Moms that are home

For moms that are home... what do you do all day?! And I mean this in a nice way. I just started my maternity leave and I'm finding myself very depressed being home all day. I go out a bit some days when my mom can watch the twins but I will be honest I miss working... what are some things I can do to occupy my time besides feed a baby and change diapers

Moms that are home

I felt the same way on maternity leave. And I cant even imagine how it is in the Winter! I would binge watch shows or download some books I have been meaning to read. When I finally went back to work after 3 months I swear I felt like I didnt know how to have a real conversation lol

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Moms that are home

In the beginning it's really hard. It's isolating and you're hormonal. Add to it the fact that you have twins and it's winter only magnifies it. It gets better. You'll get in the swing of things. Being cooped up in the house is hard.

It starts getting better once they start smiling and you get the recognition. It melts your heart and it's a reward for all those sleepless nights.

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I found the first 6 months to be really hard because there is not much you can do with a newborn when it's so cold outside. I would seriously just watch tv all day long. It got better when they hit the 4 month mark and i could sign them up for some classes and take them out a lot.

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Moms that are home

PS I am home this week with my kids (they are usually in daycare) and I literally yelled out the window yesterday "Summer Where Are You!!??" My 2.5 year old asked me Mama, Why you do that (lol) I said bc I am so bored!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE NOT ALONE lol

Moms that are home

If you're able to contemplate doing anything other than calming screaming babies or fantasizing about sleep, you're doing something right!

Because that's all I did for 12 weeks!

Moms that are home

I have a 22 month old and 3 mo old and I'm going crazy!!!!! I can't safely bring my older DS anywhere with the baby because he's very spirited, runs away, etc. It's been such a rough winter with the illness too. I'm at my wits end. Myfirst was born un the spring so we walked everyday, went to library claases, etc. Today my DS threw a 30 minute fit over an ice pop and refused to nap I told him I cant wait to go back to work. I'm so not cut out for this....

Moms that are home

Maternity leave is very different then being a sahm. I felt like I forgot my own name by the time it was over. I binge watched shows to keep myself sane. Even though it was the spring/summer it was still hard to get out of the house because I was barely hanging onto my sanity from lack of sleep.

I'm now a sahm due to a lay off and it's pretty easy with my 3 year old because she's very self sufficient.

Talk me in July after I give birth and I'm trying again to function and entertain my 4 year old.

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Moms that are home

I binge watch a lot of tv, look on my phone and chat with friends while DD2 is sleeping. I'd try to clean the house or do something productive but she literally only sleeps on me so there really isn't much I can do from the couch lol.

Moms that are home

The first 3-4 months I spent a great deal of my time nursing my daughter- She nursed every 2-3 hours and had terrible reflux so I had to hold her upright for 30 minutes after each feeding. To keep myself entertained I read (I am a big reader so this was great for me), listened to audio books (during night feedings) and watched TV. From the time my daughter was 10 days old I took her for a walk daily if the weather permitted. I chatted with friends online and on the phone- My mom got the flu right after dd was born and my DH owns his own business and did not take any time off so from the beginning it was me and my daughter most of the time. I was really too overwhelmed most days to be bored. If you are feeling depressed call your ob and ask for a recommendation for someone to speak to- my good friend had a hard time adjusting to motherhood and she had someone come to her house and work with her- it was a psychologist trained specifically address the things you are going through.
Having a newborn is hard- it gets easier in many ways as they get older.

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Early on or later?

I remember thinking the same thing when on bedrest (I begged to go back to work and did a modified lifting effort at work).

Because of a non ideal situation, I'm home with kids and I find that I have to carefully schedule my time. Between the early days of feeding, changing, napping and holding... and then adding food prep and cooking, cleaning, laundry, exercise (I do it before kids wake up), pick up, drop off, taking kids to various activities (which I couldn't do while working), studying with kids (school and my own curriculum) and family dinners (big added bonus esp as now we can eat healthier)... there is enough to fill the hours. We don't even do any travel sports! I have no clue how people fit that in!!!

I went out with the baby (often to an empty mall or just driving kids to school or activities). I need to move!

Moms that are home

In those early days, it was so hard and It was overwhelming. I had a summer baby, so we would go for walks, a quick visit at my parents house just to get out, walk around the mall, do a quick food shopping trip for whatever I could fit in the stroller basket. It wasn't until she was 3 months that I started doing mommy and me classes and meeting other moms and that's when it got a lot better for me.

