[Momma Aimee]

Let me start by saying i have wanted to learn yoga for a loooooong time, i mean really wanted to, but there always seemed to be a rason...classes are expensive, we were buliding the house adb didb;t have time, i was working and pg and too tired, i was too sick with the pg./.....and so on

DS is now 19 months.

I want to start him on yoga as soon as i can -- and i will lean with him, and maybe get dvd for me too and he can follow along with me too as he wishes.

I can not find any mom and tot classes in the area.

Thr only children's class is for kindergradern on up with a parent.

I have seen DVDs on Amazon - silly to calm is one i have save.... but they all say for 3 and up.

I know he doesn't have the attention span yet, and i am guess 3 is chosen age due to following directions and attntion span -- for example my son will go tot he bath room for a shower when asked, or to the nursey for a diper or go to the liveingroom after dinner, but then he runs off again... he can follow an instruction but not "staying following it" if that makes any sense?

but on the other hand i want to start him young, as young as i can.

So what do you think?

Should i jsut get me a DVD, doing it in the living room with him playing, and see how much he tries to copy momma? I don't know that I will learn a lot that way ------- i am doing hynobirthing that way too

and I am learning, but not as much as i know i would totally alone -- course as for labor, DS is a non-painful distraction to overcome so i am more ready for the distraction of labor ------------------- but it sets a stage for him.....

Thoughts?

Aimee

 

[cholderby]

:
I have not the slightest bit of authority on either a yoga or medical front, but I don't see how it could hurt. I mean, you wouldn't try to do any really crazy positions or anything. Maybe the age guidelines are for attention span?
DH loves yoga, but he normally does it before our son wakes up. I'll have to see what happens when DS tries.
Unless the next poster says it will scar him for life.

 

[Petersmamma]

You could try it, but I wouldn't invest much yet.

I do yoga at home, and my ds just climbs over me, under me, etc. I will try to get him to do what I'm doing, and it is actually quite cute when he does down dog as I am doing it and he is under me, so we're like stackey cups, but doing an actual practice wouldn't happen.

Oh, my ds is a bit over 2.

 

[AnyMama]

I think it depends on your yoga philosophy...my initial instinct was "pre-conception"

What about getting a yoga with kids kind of book. The most important thing in yoga is breathing, you could see if you could start making him aware of his breath.

 

[ani'smommy]

DD LOVES yoga. She just does it along with me. I had no idea they had yoga dvds for kids though! I just put them on hold at the library. I'd check and see if your system has them, so you're not out any money if it doesn't work out.

DD is 2.5, so a little older.

 

[Momma Aimee]

which ones did you put on hold at the liabry

?

Aimee

 

[runes]

i think it's wonderful for you to model your yoga practice so that your little one gets to observe and or participate. you can start off with getting a dvd for yourself, and let your ds watch. you can talk about the poses while you do them.

there are also some great books. babar's yoga for elephants is really cute, and you can also get a 'yoga deck' of cards with poses on them as a visual cue.

dd loves to climb over me and try to do poses with me when i do yoga. sometimes she gets in the way, but i don't really care and we just have a fun time together. we are also lucky in that there is a mommy and me yoga class in our area, but she is the youngest by far so she mostly observes (plus, she gets pretty shy in bigger groups). she's 19 months old, btw.

have fun exploring yoga with your little one!!

 

[annexk8]

We started mommy and me at 3 months, then quit so I could start doing prenatal again when DS was 15 months. Now I just do some practice at home (DS is 21 months now). He does try to mimic some postures, and he LOVES when we chant "OM" at the end. He puts his hands together and chants along with me. He actually started doing that in the class right before he stopped going. SO CUTE! I would just start doing it for yourself, and see what happens!

 

[ChelseaG]

I did mommy and baby yoga with my girl from 3 months till around a year - when she was too antsy and wouldn't sit still anymore - she is almost 2 and we just started doing it together again - I have a few books - and a Kids' Yoga DVD that is the ABC's that is great - it is really easy to follow along and you pretty much imitate animals which most kids are into anyway. A is alligator, B is butterfly, etc... We can't make it through the whole video yet - but she is starting to catch on. The easiest book I have for the really young ones is called Little Yoga - by Rebecca Whitford and Martina Selway - it is subtitled a Toddlers first book of yoga and has some easy basic poses and drawings of 1-2 year olds doing them.
Good luck!

 

[Emmeline II]

We use Wai Lana's Little Yogis:

http://www.amazon.com/Wai-Lanas-Litt...2383520&sr=8-3

 

[lalaland42]

I vote for preconception as well. DD has done yoga practically from birth (7 days old). She will now pull out my yoga mat and start streching. I do a prenatal yoga DVD that she follows along with sometimes but I am thinking of getting a DVD for kids. I have heard "My Daddy is a Pretzel" (not sure of the exact title) is good and I just bought DD a book on Babar and yoga.

Really, no time is too young, just make sure that you don't have any expectations. DD will wander away and then come back randomly. There is even a cute youtube video of a mama doing yoga and a baby crawling over, pulling her shirt down and nursing.

DD is 26 months now.

