Are girl mums more anxious?

[Linnetthebird]

Hi,

My maternal grandmother was a kind but also very anxious person, she had lots of physical symptoms due to anxiety and worry. She had panic attacks when I was small and my mum would need to help her on phone etc. She had 5 daughters.

Whereas my paternal grandmother had 8 sons and 3 daughters. She was often tired but as far as I know she was quite calm and not a worrier.

Do you recognize this? Is it that boy mums are more relaxed and girl mums more anxious? How was your own mum, and did she have boys or girls?

Depends on the mother, not the child.

People very rarely have children of all one or the other, so there is no 'girl mum' or 'boy mum' usually. I think it's very much dependent on a woman's existing mental health issues and overall resilience. Some people are just more resilient, tend to bounce along life a bit more easily, are healthier (physically and psychologically). The people I know who have struggled more as a parent have been those who were already struggling with poor mental health/underlying trauma when they became parents, who had limited support networks, and who just had more bad things happen (abusive relationships, a partner who took off and disappeared, a child with health issues).

No not at all.

Like others have said, it depends on the mum. I have two girls but I have always been an anxious person although this has been amplified by becoming a mum!

I think some people are just more anxious in life / better able to cope with lifes ups and downs (and I include motherhood as one big up and down!)

Not in my experience - the most anxious mum I know has two boys.

I have a girl and a boy, so I spend 50% of my time in a state of anxiety and the other 50% being relaxed and resilient. It was such a a relief when DS was born and I could have a break from the panic attacks!