Anyone else a teenager/young adult with child/pregnant?

[Bananababy]

I'm 16 and 38+1 at the moment. Baby's dad ran if with another girl but he does/will pay child support.
Anyone else in a similar situation? x

Hey Banana, I just posted on your names thread :) Like I said there, I was pregnant with DS at 17, had him at 18, now 21 and he will be three on 11/11.

Are you getting much support right now?

Hi banana, congratulations. I was pg with DS at 18 and had him at 19. He's 5 now and my whole world, he's going to be a big brother soon too but he doesn't know it yet :o. Are your family giving you support?

Hi banana I had my dd at 17, am 24 now . Do you live with family or are you doing this all on your own?

I am further down the line. I fell pregnant with DD while I was still 15, had her when I was 16.

She is now 14, in Y10, and doing her GCSE's.

I'm older than I want to admit to 31 now. I have other DC's too.

DD is 14 now, DS1 is 10, DS2 is 9, and DS3 is 21mo.

I didn't have any family support, but found living in a Mother & Baby unit invaluable. I was taught to budget, childcare and development, Baby and child First aid and many other things while I lived there.

A lot if my closest friends, even 13 years down the line, are people I was in the M&B unit with.

If you don't have much family support, I would say they are excellent places to be to get yourself on a firm footing for the future. I sat my A-levels whilst living in the M&B unit.

Oh my gosh! Wasnt expecting all of ypu guys!! Yaayy!!

Yep i am living with my parents (and my three other brothers. Ahhh!!) Trying to fit all my stuff and baby things into my bedroom it is a task!! :) x

I was a care leaver, moved out of shared accomadation into my flat day before birth! TBH it was shit, yes some lovely times but very shite to and I had family around to babysit and give me a lift for food shopping (the dark days before delivery). One piece of advice that I wish I did was have more "mum" friends and days out with them. Most of your friends now will drift off (it happens don't take it personally but life changes) so really make an effort to know people. Do you have any young mum colleges with creches on site? Don't let yourself get isolated it's really shit when the only person you've spoke to for 3 days is your local shop keeper.

Oh and feel free to PM me whenever!

Hi, congratulations!
I fell pregnant at 17, had my ds at 18. He's now nearly 9! I can't believe where the time has gone.
I was living with family initially and found it invaluable having my Mum around for support.
I agree with finding 'Mum' friends. I didn't start making friends until my ds was at nursery and it has made such a difference.
Good luck, I imagine your head is swimming! :)

I lived with my parents for the first year. The hardest thing for all of us was adjusting to me not just being a child, but also parenting whilst being parented myself, if that makes sense.

Be prepared for a lot of people you classify as your friends to drift away from you, because they can't deal with the reality of a baby. Hopefully your closest friends will stay by, I remember good friends of mine dropping me in essential supplies of chocolate when I was establishing breastfeeding But a lot of them couldn't deal with the fact that I had to say no a lot; "No I can't come out tonight, I have a baby." "No I can't do there, there's no space for a buggy."

It does get easier though, because you meet new friends, Mum friends. I have some really wonderful friends now, most of whom are a good bit older than me, but who I get on with fantastically.

If your brothers are younger, try and get them involved. My brother was 12 when my DS was born, so still on the cusp of childish jealousy. He was actually fantastic, but I did make sure I had a big chat with him before the baby was born. I also talked to him about the fact I would be breastfeeding. If you're planning to breastfeed, it might be worth talking to your brothers whether they are older or younger, just so they know where you stand, and you don't have to deal with any typical-brother-reactions whilst you're trying to get sorted.

Where abouts are you? I'm near Brighton if that's any use. I don't think I have any small baby clothes left, but I have some toys and things if you needed anything.

Congratulations. I am not in the same situation but just wanted to say I was 38 and my ex ran off with another woman when DS was nearly 2. It is difficult I think no matter what age but gets easier as you get the hang of everything.

My advice is make good use of your family and friends so that you do have some time to yourself to still feel like a 16 year old despite having a huge the responsibility of a baby. Try and keep going with your education and make use of all that is available to young mums. Make friends with other single parents and see if their is a single parent network on facebook in your area (well the brighton one is via facebook anyway) so you can meet up with other people in the same situation. I have found this invaluable and very good for getting things off your chest!!

Don't let anyone you any shit for being a young single parent either.