employment. Can you imagine if all low paid jobs allowed people to bring babies to work (waitress, grocery checker, fast food worker etc.?) Somehow those folks manage.

I just went back and read the post again. It doesn't sound like that at all. It largely says she prefers not to leave the baby with someone else for the first few months and is asking what other options might be in the context of gyms. Seems silly not to ask, especially given the fact that many of the responses say there are options.

 

[gardenia01]

One of my dd's old coaches brought her newborn to the gym and paid a parent to watch the baby in a back room at the gym. It seemed to work pretty well and she would feed the baby while the girls were on break. It didn't take away from her coaching, but it was Level 5 beam and bars. Not sure it that makes a difference.

 

[Maitland]

As a parent, it would bother me unless the baby was being watched by someone who is assigned to do just that and nothing else (such as a parent who wants to babysit.) The baby should also not be anywhere on the floor or area that would be distracting to the coach. If the coach has time in between groups, then that would be the only time that the coach should be leaving to check on the baby. Sure, new parents love their babies and want to be with them, but coaching is a a demanding job. Can it work? Yes. But for me, there would have to be a lot of thought put into it to make it work. I know that most new parents want to be with their babies, but I can't think of many jobs that would allow a baby on-site on a regular basis.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

you guys are a tough crowd. lol. never missed a nationals in any year that we were raising our kids. sure glad we're done as much as we miss it. it's obvious that the environment/expectations/gymnastics landscape has changed quite a bit since our time.

 

[profmom]

Given how short a time a newborn is very dependent upon a mother or other primary caretaker and the much longer length of time that a good person can be an outstanding employee for an organization, a failure to accommodate is not a rational, long-sighted choice on the part of an employer. Having a child is also not a completely private choice; if we go that way, we basically make a decision as a society to thwart women's (and all invested parents') full contribution to our economy and public society and make many outcomes for children completely dependent upon their own luck in being born into families with or without resources.

I would guess that the Europeans observing this conversation are quite perplexed.

Team Dunno.