Tell Fairy Non Bio about how you and your DC make friends - win a £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

As part of our partnership with Fairy Non Bio, we’ve produced the Mumsnet Babies Podcast. There are ten episodes in the series and episode 7, which you can listen to here, is about making friends and being nice. When you get the chance, Fairy Non Bio would like you to listen to the podcast and share your thoughts - not just about the new friends you’ve made since having a baby, but also about how your baby socialises with other children.

Whether you go to parenting groups and classes in your spare time or not, making friends as a new mother isn’t always easy. Have you felt like it can be isolating, and that you have nothing in common with the other mothers in your area (apart from the presence of your tiny children)? Or perhaps you’ve found that parenting can be a reason to bond with other people, even if it’s just a case of having someone to grumble with about sleepless nights and dirty nappies? And of course it would be negligent to forget to mention Mumsnet as a platform on which mums can socialise and make new friends!

And then, as your baby gets older, their social life may become the minefield you need to navigate. Have you been mystified by your little one's’ ability to make best friends with complete strangers in the playground? Perhaps you’ve struggled to deal with getting them to share nicely with other children?

Whatever your experiences of friendship during early motherhood, post on the thread below and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

If you’d like to rate the Mumsnet Babies Podcast, please go to the iTunes store and leave a review.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[Rosehips]

Groups are the best place to meet people as you tend to get people who don't already have a huge gang of mum friends they've known since they were 3 going.

[mave]

Talking to people at school, the park and other play areas, we all mix easily and find it generally easy to make friends!

[towser44]

I'm not sure, when our DC started school (well pre-school) we sort of just ended up becoming close friends with the parents of 2 other children. I think just casual talking in the playground at pick up and drop-off times resulted in us 'clicking'.

[mollymoo818]

I think it is so difficult to make new friends, Baby and toddler groups were a lifeline for me and something that I would recommend to everyone. I wish I could be like my DC and just make new friends in seconds.

[daniel1996]

I joined my local baby and mum group and baby swimming when my DC was 6 months old, and I was just about feeling 'normal' again after the first few exhausting weeks. It was so nice to see the progression of babies and toddlers of different ages and abilities, we would swap stories and advice, and our little ones grew together, copied and at song time sang and clapped together. when it came to pre-school my DC already had friends and familiar faces which made to transition easier for all concerned.

[stefalfie11]

Going to lots of groups definitely helped us for example we met lots of people at playgroup, swimming classes and theres a coffee morning every month in my area that we also try to go to.

[finleypop]

When my son was little, he simply walked up to kids & said, do you want to be my friend lol! It always worked for him

[BeeMyBaby]

Dd1 (7yo) randomly walks up to adults and children and just keeps talking to them to they either run away or play with her. I'm always amazed at this as I hate talking to new people and so does dd2, and I just hope she never loses this (sometimes annoying!) gift of chatting.

[Emmap12]

Best friends have been made at the nursery gates, usually when I'm running late 😂 Also sitting at the endless parties with a brew makes for a lot of chatting time with other mums.

[Ikea1234]

It was very tricky for us, as when my son was six months old, we moved to the other side of the country, original baby group mums all lost touch,Ada couple of them moved to various parts of the country too. However, we soon mets one friends at mum and baby groups in our new town - some of which we are still in touch with! My son also has friends through school, and I have also made friends separately through work, and, fortunately,they too have children of similar ages, which broadens masons circle of friends.
I appreciate it canbe tricky to meet people with little ones, but persevere, and,with the wonderful world of social media now, check local groups and pages and get out there tomeet others!

[Zzzexhaustedzzz]

It wasn't easy at all for me when I had DD1 as none of my friends had babies and frankly thought that at 25 I was barmy.
I met new friends who were also parents through different clubs and groups. I learnt to socialise with a wide variety of people. Through seeing this I think my children also have the same skills.
I learnt that my former friends - who ditched me after I had a child - had never been genuine friends anyway.
It was a steep learning curve, but I now consider myself to be skilled socially. I am also able to discern quickly who is my kind of person. I conserve my energy for those who I really gel with, kids or no kids.

[EllieArnold]

Once your children start going to nursery and school you make friends with other parents. The playground and birthday party are good places to start chatting, sometimes you have to be brave and start a conversation

[Ethan260908]

I believe as a full time dad, it is harder to make friends than a full time mum, despite having two women Prime Minister and a black President, we are still steeped in traditional roles. Thankfully however, we just do our own stuff (Sure Starts/Parks/Cycle rides) and take it from there. No new friends but we have met lots of nice people who have spent enough time with us to be socialable.

[Minnibix]

It is really easy to make friends when your children are younger, here was the school gates mums and the swimming club moms and also dance club moms, but it does get a little harder when they children grow up a little, by them most moms have gone back to work.

[littleme96]

Baby groups at my local Sure Start Children's centre really helped us both make friends and we are all still in touch many years on.

[Zebee]

Our local church is a great way to make friends, lots of mums with small children and plenty of different playgroups or activities to join in with.

[gemima27]

going to the same group a few times and getting chatting to the regulars

[FireEngineGirl]

Go to as many groups as you can. Chat to everyone and smile even when you feel knackered and are wearing yesterday's clothes.

Don't be afraid to empathise and offer a listening ear to anyone and if you see someone struggling offer to help. It shows you understand what they're going through and I have a strong bond with many mum friends I made just from pure shared experience. We are all in the same boat!

[cwalliss82]

Thankfully, a lot of my friends have all reproduced at the same time so we have a good friendship group established with kids of similar ages. My DD is a little chatty madame and will talk the hind legs of anyone (adult or child) that she can get within ear-shot of.

[confusedofengland]

I have found it easier to make friends with each new DC (I have 3). With DS1, I went to Aquanatal classes before he was born, & there were 3 ladies I really gelled with. We met up at least once a week from when our babies were tiny. They are now 8.5 & I am meeting one of these ladies next week!

With DS2, 2 years younger, I was already going to toddler groups with DS1, so it was quite easy to make friends.

With DS2, 3 years younger than DS2 & now 3, most of our friends are mums at DS1's & DS2's schools who have younger siblings.

A general rule which has served me well is to never be too shy to talk to anybody, as lots of people are also looking for new friends!

[UpOnDown]

I think it can be hard to make friends when you have a small child, particularly in rural areas.

[lolly2010]

I encourage my children to mix and not leave anyone out, treat others as you would like to be treated. I have a few good friends and have recently found a great friendship with one of my sons friends mums, we have a nice chat over a cuppa and are always there for each other, if either of us are stuck.

[Cailin7]

Our DCs make friends so easily, as they have got older they have a small group of good friends rather than lots of friends. I found making new friends with other mums, when they were babies/toddlers and starting school more difficult. I do not live in the area where I grew up and found although all were friendly, they had their established friend groups knowing each other from childhood. It did not bother me at all though as I have several close friends and our family all live nearby.

[emilybc]

NCT groups are really helpful!

[Teaformeplease]

I started going to a weekly breastfeeding group when my daughter was a few weeks old. It was great meeting other mothers in a similar situation and after a few weeks there were a few of us who would meet at other times in the week too. We went to parent and baby groups, baby signing and then soft play. We are still friends more than 4 years down the line. The children have been joined by some younger siblings and have formed close friendships too. I consider myself lucky to have made such good friends.