Beaches Location: 470 Woodbine Ave, Toronto (inside St. Johns Norway)
Website: https://www.mumnet.ca/Programs
Hours: Various weekday mornings
Age: Childcare available for a variety of ages
Cost: Varies by session length and if you need childcare
Mumnet is an awesome mom group. It offers a great fitness class (with childcare) and a great discussion group after. They also have lots of great speakers: sleep consultants, parenting experts, etc.
I didn’t start this blog to review products. I started it mostly just as a diary of me and my little mans early days and to hopefully help out other moms in the area. That said I get pretty annoyed when every blogger online who reviews products got sent them for free. Not to mention that they are so desperate to get sent other free products they don’t date leave a bad review. Like seriously if a mom blogger has NEVER disliked something you should probably take her review with a grain of salt.
I ordered these breast cushions out of desperation. After being back to work for a few months and pumping once a day I was in agony. I had ordered smaller flanges, larger flanges, nothing seemed to work. I balked at the price (well more the shipping) $20USD for lettermail to Canada? You’ve got to be kidding me. The shipping plus price came to 40 canadian but I was desperate so what could I do.
I tried these over the course of a week. Following all there fitting tips. Different sized flanges, folding it over to double up, etc. No matter what I did it ranged from either being neutral or worse.
These cannot be sterilized. So to start they are absolutely not safe for a newborn. Further, they are are like a lint and dust magnet. It actually boggled my mind. I would wash them so thoroughly in hot soapy water and my the time I got my breast pump set up they seem to have collected every piece of dust in the air.
Of course these can’t be resold but I would hope a good company would stand behind their products. I was so frustrated after using them for a week. I think I actually cried to my husband that it would never stop hurting so much.
I’m happy to say 3 months after I quit using these pumping is more bearable. I switched permanently to a smaller flange and run on a lower setting but more than anything I think I just got use to it. It just rubs a different way then nursing and I think your body needs to adjust a bit.
Maybe these might help some moms but they didn’t help me.
Location: 461 Cherry Street
Website: https://ymcagta.org/find-a-y/toronto-cooper-koo-family-cherry-st-ymca-centre
Hours: Check Schedule
Cost: $100/month (as of Feb 2018)
The cherry street YMCA provides various fitness classes with childcare as well as a playground for children and gym time. There are also swimming lessons for young children. Full schedule online. The play area includes a small infant room and large play structure for walkers. Continue reading “Cherry Street YMCA”
After a long closing playground paradise has reopened. It is a large indoor play structure in east york. It’s one of the few areas open Sunday afternoon and it only costs $3 dollars.
Website: https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/recreation/recreation-community-facilities/playground-paradise/ Continue reading “Playground Paradise Is Reopened”
Location: 1 Parkmount Rd, Toronto
Website: http://www.monarchparkstadium.com/programs-events/toddler-playtime
Hours: Tuesday, Thursday 9am-noon, November 7, 2017 – April 19, 2018
Age: 0-5
Cost: $7, babies not walking are free
Throughout winter monarch park stadium is open for toddler time. While the stadium is heated when we went there it was -22 outside and the heaters could not keep up with the cold. It was quite chilly still inside probably a little above zero. My guess is it wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t such extreme cold though. I wished I had brought a mid-weight jacket.
Still despite the cold baby J loved it. There are tons of balls, ramps to climb, tunnels, and a bouncy castle, etc. He never wanted to go back to the changeroom area to warm up. Continue reading “Monarch Park Stadium Toddler Time”
Here are some places to exercise in Toronto when you have baby (or a toddler in tow).
Move fitness is a women’s only studio in Leslieville with several time minding time slots. Including one on saturday which is rare. I have heard from other moms that their kids actually ask to go there because they like the playroom so much. It’s very busy on Saturdays in the kids room though so I might not take a very small baby on the weekend that gets easily overwhelmed. The emphasis of move fitness is strength training. The facility is extremely nice with all the amenities you could want and new equipment. It is on the pricier side but you get what you pay for. It would be nice to see more cardio focused classes though and they also don’t have a lot of mid-afternoon classes.
