What It Costs to Turn Your Baby Into A Genius

Finance at a glance contributed by Geezeo

by Chelsea P. Gladden

Many new parents can easily get suckered into thinking that if they don’t start their child in a music class by 5 months of age, she will already be behind all the other babies. Sure, it may sound crazy, but conscientious parents are just listening to claims such as “music helps brain development!” Speaking from experience however, walk into any music class for babies and notice lots of happy little ones lying on their backs, cooing to their mothers and/or fathers and occasionally shaking maracas off beat when they aren’t trying to suck on them to help with teething – little Albert Einsteins in the making!

What signing up for classes with your baby WILL do, is get you out of the house – a regularly scheduled and paid for class could be the extra motivation you need—and interacting with other parents. A little adult conversation will likely boost your spirits and in the end help you be better suited to give your child the love she needs. However, if you want to believe that it will also boost brain power versus just more drumstick-sucking-drool, here’s what it’s going to cost you.

Music

Claim: Boosts brain power, but “further testing still needs to be done”

Average Cost: $75 -$100 per month

Baby Yoga

Claim: Develops motor skills and helps with sleep, digestion and mood

Average Cost: $80 per month

Baby Sign Language

Claim: Research suggests that babies that signed had a significantly higher IQ by age eight

Average Cost: $75 – $100 per month

Baby Massage

Claim: Eases crying and fussing, relieves colic, helps with respiratory function

Average Cost: $60 per month

Tiny Tumblers/Gymnastics

Claim: Encourages visual, auditory and spatial exploration

Average Cost: $65-$75 per month

Clearly your genius-in-the-making tab can easily add up, but if you can afford at least one or two programs to enjoy together, it can be worth the extra bonding for you and your little smarty diapers –er, pants.

**************

Want to make more sense of your money? Check out Geezeo.com.

photo credit: Morgue File

Related posts:

1. Baby Modeling—what it’s all about We’ve all thought about it—you open up your magazine and...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.