When Pixie was born, I didn't know any other mums in the region. It was hard to go out with my friends because going out still seemed a bit scary for me. It was also hard to plan because when Pixie was asleep I didn't want to wake her up and it took a lot of months till she had a routine so I could plan ahead.
It’s much easier to go out with mums, they understand if you can leave the house on time, they are used to it, and you can choose a place or an activity which is adapted for babies or kids. It seemed strange for me to go to a play center with friends who didn’t have kids. Now that Pixie is bigger there are more options, an empty/calm cafe or just go down to the beach.
It was very good to go and meet other mums. Being home alone with a newborn is hard. I needed to get out from the house and socialize.
If you do not know mums in your area there are a couple of ways to find new friends. I found one of the best groups in the area on meetup.com. They organise a monthly meetup for mums and mums to be. It’s the perfect place to get to know people share your experience and ask for advice.
Since I’m a first-time mum, who didn’t know anything about babies before everything seemed overwhelming to me. These groups are perfect to meet with more experienced mums and they will understand you and will reassure you that we all went through this and it will get easy with time.
If there is nothing on meetup.com in your area there is facebook. Just reach out in any of your local groups and ask if there are any mums there who’d like to meet. I bet there will be a few who were sitting at home without anyone to talk to and they will be so glad that you reached out.
There are also some local affinities where you can meet fellow mums. Our town organises daily playgroups (which are for free!) called ‘Lieu d’accueil Parent Enfants’. It’s in French but there are always others who would speak English or other languages. Our region is full of immigrants from all over the world. I meet in these groups mums from Japan, Russia, Italy, South America, Uk. Don’t be afraid to go down if you don’t speak French!
Another option to meet mums are mum-baby activities. I met my friend at a baby massage class. There are a few other activities organised in the region, like yoga where you could take your baby, dance classes where your baby would be in the carrier and you can spend some time dancing together. When your baby gets bigger there are more possibilities arts or music classes, baby gym.
If you are a very open and brave person you can just go up to other mums at the playground and introduce yourself.
The most important thing is not to stay at home! Go out, meet new people, get to know other mums.