PEPS: Program for Early Parent Support

I absolutely loved my PEPS experience as a first time mom. I thought it would be nice to meet other moms with babies in the same area, because I thought it would be nice for my baby. I was pleasantly surprised that it was so nice for me! Our group became very close, and we keep in touch even though our PEPS group ended over 2 years ago. I enjoyed my PEPS experience so much that I became a volunteer for the organization. I have seen so many groups at this point, both moms groups and couples, who are so happy to have this as a resource.

I had such high hopes for PEPS, because I know a few women who did it and loved it. I think it entirely depends on your group and group leader how your experience goes.
My experience was not great. I live on the East side and my group was thrown together with women who lived all over the east side, many miles apart. It was a difficult to have to pack the baby up and drive 40 minutes to get to another member’s house. I know of two other women who live near me with similar aged babies and were placed in separate PEPS groups, so PEPS REALLY could have done a better job of placing women who lived near each other closer together. My group leader was not good about follow up stuff and was often sick and didn’t come to the meetings. The women in my group did not bond, probably because we all knew we live too far apart to actually have a meaningful friendship.
I also did not like that the meetings went 2 hours long. After driving 40 minutes with a newborn who lives on a 1.5 hour cycle, it was entirely too long. Sure, I can feed my baby anywhere but he wouldn’t sleep everywhere so after an hour he would just be screaming for some place to take a nap. He wasn’t interested in other babies at such a young age.
If you get put in a PEPS group where all the women actually live within 5 miles of each other, you will probably have a good experience. I did not however and would not bother doing this again.

I joined PEPS infant group right after having my second son for moral support.
After attending my first meeting, I received an email from PEPS stating that we joined a wrong group, and that there is a group specifically for families with a toddler & infant.
So, I never went back to my PEPS group after just one meeting.
About a month later, I learned a shocking news!!!
My group leader reported me to the authority.
She made false accusations concerning my children after having met my family only once.
After social worker came out to our house, investigated, and closed our case, I immediately called PEPS program director to report what happened.
Oddly enough, my former group leader had already talked to one of the program organizers about how she had reported me to the authority. According to PEPS director, PEPS staff member explained to my former group leader that she shouldn’t have made such an extreme claim given that she is not a mandatory reporter, and that she should have left PEPS to deal with whatever it was that she was concerned with.
If my ex-​group leader was so worried about my children, I wonder why she never contacted me prior to making false accusations.
Since PEPS group leaders are volunteers AND NOT mandatory reporters, why didn’t she call PEPS staff BEFORE she reported me instead of AFTERWARDS???
As someone with healthcare background, I am skeptical of how well PEPS as an organization screens their volunteers & how well they train them to lead support groups.
It’s is heart breaking to have been treated in such an inhumane way by someone who is suppose to lend support.
Think again before you join PEPS if you are not a white-middle-class-who-doesn’t-usually-fit-into-most groups. You might have a target on your back the moment you go into your first group meeting.
I am definitely let down by PEPS.
PEPS membership should come with a disclaimer: YOU ARE JOINING PEPS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

It was awesome to be surrounded by other new moms with babies that were the same age! I looked forward to meeting each week and the topics were useful and relevant. My only complaint is that our group was spread out so I had to drive 25 minutes to go to some members’ houses. I think it’s because I was a part of the Snohomish county group and PEPS is less popular in Snohomish county than King county. Overall, I would recommend PEPS but it would have been better if my group all lived close to each other.

We’re halfway through our group sessions and I absolutely love PEPS! We attend the couples evening group and everyone has been simply amazingly friendly! There’s weekly meetings that we always look forward and weekly topics.
The speakers have been informative but really it’s the commadarie of the parents that makes the program.

PEPS was a life saver for me as a new Mom. I was in a day time Moms only group and it was perfect for the place I was in at that point. We were all very different women, including backgrounds, religions, personalities, marriages, but somehow we were still able to form a strong bond.
Our kids are two now and there are at least four of us who still get together every week, the rest we see about once a month.
I am so passionate about PEPS that I’ve now led two Newborn groups myself and feel honored to be a part of an organization that truly gets the wonderful but overwhelming early stages of parenthood.

