Bored on maternity leave- help!

[Charlotte2020]

My baby is currently 4months old and as much as I love her, I get so unbearably bored! Antenatal group contacts fizzled out fairly quickly and I've taken her to a couple of classes which she screamed her way through, most in my area appear to be fully booked. I've been walking about but even that's getting dull now after weeks and weeks of it!
Due to her age she needs a lot of attention so passing the time with box sets is off the table. I feel like I'm whining but I've got another 6months of leave left and feel like I'm losing my mind. I can't drive so I'm fairly limited with activities and with no one to talk to during the day I'm just becoming miserable. I'm really tempted to go back to work after 6m but that seems far too small to go to nursery! Any suggestions?

Audiobooks from your local library online?

At age 6 months it gets more interesting.

I hear you. My brain felt like mush by ~ 6 months.

Firstly, if going back to work is what you want, don’t discount it completely. My husband took some of my leave so I could go back a bit early via SPL - would that be an option for you? There are kids in my DS’ nursery who are 6 months so if it’s right for you there are the provisions there.

I’d agree with the PP. It doesn’t necessarily get easier but after 6 months, when you start food, days have a lot more structure (3 meals, 2 or 3 naps either side) and there is a lot less open ended time. At least I found that anyway. From 8 or 9 months I found days were actually quite ‘busy’ without me needing to try too much.

Groups get better. My DS was about 4 months during an ‘in between lockdown’ phase last year. We went to a few before lockdown again and he just screamed through them. I could never understand how people said they were life savers. But now he’s older they are so much better and he gets quite a bit from them. Even if you don’t meet people there, they give much needed structure for the day. Basically, if you can either wait for next term (?probably September now) or get on some waiting lists don’t discount them. One of the best groups I go to is just a drop in toddler group in a local church - there are usually loads of friendly groups in churches or libraries that are cheap/free.

Is it definitely too late with your antenatal group? Ours was very slow but I found when I invited maybe one or two round to my house or out for coffee - something specific - they bit my arm off. Worth sending a text to any you think might be your sort of person to scope it out?

Sorry not a load of advice but hopefully some helpful stuff in there x

They do get more interesting after 6 months but if you're really struggling, there's nothing wrong with going back to work, you won't be the first who's done it.

In the meantime have a look at the Mush App to see if there are any other Mums locally who want to meet up and maybe see if your local library or swimming pool have sessions for babies.

As others have said, you don't have to use all the leave you planned. We did shared parental leave and I went back to work at 12 weeks - I hated Mat leave. Babies are pretty dull and there's nothing wrong with admitting that.

Otherwise, there's always free stuff going on. Check Facebook for local mum and baby meet ups and walking groups, or play and stay etc. Or try contacting the local children's centre/HV service - they might know of other local groups.