3 month old- anyone else get bored?

[silverten]

I'm climbing the walls here! DD is 3 months, we've got the sleeping at night sorted but I am at a bit of a loss as to how to spend my days....you can only play with a baby for so long, walks kill another hour or so, I've drunk enough coffee to sink a battleship, and meet friends fairly regularly.

I can't really get much done around the house- partly DD, partly because of building work which has been dragging on and on and on...

I'm used to ending the day feeling like I've acheived something, but my days just seem to have degenerated into finding ways to pass the time. TBH I'd rather be at work right now.

Anyone else feel like this? What do you do all day???

It will pass, don't worry. I was bored shitless for the first few weeks, then suddenly DS 'woke up'.....all of a sudden he started yelling for attention and I never had time to get anything done!

I know what you mean about filling the days though. I go window shopping, swimming (DS loved it, even at that age), maybe visit your local library and see if they have free nursery rhyme sessions. Also once I started to look for them I discovered all sorts of places I didn't know existed - free museums, art galleries, parks.....

I kind of know what you mean.

I try to fill my days with:
walks
window shopping
pilates with baby - I go to a class once a week and practise at home every day. ds loves it.
watching episodes of series thay dh wouldn´t like (while ds feeds)
spending too much time lurkin on here while ds amuses himself on play mat.

I know a mum who "schedules" blocks of time to actively play with her dd, and so feels less bad when she just plonks dd down while she gets on with stuff at other times.

Why not try to do as much "adult" stuff as possible while you can. DD is now 8 months and by necessity we have to structure all trips out around her meals / naps / points in the day where she gets crabby or wants to get out and crawl etc. Say,

• day trip to a new place, mooch about,
• nice wine bar or adult type place at lunchtime (v pleasing
• have magazine, or ready to paint nails when she's asleep.
• project in the house eg rearranging a room, sorting out drawers, getting a couple of new bits for the house.
• go through tv channels for series to sky pls, so you always have stuff you want to watch in the evening
• online to find new good deals for stuff eg insurance, electric.

I had 6 months off and would also have climbed the walls, but made it my mission to be a bit stepford wife during the day, (sod the housework) or sort out the admin for stuff. Now back at work. Very happy to be exercising brain again, but no time for any of the above....

You say you're having building work done. I spent a lot of time looking at stuff on the internet for our extension that was being built. It gives you a great sense of achievement to find a bargain on ebay or a trade website, that will be perfect for your home.

Also, don't know about you, but my baby brain means that I forget the things that I wanted / needed to do, so then don't do them, and feel doubly depressed when I remember about them, because 1) I haven't done it and 2) my brain is shite.

SO, make lists The satisfaction of crossing stuff off a list is immense.

Oh loads you could be doing and you'll kick yourself later on for not doing it when you had the time.

*Get reading, have a look on bookcrossing.com for ideas.
*Get socialising - join local NCT or toddler group and start a postanatal teagroup in your immediate area.
Get volunteering - again NCT is the easiest way to make new friends, use your brain and get out of the house.
*Go through old clothes and 'stuff' and Ebay what you don't want anymore.
*Have a look on MN Recipes and get inspired. Make a special market trip and get cooking. Master the muffin, freeze them and pretend to be Bree Van Der Kamp by taking them round to people's houses.
*Go to the library (or use Nectar points at Blockbuster) to rent an arty/foriegn film. Libraries are great places for babies to play.
*Do you have a Picturehouse cinema near you? They have a parent & baby cinema screening every week, great way to make new friends.

I think at that age you have to base things around what you would like to do. Your 3 month old will love just watching what's going on around them. Happy mummy, happy baby as the Health Visitors used to say.

At that stage, I think I did lots and lots of walking with the pram, going into shops, going for coffee etc - all much easier when they're content to sit in pram/be carried than when they are determined to walk!

Oh and meet up with your childless friends as much as you can. Once she's out of the carseat you'll be very limited for unchildfriendly opportunities.

Yep i know what u mean. Im in the 14 week stage and tbh it does get boring sometimes. Between 3-4 months is when they start taking more notice and i find that laying him on his playmat and me lying down with him and doing tummy time can be really fun coz hes starting to reach out and holding things and being more alert.

I try and meet up with friends as much as possible, go window shopping, walks, visit family if of work. I go to a baby group for 2hrs on thursdays and mix with other mums.
Theres also gonna be a baby massage course starting again at easter so we are booked in for that.
You can also try swimming. I would love to go but my body really isnt for public viewing. Contact your local pool and ask when the baby gropus are.
My local sure start centre send out a leaflet with all activities available.
When hes asleep i can go on the internet, clean the house and catch up with my TV programmes.

