Welcome to you and your baby to the amazing Helsinki city (or Espoo & Vantaa, commonly known as Helsinki metropolitan area). Are you feeling a bit lonely with your peanut in the city? Maybe you didn’t know that there are many mum/parent & baby groups in Helsinki. My favorite part? Most of them are hosted by professional family supporters or doulas like me and are regularly established now. Let’s check them!
Free Mum / Parent & Baby Groups in Helsinki
Let’s start with the free ones because, well, maternity leave money is tight for everyone, right? There are a few options of mum and baby groups in Helsinki for free like:
- Motherhood Talks. Hosted by The Nest Doulas, this is the more heartful mum & baby group in Helsinki. We are not afraid of talking about the big feelings in motherhood. The light and the shadows of it. It’s free and you can join with your baby until the age of 1. And it’s extremely convenient: it’s downtown!
- Nice Hearts is an NGO that offers a full program of activities for multicultural families, with a very special focus on mothers and kids. They have different mum and baby coffee times around their different spaces in Helsinki and Espoo. I’m proud to say I trained with them and I’m part of their neighborhood mothers programme.
- Familia RY is an NGO offering services for mixed-culture families. They have groups generated by their users called “mum and baby duo”. While they are not led by a professional like some of the other ones mentioned, the facilitators follow a training provided by the NGO. My favorite part of these groups is that they divide by language, so even if they are small and casual, they are good for keeping your own culture and connections in your language.
- Albertin Olohuone (Albert’s living room). I am adding this resource at the end of the list because is not an “structured” mum group bur more of a space where you can meet other people. The space runs in different thematic days, for example Mondays are more international, another day for elders, etc.
Paid (but EXTREMELY WORTHY) Mum / Parent & Baby Groups in Helsinki
Let’s go to paid groups for parents and babies in Helsinki. And let me say they are extremely inexpensive compared to the value they offer.
The best paid mum and baby groups for international mums are hosted by Compass Psychology. What I LOVE LOVE LOVE from their group is that:
- They offer it in different seasons so you can join when it’s more convenient for you and for your baby’s age.
- The group meets several times in a short space of time, which produces great bonding among the mums – some of them keep the friendship for years!
- Each session is around a different topic and for each topic, there’s an expert there to hold your feelings and solve your questions. Not only the expert psychologists from Compass are there, but also other pros in posture, recovery, postnatal yoga, birth story healing, and of course lactation. I’m part of the group sessions as a lactation consultant.
- It’s absolutely inexpensive. You get way more back from your investment than the cost of it.
During the autumn of 2024, they are launching something new that we all have been waiting for, and it’s the group for second time mums!
Finally I want to add a paid activity, but it’s a favorite among the international community of mums in Helsinki. It’s Purna Yoga prenatal and postpartum yoga classes. You can attend there with your baby and the amazing classes by Nikola and her team leave you back into your center. It’s conveniently located next to Kamppi, where you can stroll with your new mumfriends for a coffee or lunch after your yoga class.
Learn Finnish with your Baby
And yet another activity that is not exactly a parent and baby group but still very interesting for families are the learning Finnish classes you can attend with your baby.
Usually the name for these classes is “Kotiva” and they are aimed for stay-at-home-parents taking care of babies. The babys’ ages are limited, depending on the provider. For example it can be babies from 8 months to 2 years.
How does the course work? I think this is important for you to understand. You will join the class and your baby or kid will be in a close-by room with another adult, taking care of all the kids of the pupils. If your kids needs you, they will come to let you know. But before you
The best place to find these courses next to you is in Ilmonet, the major searcher for courses in Finland.
Other Free Parent & Baby Activities in Helsinki
I know it’s hard to believe, in an expensive city like Helsinki, there’s so much stuff to do for free.
These are not “mum/parent groups” but still nice activities or places where you can find new mum friends.
My first tip is to check your closes Leikkipuisto. There are more than 60 of these lovely spaces in Helsinki. In Espoo their name is Asukaspuisto. What are these? Outdoor playgrounds and indoor facilities to go with kids and play. They offer weekly activities and even many of them have groups for kids on daycare age, if you don’t want to take them to daycare but want them to do some hours of playing and meeting new friends.
But, focusing on mum and baby, most Leikkipuisto have amazing indoor facilities and a program with music, painting and crafts to do with your baby.
For an extra-local tip, there is a leikkipuisto in Oodi central library! Their activities can feel more inclusive and international, as many families like ours just stay around with the kids, and many mum group friends meet in the library. The plus: you can warm baby’s food, go to a quiet room for nursing, there’s a dedicated table for families where you can have your lunch… and a huge stroller parking spot. Check Leikkipuisto Loru’s activities on instagram – I loved their musical moments and also the learning Finnish sessions!