Last year I went on maternity leave and became a first-time mummy to a little boy and my whole world changed. Even though preparing for baby got me ready, there’s nothing quite like suddenly having this little person to care for without a manual that rocks your whole world.
The first couple of months of maternity leave and adjusting to life with a new baby, it’s overwhelming and you’re both still very new to everything, so it’s okay to spend that time relaxing at home with plenty of cuddles and sofa time. I certainly just wanted to lock myself away for a while but it was one of my new mum pals that encouraged me to get out of the house.
Baby Classes
During maternity leave I attended several types of baby classes with Austin, these have been the key ones –
Baby massage
This was the first class we signed up for when Austin was about 5-6 weeks old. I had some initial concerns that he was too young and those concerns were correct.
He hated lying on his back on the floor, he didn’t like being stripped down to his nappy, and just did not value being massaged. He was much happier sat in my lap watching what was going on so I quickly knew not to push him and just enjoy the company of other mums.
Even though he hated the class, the mums I met there became my best mum friends.
Baby Sensory
This class was on the top of my list for baby classes to try and I was fortunate an opportunity came up at my local Mothercare store to attend a free taster session. Austin was about eight weeks old and I could tell he would really benefit from signing up for a full term.
We formally started baby sensory classes when Austin was 11 weeks old and he graduated after three full terms at 11 months. I would recommend baby sensory in a heartbeat.
Little Learners Messy Play
Once Austin was sitting up confidently I decided to try my local Little Learners Messy Play class* and it’s something we still attend every few weeks or so.
It’s a safe space that babies and toddlers can play, make a mess and socialise with others.
I wholeheatedly recommend joining local baby groups, both those that cost a £1 and you sit with other mums in a room with some toys, and those like baby sensory. For me it made the days we didn’t have anything planned easier to manage as we had timings to keep to and it was always good knowing we were both going to socialise.
Additionally, baby groups and mum catch ups are important for Austin’s social skills and have often been a prompt for him to meet a new milestone. Classes can be overwhelming, particularly for the first time but Austin pushed me to go and (however sad this sounds), I relied on him and he relied on me.
Baby Sleep Workshop
To date, attending a baby sleep workshop is still up there with the best things I did. Austin was maybe four months old, and I wanted to start getting him into a good bedtime routine and I think from memory he had started waking regularly in the night and it was doing my head in.
The thing with sleeping is that once you think you have it nailed, it’ll last for a few weeks or possibly months, and then things stop working and adjustment is required and it completely throws you while you work out what needs to change.
A baby sleeping through the night is probably the biggest thing all the Karens brag about achieving, but it’s also the one thing that every damned stranger in the street wants to ask you as well and I have no idea why.
The baby sleep workshop I attended was with Kelly from My Child Sleep Consultant and she shared some really useful advice, and helped us understand child sleeping in further detail. I still go to Kelly for advice several months on when Austin’s sleeping routine begins to change and I need some more guidance.
In all I took 10 months off for maternity leave, using up keeping in touch (KIT) days to integrate myself back into the work place. Remember that while you are off, you’ll be accruing annual leave and public holidays that you could use to either extend your maternity leave, or use to reduce your weekly working hours but still get full-time pay once you return.
Have you recently started maternity leave or returned to work?
Until next time x
*Previously gifted experience.
