Seattle's Child

Your guide to a kid-friendly city

Find your tribe: (New) parent groups, classes and workshops

Online and in-person, there are other parents all over the city who are feeling what you’re feeling, loving what you’re loving and hating what you’re hating — right this very minute. Find them. Embrace them. Join their groups.

 

It can be hard to imagine leaving the house with your new baby and all the crap that inevitably comes along with them. The urge to hunker down and hide out in that fog of sleep deprivation might sound more appealing than venturing out, but your tribe is out there waiting for you. Worried you don’t shower enough to socialize? Pssst! Nobody here is showering enough; it’s OK. Your tribe can offer the kind of lifeline support that’s so important while you’re trying to conceive, preparing for your new baby or already adjusting to your new baby and new life. Online and in-person, there are other moms and dads all over the city who are feeling what you’re feeling, loving what you’re loving and hating what you’re hating — right this very minute. Find them. Embrace them. Join their groups.

 

Adoptive Friends & Families of Greater Seattle: AFFGS offers a support group for families awaiting adoption. AWAIT (Adoption Waiting: Anxiety, Intensity, Triumph!) meets once a month in Bellevue. Meetings provide adoption resources, a place to discuss the emotions of the adoption process and a network of other supportive adoptive families. affgs.org

 

Attachment Parenting International Seattle: Family support group meets the second Saturday of each month to discuss topics of interest to parents practicing Attachment Parenting. apiseattle.org

 

Beyond Birth Seattle: First Weeks is a weekly drop-in group that provides support and advice to new parents, including topics of concern for parents to the first 12 weeks postpartum. Facilitator Krystal Silva, ND, LAc, is a certified lactation specialist who has professional training in Postpartum Mood Disorders. beyondbirthseattle.com

 

Early Days, Seattle: Facilitator-led drop-in group that meets every Wednesday to discuss all of the emotions and realities of parenthood, from pregnancy through the first year. theearlydays.net

 

Eastside Mothers Club, various Eastside locations: Membership-based group for moms on the Eastside. Group organizes weekly Moms’ Morning Breaks with supervised childcare, mom-only events and playdates. eastsidemothersclub.org

 

Embracing Motherhood Support Group, Seattle: Meetings hosted by Open Arms Perinatal Services; provide a safe place to express feelings and connect with other new moms. Second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. openarmsps.org

 

Embracing the New Normal, Redmond: Wendy Dean’s Embracing classes are broken down by age and are available for parents with newborns, 3-to-6-month-olds, 6-to-12-month-olds and toddlers. Embracing classes for kids under 1 meet once a week; the Embracing Your Toddler class meets once a month. embracingthenewnormal.com

 

Families of Color Seattle: FOCS offers newborns, waddlers and dads’ groups. Each group covers topics related to age and development while members engage in discussions related to creating and teaching culture and exploring race and identity. focseattle.com

 

Green Lake Moms, Seattle: Once a humble Yahoo! Group, Green Lake Moms has grown to include more than 3,000 members. All members live within 2 miles of the Green Lake Community Center and strive to be a resource for one another while navigating motherhood and building community. greenlakemom.com

 

GROW Parenting, Seattle: Offers parenting classes and coaching. Have a group of friends with parenting questions? GROW provides customizable parenting discussion and classes; one-time or ongoing. growparenting.comhttp://www.growparenting.com/

 

Kindering, Bellevue: Offers support resources, speaker series and different groups for moms, dads and siblings of kids with special needs. kindering.org

 

LaLeche League of Washington: Regional groups meet all over the Puget Sound area, offering mother-to-mother breastfeeding support. Details of individual groups can be found at lllofwa.org/groups

 

Listening Mothers: The signature program of the Community of Mindful Parenting. The class is designed for mothers of young babies, with the focus on compassion, stress reduction and the enhancement of attachment. Locations vary. communityofmindfulparenting.com

 

MAIA Midwifery and Fertility, Seattle: Solo Conception Support group meets online every other week for individuals looking to conceive as an intentional single parent. maiamidwifery.com

 

Mommy Matters, Seattle: Workshops designed for moms with a focus on intentional parenting, Positive Discipline and Gottman principles. Personal coaching also is available to workshop participants. growparenting.com/pages/pages/pages/mommymatters.html

 

MOMS Club: Moms Offering Moms Support is an organization whose activities are geared specifically toward stay-at-home moms. Local chapters include: MOMS Club of Seattle NW: momsclubseattlenw.org. MOMS Club of Bellevue: bellevuemoms.wix.com/momsclubofbellevue. MOMS Club of Sammamish Plateau: momsclubsammamish.com.

 

Multiples Groups: For parents and expecting parents of multiples, these groups can offer support and resources unique to the task of parenting multiples. Seattle Families of Multiples: seattlemultiples.org. Eastside Mothers of Multiples: emoms.org. Snohomish County Mothers of Multiples: snomoms.org/wordpress. Tacoma Parents of Multiples: tacomamultiples.org. Valley Mothers of Multiples Club: valleymomc.wordpress.com.

 

PEPS: The Program for Early Parent Support is a program designed to connect families based on neighborhoods and baby’s birthdate. Facilitator-run groups help families navigate new waters alongside their neighbors. peps.org

 

Postpartum Support International of Washington: Postpartum Mood Disorders and the adjustment to new parenthood can be incredibly isolating. PSI of Washington offers an extensive list of support groups around the Puget Sound area for parents who want to connect with other families experiencing similar difficulties. ppmdsupport.com

 

Puget Sound Adlerian Society: PSAS offers online and in-person parent education courses that draw from the work of psychiatrist Alfred Adler. Positive Discipline, Disciplina Positiva and Teaching Parenting the Positive Discipline Way are made available through co-sponsorships with other nonprofits. PSAS also publishes The Parenting Calendar, a roundup of known parent-class offerings in and around the Sound, four times a year. psasadler.org

 

Seattle Holistic Center: Offers a weekly new-mom support group called Adjusting to Parenthood. The group allows women to honestly express their experience of motherhood — the highs and the lows and everything in between. Group is open to expecting mothers and moms with kids under 1. seattleholisticcenter.com

 

Meetup: Meetup groups offer you the ability to find groups of self-organized neighbors and community members rallying around shared interests. There are hundreds of groups of parents meeting around the Sound. Here’s a quick sampling:

 

Seattle Single Parents Meetup: meetup.com/The-Seattle-Single-Parents-Meetup-Group

 

Super Moms of West Seattle Meetup (formerly West Seattle Moms of Tots): meetup.com/wsmoms

 

Eastside Cool Mommies: meetup.com/CoolMommies

 

Seattle Stay at Home Dads: meetup.com/Seattle-Stay-at-Home-Dads-Group

 

Atheist/Agnostic Parents of Seattle: meetup.com/Atheist-Agnostic-Parents-Seattle

 

Seattle Pro-vaccine Playgroup: meetup.com/Seattle-Pro-vaccine-Playgroup

 

Seattle Vegan Families: meetup.com/Seattle-Vegan-Families-Group

 

Pregnant Around Seattle: meetup.com/Pregnant-Around-Seattle-Meetup

 

Christian Families with Young Kids: meetup.com/Christian-Families-with-Young-Kids

 

Yahoo! Groups:

A quick search of Yahoo! groups reveals that there are more than 200 groups in Seattle related to parenting. Check out the groups in your neighborhood.

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Seattle's Child Staff