social life with a newborn

AngiePeach

hi all,

I had my first child 5 weeks ago, a beautiful baby girl and after being on the phone with a friend who was telling me about the trips she has planned for thie year, the night outs ahead and so on that I have made only a few arrangements with friends to be defined better.

My question is...is it still possible to have or keep a social life with a newborn/young baby?

what sort of things can you do?

I would love to meet up other local mums and go for coffee or meet them in my place during the day as all the people I know are employeed

thanks in advance

Angie

Chemical Byrne

Of course you can. You can do anything within reason provided you have childcare arranged. this can be family.

It's more than possible provided you don't try to take the piss and want to go out on the raz every other night or every single weekend. But you don't come across as the typical "party girl".

You have to scale things back a bit true but not cut it out.

seventeen sheep

Have you health insurance? Baby massage is covered under some VHI policies, probably other policies too. It's a gimmicky load of arse, but it's fun, and it's a way of meeting people.

Water Babies is a big one, if you're into swimming.

If you have any interest in slings/wraps for your baby, there's a whole subculture there. Similarly if you're breastfeeding.

There are always local groups, too. PM me and I could probably point you in right direction.

galah

It really depends what you define as social life I was breastfeeding for almost 12 months, so going out n getting drunk until stupid o'clock wasnt an option (hangovers with small children to mind the next day are so not worth it ). But i did go out a little bit, even if it's just for an hour in the evening to meet a friend down the pub.

We have no family around to help out(they'd have to fly in) so nights away with hubby are not an option either, one of us always had the kids. But while on maternity leave, my daytime social life was pretty good, did baby yoga, music and circus classes (for the older one but brnging baby along), lots of coffee dates and lunches. Kept me pretty busy and sane anyway. Used to do a lot of walking as well, you always meet people out for a chat, at least out here in the sticks.

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Agree that pkaygroups are great.

Also if you want to meet with friends, newborns are very portable. You can bring them to restaurants, bowling, museums etc.. or have people over for dinner. Once they start crawling it is harder to bring them to restaurants.

If everyone you know is working, organise to meet them on their lunch break for coffee or lunch and bring baby.

Moonbeam

Once you have childcare there is nothing stopping you:)
When I had one I brought her every where with me,to meetings,restaurants everywhere except work!!

robindch

AngiePeach wrote: »

[...] is it still possible to have or keep a social life with a newborn/young baby?

Can't say that my newborn really put much of a dint in any of my social life. Quite the opposite really, since most people were willing to be a little more tolerant of arriving randomly late, having to leave early and so on. Great fun to have around, actually.

Fagashlil

Definitely possible. I've friends with other kids so we meet at playcenters so the older kids can play and we can chat with the babas.

I joined a fb group for mammies and babies the month pud was due, would meet with some of them for coffee and a chat.

Will also quite of head over to work to meet other pregnant friends for lunch.

Haven't really been out at night, am BF so going on nights out aren't really possible as he wont take a bottle of expressed milk! He's started going to bed by 8 and not waking till midnight for his next feed, so will at least be able to head out for dinner/cinema for a few hours.

Can't say I miss going out that much!!

December2012

Not only is it possible - it is essential!

It is so important to get out of the house for some fun and socialising.

I found a local mother and baby group online and I am still best friends with some of those ladies 7 years later.

It's a lot of daytime socialising, but that's ok - you will get your night times back in due course.

Congratulations on your new baby.

Neyite

Our public health nurse ran a workshop for 12 weeks - every second Tuesday. One week was a slings demonstration, other weeks it was things like baby massage, physio demonstration for us, etc. But the real purpose was to get mothers who had babies of similar ages together for a cuppa and a natter, and a chance to ask the PHN any questions. I really enjoyed it, and it gave me the confidence in the early days to go out and about more with the baby. Maybe ring up your phn to see what is in your area?

AngiePeach

First of all thank you all for your replies guys!
I am breastfeeding so I guess expressing milk might help when I go out.
My local public health nurse organises breastfeeding classes so I will give it a try.
Sometimes I think that the baby will start crying when I am in public and this puts me off as people will get annoyed :-/

Anyway my family will fly back home shortly so it will be me and the baby only soon so it is important to stop my confinement

Neyite

AngiePeach wrote: »

First of all thank you all for your replies guys!
I am breastfeeding so I guess expressing milk might help when I go out.
My local public health nurse organises breastfeeding classes so I will give it a try.
Sometimes I think that the baby will start crying when I am in public and this puts me off as people will get annoyed :-/

Anyway my family will fly back home shortly so it will be me and the baby only soon so it is important to stop my confinement

That's why going to the mother and baby group eased me into public outings gently. Mine was colicky so I was worried that it would kick off in town and annoy people. It also normalised breastfeeding in front of others for me so that when we did go on our solo outings I was happy enough to tuck myself into a cafe when it was time for a feed.

December2012

AngiePeach wrote: »

First of all thank you all for your replies guys!
I am breastfeeding so I guess expressing milk might help when I go out.
My local public health nurse organises breastfeeding classes so I will give it a try.
Sometimes I think that the baby will start crying when I am in public and this puts me off as people will get annoyed :-/

Anyway my family will fly back home shortly so it will be me and the baby only soon so it is important to stop my confinement

In a way then you'll have lots of opportunities for meet ups - there are loads of breastfeeding moms coffee meet ups and groups.

Have a look on breastfeeding threads and you're bound to find some hung near you. If you don't see one near you - then start one!

AngiePeach

Hi,
Im back from my first breastfeeding class. I found it very good :-)
Looking forward to the next so thanks for your advice!