Moms that are home

Try playing upbeat music. It often calmed my crabby newborns and lifts your mood too. I would have different set ups in different rooms to have some sense of variety lol. Tummy time on the floor in the living room, on a pillow in the nursery, on the boppy on my bed. Keep a few books and toys in each spot. It's hard to fill the day when their attention span is just a few minutes. Definitely tv, reading, I video chat with my sister almost daily. I'd put them in the carrier and do some cleaning. It feels like forever, but this time will be over quickly. My 4 pounder hit 6 pound in a month! I didn't take her anywhere for two months but I left her with my mom when I could to get out off the house. When I just had one, we went out almost every day by 2 months. I'm not a walker so we did a lot of window shopping walking around Bru, target, carter's, etc. It helps so much once you can break up the day with even a short outing.

Moms that are home

My first maternity leave was in the winter and it was miserable. My son needed to be held all the time and it was cold out.

Our big outings were to the mall - I'd go before it opened to walk around with him for awhile.

There was a lot of snow that winter as well so I often felt trapped.

I dreamed of going back to work as well.

My second son was born in March 2012 - the year we had a really warm winter. It made a lifetime of difference being able to go right outside and do things from the getgo weather wise.

Moms that are home

it's hard. especially in the winter. Not sure if your twins were born early but mine were born 2 months early and did not come home for 30 days. I went back to work before they came home and then took my remaining 12 week leave when they came home. they were not allowed out of the house until the end of March after they had all of their RSV shots. They came home on 12/31. They weren't allowed near their cousins until that time either and anyone who came around had to be free of the sniffles. So our siblings could not come around with their kids. These were all the doctors orders. It was rough. I found that trying to keep myself on a schedule helped. I literally wrote down everything from morning to night. During cleaning when the babies were sleeping I would put on some upbeat music to clean to. I made sure to get the twins used to loud noises right away so I would be able to have the music on without fear of waking them. The Dr did tell me that if it's over 40 degrees out I could bundle them up and go for walks in the stroller but to keep receiving blankets over the carriers. I did that like twice, lol. DH is a CPA so he worked late a lot since it was tax season when the babies came home. But at least 2 days a week he would come home on time and I would go out. Even just to walk around target for a little while. Meet a friend for dinner. Or go get my nails done. Being home bound in the winter can be depressing. If you have a family member that can help you once or twice a week and stay with the babies while you go out to the store for some errands, that helps too. I could not wait to go back to work at that time. Now I am a FTSAHM and I am running all over the place. My twins are in school all day now and I have my youngest that I am running several times a week to speech therapy, to and from Pre-school. I'm never home for long between the hours of 9am and 3:30pm. I take the kids to school, come home, have my coffee time while my youngest has his snack and watches TV and then off we go. It's different when they are older, definitely much harder as babies since you are bound to their schedule.

Message edited 2/1/2017 9:37:40 AM.

Moms that are home

As everyone else said the first few months are HARD! Maternity leave is definitely no break! Can you download some podcasts? I also started cooking and baking more. That helped with the monotony of the day and made me feel productive.

Our tv broke like 2 weeks into my maternity leave and we didn't get it replaced for a month, so I got used to just listening to music and reading books. I also took a lot of walks, but DD was born in August. The winter must be so hard!

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I've been home for 8 years now, I became a SAHM when my 1st was 6 months old. Suffice it to say, I love it , but that doesn't mean it's always fun. With newborns, and I never had 2 at once, it can be isolating and basically groundhogs day (hopefully you've seen the movie lol). But once it gets nicer out and especially once they start to play, it's amazing! My kids are now 8,6,3 and almost 1 year (on the 15th) and I don't have down time, but the majority of my day is fun! I plan out my day the night before so that I have a few things that need to get done and a few things I want to do, so this way I feel I accomplished something and still had a good day. But winters are always harder! Keep looking forward to spring time, it gets better!!

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Being on maternity leave is different than being a SAHM. I was the first amongst my friends to have a baby. I would meet up with my friends for lunch, take stroller walks, sleep when DS slept, etc. I would also meet up with my friends, all childless, in the evenings and weekends. Sometimes I brought DS. Other times I would go out solo. I didn't really hang out with moms because I didn't know any.

I have now been a SAHM for almost two years. I have 2 kids in school and pregnant. I volunteer at the school, have made many friends who either work part time or stay home full time. I'm just waiting for the baby to be born now but I normally was very active everyday running errands, working out, meeting friends, etc.

Moms that are home

Honestly be easy on yourself. I am at ftwm and on maternity I used to get punish of stress and anxiety, like what am I supposed to do all day??? Please remember your hormones are crazy and your body is working so hard. I can remember thinking that "the now" was going to be like this forever, that my life totally changed. But it kept changing and it wasn't stuck like that and you too will get your rhythm back! Now I wish I was on maternity so I don't have to go to work tomorrow lol.

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