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?

This.
I went back to work pt at four and five months each time. Instantly got a break, reclaimed some of my old life, outsourced the hard and boring bits of babyhood and felt 100% better.
20 years on, never a single regret.

I found it all much more enjoyable once I started to get some smiles from baby , so about 6 weeks x Have 2 teens now and would give my right arm to go back to that time for a day

'Meant to enjoy it' is the apt phrase here... who the fuck decided in years gone by that because we have breasts, we will enjoy & revel in every second of parenthood?

(Slightly snappy mood tonight due to working away and husband being particularly needy/annoying in his constant messages & phone calls... where is PE kit, what does [child] have for tea, does he need a bath? I am a female and therefore the only person in the house capable of these big, important decisions)

Currently in the ‘golden’ upper primary years and love it. Before three I found it very difficult.

Certainly found the first 6 weeks pure hell. Started to enjoy it when she was about 5 months old and sleeping better. Ups and downs since then, but largely easier the more independent she's got! (Now age 4).

Second one is currently a baby and I've enjoyed it more this time around, probably enjoyed it right from the start this time. More relaxed and it's less of a shock to the system. Still absolutely exhausted most of the time but it's not hellish!

3 weeks is a very hard stage. You'll get there.

Somewhere about 18 months with the eldest but we had a rough ride - we were still in hospital for most of the first four weeks, then she had colic and lots of food allergies to constant with, plus eczema and breathing issues.
With the second I enjoyed it from day one, but that was three years later and I was a very different person by then.
Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Your world has just turned upside down. Just get through each day. The joy will come, and it will take you by surprise when it does xxx

@NotAnotherTaco my DH can be like this and it is infuriating. Can you just ignore the messages so he has to work it out for itself? Easier said than done I know esp when you don't want your DC to miss out.
I hate the.m questions about food particularly

DS is now three and this has been my favourite stage, finally feels like it's fun! I was being phased back from mat leave when we went into lockdown. I'm also a lone parent. Hellish doesn't come close to describing that experience! It does get better, hang in there x

When they produced my Grandchildren😄

DS is nearly six months and I’ve been finding it more and more enjoyable over the last month or so. He's a proper little person now and I feel like I’m getting something back from him; he's also learning and changing so quickly, there's something new almost every day!

Don't get me wrong, I still have days where I think I’ve ruined my life, and DH and I are probably going to sleep train DS soon because the interrupted nights get old pretty quickly, but on the whole I am really enjoying being a mum, and DS is just lovely 😊

Honestly?
From the second she was born.
But I was 37 so she was my miracle baby.
She's now 17 and amazing x

@badassbaby why was she a ‘miracle’ baby if you had her at 37? I’m not trying ti be a twat I’m just wondering, as it’s not unusual to have a baby at 37.

Still waiting, they are all in their 30s..😂

I had a different start & my daughter was rushed to ICU at 6 hours old, where she remained for 16 days. She was my first. We went through hell in those 2 weeks as a family. I remember thinking desperately how much I wanted to just be at home, in the thick of the laundry, sleep deprived, not wondering whether my daughter would live/be physically/cognitively disabled.

Moral of the story is expectation is a sod. We 'expect' to have a normal pregnancy/birth/4th trimester. We see social media images/videos/reels & we think WE are the ones getting it wrong, doing something incorrectly, because we don't look like they do & don't act like they do in the depths of motherhood, because we are not enjoying it like they do.

One day you will wake up & just feel differently, it will feel fun. Maybe not for more than 5 minutes at a time, but you'll notice. It's a confidence thing too, you're brand new to this (I think from your post) give yourself some time & be gentle on yourself. Take help whenever it is (hopefully) offered to you. And just know when you feel like you are in the thick of it, it really won't last forever. Big hugs x

When they could be left for a few hours from 12/13 years.
It is hard. Very hard. Rewarding. But still hard. I grew to realise I'm not naturally motherly at all. And I'm selfish. Love my DC to bits and would never be without them but if i had my time again ...

Once the newborn shock lifted and before weaning and dribbling. There is a nice period where they can be dressed nicely, smile, and slew a lot. There are really lovely stages when they are toddlers but it's usually overshadowed by them climbing, tantrums, drawing on your walls. I think all stages have good bits and bad bits, there is no obligation to love it all.

My first baby DD is almost 5 months, the first 8 weeks were hell, she had really bad colic where she'd scream the house down for hours on end and nothing would help her, honestly thought I had ruined my life. I just wanted everything to go back to how it was pre-baby and I mourned my old carefree life. It was truly awful.

The worst thing about it was everyone who visited expected me to be so in love and so happy with this little bundle of joy... when really I felt rotten and overwhelmed most of the time and with that came the guilt of not feeling 'normal' or 'happy'.

Then someone said to me, wait until 12 weeks it's a turning point and they were right, suddenly she started to smile and give a little more back, the crying settled a bit and she began to feed and sleep better and I began to feel like I had a better handle on my new role as mum.

Now she is almost 5 months, colic seems to have subsided (fingers crossed) she feeds well, sleeps usually at least 6 hours at a time overnight. She's cooing and gargling and smiling and starting to enjoy sensory classes and playing with toys and suddenly I feel like we've turned another corner. I look at her now and just fill up with love.

I know teething is coming and crawling and then walking...so I try not to get complacent but at the same time everyone told me at 4 months she'd get a bad sleep regression and so far she hasn't so every baby and every person's experience is different.

The baby stage is def not a stage I'm enjoying, I don't think I will truly fully enjoy her properly until she is maybe school age when she will be a little more independent. I'm looking forward to 3/4 when we can hold a conversation and go on adventures together.

Going to sound a twat now but literally during pregnancy. I get it’s not the same for everyone and there have been some periods which have been more tiring than others but I really do love it. I’ve now got 4 so I’ve had different personalities to content with along the way.

Just after the 3 month mark for me.... It felt like I came out of a daze. A new woman. We're at 19 weeks now and it's still chaos but less shell shocked

I was going to say mine are 12 and 8 and I quite enjoy them ☺️

Honestly though when they start school feels like a milestone and a lot more enjoyable. Also when no longer changing nappies etc and you feel less like a cart horse.

I had enjoyable moments of mothering since leaving hospital with my first [I loathe hospitals & I've sweet memories of that first night] and find joy in it each day - some more than others, but I've never enjoyed all the different parts of motherhood, and my first is now an adult. I think I've enjoyed the teen stage the most, even with the butting heads.

This may differ as I was not raised in the UK, and where I'm from parenthood like much of life was largely discussed by adults as difficult and shite (far from raised to be a mum, I was regularly warned away from it) so I never had the idea that I would enjoy motherhood as a whole. Joy is fleeting like all emotions so while I try to work towards better, I don't expect it to be consistent in much of anything.

I enjoyed many bits but grandparenting is less stressful and much more enjoyable than motherhood.

@frenchie4002

I was as miserable as I have ever been at three weeks.

At six weeks I was still pretty miserable but going out to gardens and things, mostly with my parents who I temporarily moved in with (see above). My baby started smiling which really helped.

At 12 weeks I felt a bit more like I was getting the hang of it and by six months I was still knackered but loved it.

Congrtuations 😀

At 6 weeks pp with my first child and about 3 months with my second.

Weaning is shot though. Clearing up the mess is horrendous.