 

[slsurface]

I've been practicing yoga for about six years now. I've done yoga around my ds since birth as well as giving him massages while chanting/listening to mantras. He is now nearly 11mo and he loves it when I do yoga. I think it's mostly because I'm "playing" on the floor with him and he thinks it's an opportunity to crawl all over me.

I think it's great that you want to teach your son yoga. Since you are learning yourself, I would try to take the time to take a class with a professional (beware of aerobics classes disguised as yoga), even if it's by yourself. DVDs are great, but you can only learn so much from them. In a class you will learn about proper form and modifications to poses. I don't think any age is too young to learn yoga, as long as you are gentle and respectful with him. He will most likely learn from watching you. I would advise against teaching your son breathing techniques...these can have side effects. However, physical posturing will create body-mind awareness and will help him learn to deal with tension.

Namaste

 

[CrunchyParent]

I did yoga at home around DD since she was about 10-12 mos. or so. As PPs said, she would crawl around me and imitate the moves. We have cute video of us doing the yoga video together when she was around 18-20 mos. After a bit, she would do yoga on her own whenever the mood struck her (and with her own interpretations of the poses). She would actually get this serene look and say she was doing "Ya-go" as she struck a pose. This year, the teacher at her Waldorf school does yoga with the children (preschool) and all the kids are 3-4 yrs. old. She loves it!

 

[Hokulele]

I could have written this post a few months ago. I'm intrigued by yoga although I've never had the chance to get into it. My town doesn't have any mom and baby or mom and tot classes.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money on DVDs until I knew it would work out. We have Netflix so I took out one of the DVDs they have for baby and toddler yoga. It was ok, I never even got through it to the end. However, I think it needs another try. Recently I tivoed a yoga show from TV - a regular show, for adults. When I do it, DD gets down on the floor with me and imitates what I am doing. She calls it her "baby yoga" and loves it. We only do 15 minutes (or less) at a time.

So I say do give it a try but maybe see if you can get it free from the library or catch a show on the TV first to see how it goes.

 

[Ruthla]

With a toddler, I'd suggest getting a DVD that you think you'll like, and just do it with him in the room. He'll probably go back and forth between copying you, copying the DVD, playing independently, and climbing all over you interfering with your workout.

My guess is that most under 3yos lack the attention span to work out with mama for a whole class, so the videos say "for ages 3 and up."

 

[UrbanSimplicity]

At the risk of sounding like a sportin goods company, Just Do It! Your ds will probably copy you and think it is hilarious to see his mama in downward facing dog. He may also get bored after a while and do his own thing. But it's great to model good health habits to our children!

 

[Nourishma]

I have just recently started doing yoga daily and in my experience, it is an activity that is best done without children if you are serious about it. When I do yoga with my son around (18 mos) he spends a lot of time climbing under me, pulling on my clothes, trying to nurse etc...it's cute but not really conducive to practice for me...I have tried ridiculous things to try to keep him entertained so I could do it (such as giving him a bowl of flour and some cups and spoons, a disaster let me tell ya, flour was everywhere, in his eyes, down my shirt, all over the floor and my mat and I didn't even make it to the end) but I think it is just to much time for them to go without your attention..what has worked for me is to do short sessions where I focus on helping him to do the poses or get involved (mostly he just raises his arms up in down breathing really loudly and rolls around on the floor, so freakin cute) and then do yoga by myself after he has gone to bed, napping or dh is there to play. Not to discourage you, because I have found it to be an incredibly relaxing wonderful thing in my life and I am so glad I've started and I want ds to do it as he gets more interested because lets face it, they are way more flexible than most of us will ever be.

 

[Avena]

Hi Mama,
I'm a certified yoga instructor........I have to agree that preconception & prenatal yoga is a great start. That aside, There are lots of great kids yoga video's... My Dd loves yoga too! she get's out her mat and goes for it! cute to watch her!~

I even think they have kids yoga video's at Whole foods, if that is near you?

 

[Om Girl]

Hi mama,
What a great question! I'm a registered and certified yoga teacher (pre/postnatal) and for a 19 mo old I HIGHLY recommend you focusing on yoga and letting LO have their own "mat" space (can be just a rug) and let them "do yoga" (ie..copy you) I wouldn't invest too much time or energy into making your LO do yoga, they'll naturally do it along with you. The key is to let it be natural and fun not forced. Try and incorporate a postnatal mom/baby video and adapt it for "partner" yoga with your LO...
For example airplane ride: mom on her back with LO balanced on flexed feet above holding hands, down doggies with your feet hip width apart and heels touching so that you can look at each other and bark.
Play around with it and have fun!

*Edited to add...I see from your OP that you don't have a lot of experience with yoga, in that case I recommend that you attend a beginners class at a local yoga studio, a lot of studio's offer free first classes or "open house" nights with free classes. I'd start with a beginners class and then practice the poses at home along with your babe. Remember...there is a difference between a stretch and a strain...listen to your body and avoid injury. (Ok, lecture over!)

Sat Nam

 

[Elizabeth0506]

I've only taken a few yoga classes but I am a dance instructor and I have worked with little ones but not as young as 19months. I think it would be a great way for you to play with your child and to teach them different ways to move their body. Don't push for too much since their bones and muscles are still little. I say get the DVD!