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| WilliamsburgWalks Street Fair, via Neighbors Allied for Good Growth |
In the decade or so since I've lived in Williamsburg, the neighborhood has experienced a tremendous baby boom. It's a fantastic place to start a family: there are parks, a pool, and open spaces along the waterfront as well tons of businesses serving children and their parents, with more popping up every few weeks. Check back for more as I figure out this whole mama-to-be thing...
- For general posts on local news and living in Williamsburg, go here.
- For general posts on baby gear, some of which is available locally at boutiques like Mini Jake, Sweet William, Wee Babe, and Area Kids, go here.
- Check the links here for my recommendations on newborn essentials for sleep and breastfeeding. These are items I found useful in Axel's first three months at home (since let's face it, this is about all they do in the early days.)
- For months three to six, this is what came in handy.
- Essentials for months six to nine are here.
- For New York magazine's list of children's boutiques in North Brooklyn, go here.
Prenatal Resources
Kula Yoga Prenatal Classes
Kula offers bi-weekly prenatal yoga classes and yoga classes for moms and babies of different ages. After class, the juice bar, which also offers yummy vegetarian fare, is a good place to chat to other women, and the more I go the more I feel that's it's a social as well as a physical experience. A few other moms-to-be I've met have also raved about the pre-natal classes at Abhyasa.
Birthday Presence Childbirth Education (at Caribou Baby)
Will and I took four weekly childbirth prep classes with Birth Day Presence. The evening classes were taught by doula and childbirth educator Meghan Mahar, and were really helpful. I wrote a few entries, here and here, about the sessions. Meghan also came to our apartment to give us a private lesson on newborn care and breastfeeding in the week before Axel was born, showing us swaddling basics and more.
Massage Williamsburg
Forget the cheap nail places (or the fancy spas in the city.) Go to Massage Williamsburg, an unassuming place on Wythe and N. 6th St. A lot of their masseuses are certified in pre-natal massage and the owner, Rachel Beider, is a doula as well.
Paul Kostas, Personal Trainer
I've been working out with Paul for a few years, and when I found out I was pregnant I was thrilled to learn he's certified in pre- and post-natal training and that I could keep it up. He works out of a private space near McCarren Park (or can come to you, in some cases.)
Labor Resources
I raved about our birth doula, Grace, in the posts that made up my birth story. She is fantastic. For more on my labor experience and how she helped, check out the following. If you want a natural, med-free childbirth, I can't stress how key it is to have a doula. She is affiliated with Carriage House Birth, another great local resource for expecting parents.
Birth Story: The Last Week
Birth Story: Early Labor
Birth Story: Sunday
Birth Story: At Home
Birth Story: He's Here!
Birth Story: What Got Me Through
Life with Baby Resources
Aqua Beba Swimming Classes
When it's humid and horrible out (and you're 8 months pregnant), getting in a pool seems like a pretty fabulous idea. Aqua Beba offers private prenatal swimming classes (email them for info) at a few local condo pools, and you don't have to be a resident to join. They also teach little ones how to swim, beginning with classes at just 4 months. So far, Axel's loving his introduction to the water. The baby classes take place in a heated, saltwater pool.
Arts and Crafts
When Axel is ready to channel his inner Picasso, Williamsburg will be ready for him. There are arts & crafts classes at Lemon Sky, Chroma, The Painted Cloud, and at Mini Hands.
Babies and Books
Axel adores this reading group at the Leonard Library. The Brooklyn Public Library system has events like this on a weekly basis, across the borough, and they're free.
Blue Balloon Songwriting
Songwriting classes for kids 3-13!
Brooklyn Baby HuiAxel adores this reading group at the Leonard Library. The Brooklyn Public Library system has events like this on a weekly basis, across the borough, and they're free.
Blue Balloon Songwriting
Songwriting classes for kids 3-13!
This is a yahoo message board for local parents and parents-to-be. There's great info about childcare, doulas, trainers, baby wares for free or for sale, and more. In order to join, you need to send an email to the administrator. They have smaller groups for moms having babies around the same time as well which also require that you email to join. I've been meeting up with the ladies from the Summer 2012 moms' group and it's been so key for my mental health (and fun as well.)
