how old is your baby?

[Cprem]

I am a full time SAHM to my 21 old daughter and have since mostly learned the ropes of this new gig. I have recently moved to a new state (across the ocean no less) and am starting anew of the play group./moms group world. One thing I would like to ask... does anyone have a better icebreaker question than "how old is your baby??!!?
I cannot count how many times that has been asked (and I admit, said myself) to parents. Most of the time the conversation ends once we establish age... I understand it is a perfectly understandable question but if I hear it one more time I might scream. Any alternatives??


needing an interesting conversation....

[CherryBombMama]

i dont have anything for you but the icebreaker i cant stand is "is that a boy or a girl?"

um, its a boy

[maddymama]

I try to comment on something funny or cute the LO did... that seems to work very well.
~maddymama

[phathui5]

What made you decide to stay home?

What's the hardest thing for you with being a stay at home mom?

Are you in the middle of any good books?

[Hokulele]

I don't think "How old is your baby?" is that bad. What you need is some follow ups: "Oh, 10 months? Does he have any teeth yet?" or something appropriate to whatever age. That way you can dive into a conversation about your babies and go from there.

If the baby is close to yours in age you can ask advice: "Is she using the potty a lot? How did you get her interested in it?" etc. Even if I don't agree with other parenting styles, it is always interesting to me how other people are raising their kids. And people love to talk about their kids! The more you let them talk about their kids, the more they will like you / want to talk with you!!

Then there is my old stand-by: "I love those shoes (on the baby)! They look so comfy. Where did you get them?" (shoes, sweater, whatever)

When I meet other moms at the playground etc, there's no way of knowing what they are like until you get talking. The one common ground is your kids, so be prepared with all kinds of questions around that. "Is this your only child?" Or "this is my first time to this playground, I really like how much shade it has" ... you get the idea.