See their schedule here: http://www.movefitnessclub.com/schedule/
Child minding info here: http://www.movefitnessclub.com/kids-programs-1/ Continue reading “Fitness with Child Minding in East Toronto”
Location: 2040 Danforth Ave
Website: http://kidsfuntown.ca/
Hours: 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday, Occasional weekends (check their facebook)
We took J to kids fun town on a very wet slushy Monday afternoon. It turned out to be the perfect place to take him. It offers a similar service to sprouts, drop in play with parents nearby, but the offering of toys is completely different than sprouts so it makes a nice change of venue. It is a socks only facility which is nice for crawlers. I think the age range that can take the best advantage is toddlers. It seems very toddler friendly as it’s definitely a smaller facility. Continue reading “Kids Fun Town”
Location: 19 Horticultural Ave
Website: City of Toronto Website
Hours: 10 am – 5 pm, 365 days/year
Allan Gardens is one of the best free attractions you can visit in Toronto. Every time I go I am amazed that it is free. It is also next to one of the best playgrounds in the city.
The gardens are a series of greenhouses with different displays each season. Walking through the gardens takes about 45 minutes if you go at a leisurely pace. We have visited many time since baby J was born and try and go once a season to see the changing displays. It is very stroller accessible. J has enjoyed looking at the plants but in most previous visits he did fall asleep in the stroller. It wasn’t until our most recent visit, at 14 months, when he really seemed to love it. He ran through the greenhouse fascinated and didn’t want to sit in the stroller for a minute. While I had to watch him a bit to make sure he didn’t damage any plants he never made too many tries. He loved watching the waterwheel by the turtles. Continue reading “Allan Gardens Conservatory & Playground”
Location: 1402 Queen St E
Website: http://www.torontoyogamamas.com/
Toronto Yoga Mamas offers such a wide variety of services to mothers and moms to be. I’ve attended a number of different ones including pre-natal yoga, mom & baby yoga, crawlers yoga, monthly mom groups, and I’ve also used their wellness services such as massage. They also have a cute boutique with curated items. They offer so many different services as well that I haven’t tried. Continue reading “Toronto Yoga Mamas”
Location: Queen and Saulter (Behind the library)
Website: http://srcpc.org/
Regular Hours: Monday, Thursday, Friday: 9 am to 1:30 pm, Tuesday: 1pm – 5:30pm, Saturday: 9am – 12:30pm
Age: 0-6 years
The south riverdale drop-in is my favourite drop-in especially for infants and toddlers. It is also one of the only ones that keep their website up-to-date! You can find their latest schedule here: http://srcpc.org/
It is much smaller than most drop-ins which are like gyms so they cater much more to infants. Circle time has more baby friendly songs. They are also one of the only drop-ins that are open in the afternoon (Tuesdays only). Wednesday there are generally field trips (must pre-register).
Location: 870 Queen Street East
Website: Toronto Parks Website
Regular Hours: Varies but usually 3pm to 6pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday (check above link under drop-in programs listed as Recreation Fun and Play with Caregiver)
Ages: Under 5
The Jimmie Simpson Rec center offers a drop in play time for babies under 5. It is one of the few free activities offered in the afternoon, it is usually offered October – April. There are no staff like a drop in center, it’s basically free play with a variety of toys in an open gym. There are a great assortment of toys to play with and it’s great for a moving baby/toddler. There is no registration you just walk in and can use a variety of toys while you are there. There are slides, lots of push toys, ride-on toys, and climbing structures.
Sometimes the gym isn’t available a small room is used instead. This can be very loud due to echoes which may be overwhelming for some children who are sensitive to noise. If this is a major concern you can call ahead and check.
Location: 183 Carlaw Ave. (Carlaw and Queen)
Website: http://www.sproutskids.ca/
Regular Hours: Monday–Friday 9am – 6pm, Saturday-Sunday 9am – 4pm
Ages: 0-6 years
Cost: First visit free, 6 visits for $66.50 or monthly pass
I love sprouts it’s very clean with great toys and play structures for toddlers. There are great amenities such as a kitchenette, coffee, sippy cups, and a vending machine with baby food if you forgot yours. Most importantly it is one of the only indoor play spaces in the area that is open on weekends and afternoons. I usually like to take Jacob to the park in the afternoon but if the weather is horrid it’s an excellent place to go. Especially before Jacob was walking I was very hesitant to take him to the park if it was wet since he would crawl through all the much. Sometimes I take him out if it’s wet now but it’s still good to have a place to go in the afternoon if the weather if bad. I highly recommend getting the 6 pass which is what we buy. I find I use it about 3 times a month on average. Continue reading “Sprouts”