Thanks all. Good suggestions some of which are possible! I do do quite a few of these things already, but they are still really just ways to pass the time.

Alas building means tidying, admin, in fact pretty much anything is severely restricted, and cooking is out as we have no kitchen...
letting DD watch whatever I'm up to is quite dull for her as we are pretty much stuck in the one room as all the others are boring bedrooms/too full/too mucky to really use. I can't get stuck into any little jobs as there's no way I can possibly finish them and clear away in the time slots I have, and there's no space to leave half-finished things lying around either.

Stuff will hopefully be better when the extension is done, but that'll be another couple of months at least...by which time she'll probably be crawling or something!

Yep I have a 16 week old it is very boring I feel like I have to just pass the time for the day to end. Everyday is like groundhog day. I feel like other people could judge me for saying this but I'm going to say it anyway, it's soo boring and I dislike playing with her. It's mind numbing. From what I've read on here it's only going to get worse and I dispise all those kids games like "playing house" and some of the other suggestions I've read on here. Regretting ever becoming a mum. I hate it most of the time. Going to speak to my social worker about having her adopted as my life is pretty much unbearable now and I want my old life back.

*Tigerburningbright
*
Just seen your comment and just wanted to say that it's normal to find playing with babies boring. As 16 weeks your baby still can't communicate properly, can't play games or activities that you may find more interesting. When they're older you may find things like baking together, doing jigsaws, arts and crafts etc more fun than the imaginative sort of play you refer to in your post.

Are you sleeping much at night? If not then that can't be helping the way you're feeling as everything seems harder when you're tired. Are you getting any breaks from the baby to do things for yourself and do the sort of things you did pre baby? If not is it possible to arrange this? I'm assuming you're on maternity leave, maybe going back to work could be something to consider?

It really is normal to feel like this and it doesn't mean your baby would be better off not with you. It's still early days and you're just figuring out your new life as a mum. It'll get better, maybe speak to family, close friends or the health visitor for some support.

I'm desperate to do things like go to the gym like I used to... I'm a single mum (left an abusive partner before she was born). I need to speak to my mum about taking Lexi for a few hours so I can do that. I think I have post natal depression. I'd like to go back to work but do nurseries take 4 month olds? I'm not sure I trust them with a kid so young. I'd be surprised if my mum would take her for that long.

*Tigerburningbright
*
It sounds like you've been through a lot and being a single mother to a young baby can't be easy at all. If you think you have postnatal depression definitely go see your health visitor or GP as they can help. Also consider speaking to your mum and asking for her support to have the baby at set times each week if possible so you can have a break. Really hope you manage to get some help soon, once you've got some support it won't feel as overwhelming as it does now.

Also not sure about nurseries. Round here they take them from 6 months, but I guess different nurseries have different policies. 6 months isn't far off though if you decide to go back to work then, and in the meantime if you seek support you may find things improve anyway.

I tried to go to all the local museums and art galleries when DS1 was still in a sling! This helps with a feeling of achievement. I also did mum and baby yoga, baby massage, baby swimming ...

Worth researching nurseries and childminders (if you haven't already) to plan your return to work.

I will second meeting up with your childless friends in particular for non baby conversation. Mine is 7 months now and all I do is wrestle with him during these meet ups which is no fun for me or my friends! And I miss a lot of the juicy gossip because he’s twisting!

FYI my boy is and always has been very hard work and rarely naps for more than 30 mins so I’ve never been able to do the tv show / tidy house / admin stuff so my life and house is a general shit tip! So everything we do is outdoors, window shop, classes every day, walks etc etc. It’s definitely more of a pain that I have to work things around his lunch and naps so 3 months is a good age to do the things you want to do. Thankfully I’ve never been bored although I’d have given my right arm for him for nap for 2 hours so I can watch some shit tv 😂

Someone told me they wrote a crime novel while on maternity with their perfect baby and I nearly punched her in the face 🤣🤣

@Tigerburningbright
Please get some support and help with your feelings and some time to yourself. It’s totally normal to not enjoy particular stages of parenthood and I found the newborn baby stage really hard. It’s only recently that it’s got a bit easier and even now he’s difficult to entertain. At 16 weeks your baby is still little and they do get more fun (and more attitude) as they grow.