Great resource for most first-​time parents. The groups are described in other reviews. You might at first wonder whether the time commitment will be tough, but you get back so much more from your group, which often results in great friendships (among the kids, as well as the parents). Our group started seven years ago, and is still going strong.

PEPS has been the most positive experience since moving to Seattle five years ago. The women in my group are now my closest friends. We get together for a playgroup every week, plus a «girls night out» one day a month. I am a stay at home mom but we have women in our group who did go back to work and they still stay involved in the group.
Thank goodness for PEPS. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

so I am going to provide the counter-​point on the PEPS experience. let me first carefully say that *many* women, including friends of mine, have a great PEPS experience. so let everyone who reads this review acknowledge that I’m acknowledging that.
to give the counter-​point, here’s a couple of things about my experience.
groups are organized by neighbourhood, and meet in the homes of the women who are part of that group. this is great if you fit in with your neighbourhood (however you want to define fitting in, it could be economics, politics, religion or lack thereof, whatever).
it’s a bit of a challenge if you don’t. and you can pretty quickly be accused of being «unsupportive» if you share your own choices that happen to be different from the majority. even if you try to do so having listened supportively and non-​judgementally to other group members for weeks. yes, sadly this is the voice of experience writing.
I think the tone of the group depends a lot on the makeup of the group. some folks are thriving with early parenthood, some are just honestly muddling along and looking for support, and others are just plain insecure and have the issues that go along with that. if you happen upon a group that’s a combination of the first two, you’ll probably do great. if you’re dealing more with the last, you may have a hard time.
for the sake of those who may have just moved here, i’m going to be very direct and make a couple of (likely controversial) descriptions about the overall PEPS-​mom experience in North Seattle. If you fit in, great. If not, I would definitely check out for a MOPS group (
)
–high-​income, dual-​income/​dual-​career couples
–planning to extensively use outside childcare either in form of nanny (eg $ 14 or so an hour) or daycare (high-​end; high-​price)– not at all planning to Stay At Home… which is seen as distasteful at best (ironically, a lot of the facilitators who make it possible in the first place are Stay At Home but that little gem seems to go over a lot of heads)
–typically 31 – 32 or over as starting age for first child
–often married at 30 or so, used to a lot of independence for a long time leading up to marriage and kids
–still looking for a lot of independence and convenience-​saving, willing to pay big $$ for it
I don’t fit with any of those descriptors. My experience is very different. And so, I think in part, PEPS wasn’t the best fit for me. I asked another woman who left the group early on and she completely concurred with my assessment.
So, try it if you want to, but don’t be left feeling «odd» or somehow inadequate if you don’t fit in with the crowd. you aren’t. there’s nothing wrong with you. you just aren’t in the right group. check for other organization’s classes.

PEPS made a big difference in my life.
Becoming a parent is easy, you breed. Becoming a good parent is much harder. I wasn’t quite sure where to meet new parents and I wanted my newborn to make some connections for friendships later. My wonderful ob/​gyn Dr. Hanrahan recommended this organization.
They offer a few different options. They base the groups on where you live. It consists of 12 weekly two-​hour sessions with about 10 – 12 other parents. These are during the day and attended by one parent. They also offer night classes that two parents can attend. They usually recommend registering before birth but they do take babies up to 3 months. The cost is $ 125 for the one parent day program and $ 175 for the two parent night program. And they have financial help for those that need it. The meetings are held at the homes of those involved and rotate each week. If you can’t host, it’s okay too.
I signed up for the one parent class when my child was 3 months old. I was living downtown at the time and they put me with a nice group in Magnolia. The meetings really helped me. They are organized by a group leader and usually focus on different topics each meeting. Everyone gets a chance to talk about the highs and lows of the week and address questions and concerns.
After the 12 weeks our group has stayed together, which is fairly common. The first PEPS kids are now in their 20s and many of the parents still meet up for coffee.
It’s nice to share the parenting experience with others. Get advice, avoid pitfalls, and learn great tips. I love going on field trips with them and have appreciated the interaction my child has had with all the other children. It really helped her socialize!
I appreciate PEPS for everything they gave me and highly recommend them to new parents!