WAG Baby in the gym?

[gymdog]

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.

Actually a lot of people don't manage if they don't have family nearby. Also, with my experience, education, and temperament, in the metro area where I live I could actually make MORE as a full time nanny than I make coaching (and I make a decent amount compared to some of the threads I've seen here, but I would make more in a nanny share - two families paying). In fact, there is a very real possibility that in the next year I will stop coaching gymnastics to do this, because there's really no reason not to, since my hours are already stressful anyway and personally I will enjoy caring for two babies or toddlers more than doing things like teaching a cheerleading class. I do love gymnastics, and I'll miss some aspects. I love coaching developmental team programs. But people are nuts if they think I'd pay a babysitter to coach and get paid what I do.

 

[pt coach]

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.

I think this is an excellent point. At the time I had my kids I had been coaching at my gym for over 10 years...and I have now been coaching there for 10 more. Had the gym not been accommodating and the parents had not been supportive, I would have dropped coaching. Instead, I brought my infant to the gym for a few months, and continued coaching there for another decade and counting. Seems like a smart compromise on the part of the gym. Coaches who stick around and are completely loyal to a program are not that easy to find. I also do not recall that we received any complaints about this but then again, we really strive for a family friendly environment and our parents in general support this philosophy.



Add me to Team Dunno as well

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Team profmom & pt coach...

 

[wgagym]

One of my kids is always at the gym. They are not allowed in the gym area while a class is going on but they are there. In the lobby, in the toy room, coloring with gym parents wherever. I do not have babies anymore. Mine are 5, 7, and 9 so they are pretty self sufficient but my kids have grown up in the gyms I worked for before I opened mine and they are still gym rats. I completely understand that coaches need to be 100% engaged but many of us can do that and still have our kids around. These kids know no different and know how to behave in the gym because of that.

On the flip side I have seen programs where coaches kids are running all over the gym during practices and that is scary, but like Dunno said if it is done right it will not affect the safety and quality of the program, and is quite common in this industry.

OP I would talk to the owners and find out what their philosophy is. If it is short term it may not be a problem at all.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Team wgagym...

 

[CoachGoofy]

One of the programs I grew up in, the owners' kids grew up from a very small age in the gym. When they were very small, parents or team girls helped out. It might have been a way to earn a small tuition credit, helping with their kids. As a gymnast I never felt resentful of the coaches' children.

(Of other gymnasts siblings who were running wild? yep-and this applied to their parents running in front of me too. But it was never the coaches' children, they always were supervised).

As a coach, I am a non parent so it's mostly a non issue, but if one of my coworkers was having a baby & wanted to come back to work, I'd be pro-"hey, tuition break for babysitting!". Child care expenses are a lot, & finding good coaches is hard.

 

[BlairBob]

Again, look for a bored sibling in the stands that wants to make a buck or experience babysitting.

But we forgot one of the OP's kid was a HIM. So easy...I was supposedly an easy kid till I started finding things that blew up like gunpowder caps around 6 or 7. My little bros would hang out and play with stuff or watch tv. They loved mimicking Bruce Lee.

Joking aside. Don't bother a busy office lady. Don't bring the kid on the floor especially if you have to spot.

 

[exgymnastmomx3]

At the gym we're at, we're all more like a family. Yes, we get the serious work done, but we're also there to help each other out when need be. At my current job, I'm a nanny for 3 boys and have worked for the same family for 5 years now. Sometimes I need favors from them to accommodate my life and my 4 kids and sometimes they need me to go above and beyond my job description to help them out. That's how we roll. I see a gym family in much the same way. I came from one back in the day and my dd is at one now. I left a gym that wasn't like that because that wasn't the atmosphere I was looking for.

 

[ALgymMom]

It would never happen at our gym! The owner (who never had kids) would mumble something about insurance. Lol

 

[Kiwi]

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.

What a cheek! You should have charged them a babysitting fee!

 

[Kiwi]

Baby Spotting Vault! Bay City Gymnastics' Coach Colton 2 Yrs Old - YouTube

Yikes!!!!!

 

[Moxiegrl83]

I'm on Team Dunno too. One of the things I love about our gym is I can bring my DD to work with me. I know she's older, but she's still there 6 days a week with me. I know our HC brought her youngest as a baby too. There are ways to make it work, and since I work in the office, I can say I would not mind having the baby in there with me at all. Sure at times it gets busy, but I can guarantee I'd have the moms we know well in there to get some baby holding time, without even asking. I'd probably be lucky if I got to hold them at all!

And I've been asked a few times by our coach's if I was going to have another baby, because they seem to think DD needs a little brother or sister, and they want another baby to spoil in the gym. ;-) I told them to have their own baby's so I can spoil their's instead.

