When did you start enjoying motherhood?

[frenchie4002]

I’m 3 weeks PP and in the thick of the newborn trenches. Obviously love my baby but keep thinking wtf have I done😂 when did you start to actually enjoy motherhood?

oh are you meant to enjoy it?
i must of missed the memo 😂

@rightkindofwrongg 😂 let me rephrase - when did you start to feel less shellshocked and more settled?

Big improvement at 8w pp. Steady improvement until teething started. Slightly downhill once mobile. Better towards 2y, big step up at 2.5 y.
Properly easy once the youngest reached 3.5 y.

When I went back to work. Which I did early and with relief and enthusiasm — maternity leave was a real low point. Working allowed me to enjoy the time I spent with baby DS, and the rest of the time to function like a professional who likes her job.

Oh my goodness at 3 weeks pp I remember my mom asking me if I was enjoying it and I was so unbelievably shocked that she actually thought ANY of it was enjoyable. I hated it!!

When did it get better? Progressively. Quite quickly.

Honestly, around age 4!

My DC is 24 so I don't remember as well as other posters probably! I think it's just a case of lots of phases, swinging between good and stressful! I was not an earth mother type figure and worried a lot more than I needed to! Looking back the "golden age" for me was when DC was 6-9, there was just a lot of happy times, little stress and it was all fairly easy. But I did enjoy 18 months - 2.5 as well, and I have been loving age 21 onwards!

Four weeks in I felt a little better as I was nearly healed. Twelve weeks in I felt loads better as he started sleeping through. Six months in I went back to work and started to feel more like myself. Two years in I have far more good days than bad and I enjoy my son's company (most of the time 😂)

Kids are 7 and 4
It's hellish some days

I'm still waiting 😂

At 2 days PP after a c section and trying to breastfeed through red raw nipples I had the health visitor come round to my house and bellow ENJOY YOUR BABY at me. I was too stunned to say anything! She didn’t have any advice just ENJOY YOUR BABY. It was just me as ‘D’ H was in bed ‘catching up’ on some rest 🙄

At about 8 weeks I did really ENJOY MY BABY- he was a bit more alert, smiley, and I was confident to go out and do things with him, as he was a little gem in the pram, no trouble.

same, 4 is great

Mine are 17 & 11...fresh set of challenges each year 🙈

Around 18mo. Once DS could walk and talk he was a joy and has been ever since. At 3 weeks pp I thought I had ruined my life. Now I absolutely love love love being a mum.

Loved them from 5 to 9. Arseholes the rest of the time. Now in their twenties 😂😂

I actually enjoyed mother hood from the second they popped out.

it’s not as wanky as it sounds, there have been plenty of less enjoyable stages along the way, but I don’t think there was a point where I started to enjoy it, just some stages have been nicer and easier than others.

currently have teenagers, they’re good company 50% of the time and I enjoy motherhood. Then the other 50% of the time theyre arse holes and I’m counting down the days until uni.

Mixed reviews then.
Currently feeling like an over emotional human cow who constantly misses her old life!

Somewhere around 2/2 and a half. I think the growing independence, able to chat, and just the fact DD was a proper little person at this point.

Around 5 it gets really lovely.
14 and I would not be without her for a second and am dreading her leaving.

I loved the baby bit but was panicked and on my own for the most part.
How you feel now is normal.

After potty training!

I got over the shock after I went back to work, but I didn't get a huge amount of pleasure out of it until DS was able to properly engage and then cope without constant attention.

I know lots of people who miss certain times in their child's life, but I love mine more as time goes on.

Good luck OP - having a child feels like the absolute best and worst thing you could possibly do in the first few months.

I’ve never really disliked it but I’d say it became actual ‘fun’ when DS started talking. I’m enjoying it more the older he gets - he’s now four - no doubt we’ll hit a wall with that in a few years time! I’m pregnant with my second - I’m excited but also bracing myself for the baby stage!

I would say at around 3 months. I hated the first couple of months, worried we'd ruined our lovely lives by introducing this demanding baby into our lives, was totally shell shocked with it all. Then around 3 months it started becoming a little easier and our sons personality really started showing through - lots of giggling and smiles instead of screaming and crying! And then at 6 months he started to sleep through for 9 hours so I felt like a new woman being able to get a proper nights sleep, and really able to enjoy it. The first few months are hard OP, don't feel bad about not enjoying it, but at some point it will start to feel more natural and enjoyable.

Solidarity, OP. I’m also 3 weeks pp and I don’t think I’ve done anything but cry so far. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed anything!

When I spit up with my ex and had every other weekend off 😜

Thanks all. Looking forward to brighter days on the horizon.
@The3rdWatermelon congratulations and same here! Is it your first?

It just gradually got better and more rewarding. After 6 months I was definitely enjoying it more. I felt I was getting more back from the babies. I was seeing the personalities shine through and it was more interactive. Then after a year it was also more fun (but also exhausting because they were mobile but had no common sense!). I loved the toddler phase despite the tantrums. It's generally got easier and more fun as the years go by. I now have a daughter going through puberty so it's all a bit different suddenly!