Caribou Baby
This great little shop and education center is quickly becoming a hub for all things mama and baby related in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. They offer classes in childbirth education (care of Birth Day Presence), baby massage, and pilates as well as drop in playgroups for mamas and babies of all ages. And the very sweet clothes from Nature Baby are lovely. I pop in here constantly! The breastfeeding support group saved my sanity during Axel's first week home, and they helped demo my baby sling before and after his birth. Another great resource at Caribou is their lending library. They have a stack of books on breastfeeding, sleep habits, pregnancy and more (and borrowing them instead of buying them has saved me hundreds of dollars.)
Diaper Kind
An eco-friendly cloth diaper laundry service that services Williamsburg. I don't know if we'll go this route (or at lease, I'm going to get out of the newborn survival stage first), but it's great to have the choice. Diaper Kind seems pretty reasonably priced at $35 or $50 a week. You need to get set up with all the right gear first.
Farm to Baby
Love this small business idea. You can sign up for delivery of homemade, seasonal organic baby food. Plans start at $35 a week for babies 4 months and older. The founder, Lauren Utvich, is awesome, and worries about sourcing great vegetables (so you don't have to.) Read about our experience with Farm to Baby here.
Jami Saunders Photography
Jami Saunders took Axel's newborn photos and did a wonderful job. She also offers cool packages that include three photo shoots at different points in a baby's first year and she photographs older children too.
Kids' Movie Screenings
Every week, Videology offers screenings of Sesame Street ($2/family) and children's movies.
I've also seen notices for baby-friendly screenings at Nighthawk. I couldn't find info about this on Nighthawk's site, but there is a Facebook group you can join. Movies! With screaming babies! Well, this doesn't sound fab, but the knowledge that everyone is in the same boat is something.
Mighty Mamas and Baby Boot Camp
Two group workout options for new mothers (babies too.) Mighty Mamas meets in McCarren park, while Baby Boot Camp alternats between the park and spaces at Caribou Baby and the Betz Method Space just off the park for their class Strollfit. Once I got my clearance to workout after Axel's birth, I signed up for a month of unlimited Strollfit classes. To be honest, I kind of pictured something hokey where we jogged with the strollers. Instead, it's a typical P.E. style class (lunges, star jumps, ab workouts, resistance training with bands) while the babies chill out in their strollers. If Axel gest unruly I either take a break or figure out a way to work him into the routine.
Puppetsburg
Puppets kind of freak me out, but you can sign up for packages of these creative shows (or drop in on a per show basis.)
Sing-a-longs at The Knitting Factory
I initially thought that a baby might not get much out of something like this, but a lot of local parents raved about these sing-a-longs, which happen every Wednesday and Friday at 11:00 a.m. Our nanny started taking him at around 4 months, and I've taken him when I'm able to. He loves watching the older kids dance while he wriggles around in your lap. It's $3 per sing-a-long.
Streb Movement Classes
Streb, a cool local center for dancers, aerialists and gymnasts, offers classes in Williamsburg for children as young as 18 months. Miss J's, a gymnastics center, also offers classes beginning at that age.
Indoor Playspaces
Axel is a bit young to get much out of indoor play spaces, but there are tons of them in the neighborhood. They offer classes, memberships, one-day play passes and often host birthday parties.
Play
The Gym Park
An indoor space that also hosts Mommy & Me and gymnastics classes.
Frolic & Klub 4 Kidz & New York Kids' Club
There's Frolic, which has gotten a ton of press lately, as well as Klub 4 Kidz. I think Play seems a little less terrifyingly plastic-y, but maybe I will eventually change my tune. New York Kids Club is slated to open in the fall of 2013.
Twinkle Playspace
Twinkle is a wonderfully creative place. The little mini grocery store reminds me of the childrens' museum in D.C. and I can see this being a life saver when I have a restless toddler on a rainy day. They do children's birthdays too.
Meals for New Parents (and harried, not-so-new-parents)
So far, I've loved Sip Soups, a small company that has two soups a week on offer. You send them an email and your soup is delivered on Wednesdays. If someone is home to receive deliveries, this would make a nice gift.
I'd also recommend dcuisine, a new national meal delivery service (that's based in the city) that I've had the pleasure of consulting on. The soups and beef stew are delicious, and the lack of mess is a real plus.
Lastly, Blue Apron is a really clever idea. You can read about our test run here. They send you all the ingredients and recipe cards for three meals a week, which saves the day when you get home from work and have no idea what to do for dinner.
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