 

[mommyof1]

One of my kids is always at the gym. They are not allowed in the gym area while a class is going on but they are there. In the lobby, in the toy room, coloring with gym parents wherever. I do not have babies anymore. Mine are 5, 7, and 9 so they are pretty self sufficient but my kids have grown up in the gyms I worked for before I opened mine and they are still gym rats. I completely understand that coaches need to be 100% engaged but many of us can do that and still have our kids around. These kids know no different and know how to behave in the gym because of that.

On the flip side I have seen programs where coaches kids are running all over the gym during practices and that is scary, but like Dunno said if it is done right it will not affect the safety and quality of the program, and is quite common in this industry.

One of our coaches has her son, who is maybe around 8 years old, hang out at the gym the entire time she is working. He is very well behaved and never distracts his mother. It's actually kind of cute to see him around, since sometimes he will talk to the little kids before practice, help them open the gate in the railing, etc. I also like the fact that this arrangement enables the coach to keep working, which means that my daughter can benefit from working with an older, more experienced coach who has personal experience as a parent (and therefore a better understanding of how kids think). The one thing I don't like about it is that the kid sometimes goes out on the floor and does crazy flippy things on the tumble track without any supervision. It never distracts any of the coaches, but it seems like a danger to him. His mother doesn't seem to mind a bit, though.

 

[Amber]

One suggestion I have, that works in our gym, is offer free privates in exchange for babysitting. A definite motivator for parents ! Good luck finding a situation that works.

 

[MaryA]

One suggestion I have, that works in our gym, is offer free privates in exchange for babysitting. A definite motivator for parents ! Good luck finding a situation that works.

I would definitely do this! Heck, I would babysit occasionally just in exchange for being able to stay and watch practice (a no-no at our gym). We have a pack of free-range toddlers running amok at DD's gym, and I'm not always thrilled about it, especially when they are frequently running out to a parent who is coaching and asking for attention, to be held, for a bandaid, etc. I don't think it's the safest situation. On the other hand (like many jobs out there, I might add) coaching often doesn't pay much and requires working non-traditional hours, and we have amazing coaches. I will take take our great coaches with their kids over lesser coaches without them. I'll admit that I sort of hope that, as this pack grows up, there will not be a new pack to replace them.

 

[Quadqueen]

DD's main coach had her daughter in the gym when she was little. She was 2 when we first started at the gym, and she would be running all over the place, getting in the way, etc. I tried not to get annoyed, but really was ticked off when the coach would let her take a turn with the team girls on tumble trak, etc., and take a REALLY long time, just bouncing down tumble trak while the other girls waited!!

Mary, it may have been good for us then if we were not allowed to watch practice - I might have been better off not seeing that!!

 

[cbifoja]

Dunno, could you give us some details on how your family made it work? Having a positive example would be enlightening.

 

[BarCoach]

Thank you again to everyone who responded. It is extremely helpful to read so many viewpoints. I am especially happy to hear cases where it does work, even when the children are older. I've been thinking more about the details of how it could work. This is assuming it is a relatively easy baby. If not, i will have to consider either puying it in daycare earlier or taking more time off. I do feel a loyalty to my gym girls though so I'd like to take as little time as possible. Anyway, as far as details go, the hardest events would be bars and floor. Half of my group will be training level 5 next summer so i will be spotting a lot of clearhips, flyaways and back tucks. Assuming it is an easy baby i will bring something for it to sleep/lie in for when I'm spotting. Also, our team groups are always on break at different times so there will likely be another coach available to hold him/her. Beam and vault should be relatively easy. And if a parent is enthousiastic about watching the baby while i coach, i will take that option.
One other consideration I'd appreciate feedback on is feeding the baby. I'm planning on nursing it before practice and during breaks away from the kids and giving a bottle if I'm in the gym. I wouldnt want to have to be the one to answer kids questions about nursing or get any parents mad. Sound ok?
Really hoping i can make this work. We do have a family feel to our gym so I'm thinking my boss will probably be supportive.

 

[bogwoppit]

You sound like you have a great handle on things.

As to the feeding, I would nurse the baby if that is what you want to do. I cannot imagine anyone in a gym having an issue with that. By six weeks the feeds should be further apart and so the chances of needing to nurse are lower.

I do like the idea of exchanging privates for childcare, barter is so family friendly. Plus everyone wins, most of all baby.

 

[MaryA]

Hmmm... I believe that "nursing in public" is one of those discussions that Bog won't let get very far before she puts a stop to it, but personally I would not be in the least offended by you nursing in the gym, as long as you weren't trying to nurse while you were trying to spot my child at the same time. If you want to keep the drama to a minimum, you can try to find a quiet corner and/or drape a blanket over you, but personally, I think you should be able to do it wherever you want, in whatever state of coverage (or lack thereof) that you are comforatable with.