How to meet people in a new area?

[whenhenshaveteeth]

Hi there,

I have a 2.5 year old and I?m 9 weeks pregnant with DC2.

I?ve just moved to a new area. I?m really happy about it, it all looks great but my only problem is that I miss my friends terribly. I had a good gang of mums and toddlers who I saw pretty much everyday either in the park or for playdates. I assumed that I would meet people in the park but here it's pretty empty even on a nice sunny day like yesterday.

I looked at NCT refresher course but they don?t have one in my town, it?s in a village outside and it?s not all that near, which means the people I?ll meet won?t really be living in the same area as me. Since it?s quite expensive to do this course I don?t think it?s worth it.

So basically, my question is: have you moved to a new area (not down the road) when you already had a child and expecting a second and how did you meet people?

Thanks

Find a local shop that has notices & se if there are any local playgroups/toddler sessions.

See if there is a local newsletter/village mag & go to all the cake sales,jumbles, plant sales etc you can think of even oif they're not your thing just to start meeting folk.

Is it a village or small town? larger towns/cities are more difficult to make friends in at first. Get registered at the local GP's & have a chat with the HV & receptionist.

Hi, I don't already have a child, but am in new area with no friends at all. Have joined tai chi, but honestly the ladies are all over 50 mainly which is fine but no one with kids... so am hoping that the nct classes or other baby things that will come along will give me some contact with other mums. I am not too worried at the mo. My NCT class is a way away, I live in west wittering a small village and my nct is in Chichester but I guessed that other witts people must go as it's the only one, so it may be the same at yours?

Sorry for typos, cat trying to help post!

As soon as you get involve in a playgroup or similar,when anything comes up that needs helpers make sure you volunteer.It really is a brilliant way - you get to know the other volunteers well and you're face gets seen by others.People start recognising you then,and say "hello"...

do avon!? its a shit not really that good a way to earn money (25% commission), but it will get you chatting to loads of people in your local area and you dont have to stick at it if you dont like it...
Just use it as an opportunity to meet your new neighbours without seeming like a weirdo!?

I do it with my baby (and my son when hes not at school) and she loves it as she gets to smile and wave at all my customers and I now know virtually all of my neighbours and always have someone to say hello to when we are out. Im not really that sociable a person, but if I was trying to make more friends I could easily have done that as people often ask me in for coffee etc.

Good luck! Its hard moving to a new area, but you will find friends :)

See if there are any MNetters near you! It worked for me.

I moved to a new area with an 18 month old DD and found it hard at first. Even if you do go to groups it can be difficult to make friends.

My thinking is that people need to see you at a couple of things before they start to chat to you, so go to as many things as possible. There will be new baby things - surestart, HV classes, breastfeeding support groups to go along to, and try and do things like the library toddler group, swimming, toddler music groups, tumble tots etc for your older one.

I found it took a while to make friends, and I usually had to make the first invitation to coffee etc. But now, it is lovely, and the longer you're in the area the better it gets.

I'm in the same position - with DS1 I did NCT classes just down the road and met great people in the area who often knew other people and so I had great support and found out about lots of classes/groups through word-of-mouth. I'm now in an area only 30/40 mins away, so I do see some of them, but I feel I need to break into the local 'mum scene', but the NCT isn't active here at all!

My plan is two-fold; I've seen some of my neighbours with pushchairs, so I'm going to strike up conversations with them and invite them round for a drink to find out where to go (they seem friendly enough when I pass them). Also, I think once I've found a couple of groups, I'll be brave and forward and talk to people there who seem nice and try to arrange to meet up with them to get to know them better.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for all the tips! I'm off to the library to stalk anyone with a child :o