Anyone else bored at home with baby?

[mandica]

I thought I would love being at home with my baby, who is now 6 months old. I still have 4 months of maternity leave left and I'm just feeling tired of it all.
I don't enjoy housework and resent that I'm expected to do all of it. I'm also feeling like I just need a break away from baby, but have no good excuses to go anywhere.

DD still cries a lot and requires lots of attention and I often feel like shes just bored too. I guess the truth may be that I just don't have what it takes to be that happy, smiling, singing entertainment system she needs all-day-long. I just wish someone else would come over and play with her, but there is no one.
How bad is it that I'm contemplating TV programs? Ugh.

We do have a few mommy & me classes that we attend each week... any one have any other tricks they've learned about keeping it interesting at home?

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by mandica

any one have any other tricks they've learned about keeping it interesting at home?

i hired a friend's daughter to play with my little guy for 3-4 hours a week. it gives me time to write or read or study and stay sane

[newmamalizzy]

Oh, yes, it's definitely kind of boring. I've been trying to go somewhere every day - a park, the store, a group, etc. Even if we're doing the same things, a change of scene tends to help. Oh, and I'm an NPR addict, so when we're not listening to kid music I turn on the radio. Nothing like Tom Ashbrook to make you feel like you're in the adult world again!

[Tway]

I'm with newmamalizzy--get out every day, rain or shine. We even went out in -20 weather in the winter just to save my sanity. Right now our routine is up, eat, shower, play, nap, park, Starbucks, park, home, nap, supper, Daddy time, walk, bath, bed. Weekends are different, though--so I always look forward to those!

I also listen to CBC Radio 1 (up here in Canada) and the talk shows keep me connected to the world.

Things really started to change when DD was around... 9 1/2 months? Suddenly she could make sounds to tell me what she saw or wanted (meow, oof, or pointing at things) and all of a sudden we could communicate, even if it was pretty basic. It just feels like there's a little back and forth--and you're not not just looking after a baby's needs-- and it really makes a big difference.

[Knitting Mama]

We get out every day as well, and it works wonders. Even if it's just wandering around the grocery store with nothing really to buy (it's too hot here still to go to the park), it breaks up any monotony.

Housework: I do not do everything, not by a long shot. The way I explained it to my husband is, he goes to work and gets to take paid breaks and lunches and gets to leave at a certain time and doesn't work weekends. I am on 24/7 (still EBF here so he can't really do anything to help with night feeds, etc). Therefore, we still both need to do housework because it's just not fair otherwise. He totally agreed with me.

Breaks away from baby can be as easy as doing the grocery shopping while your husband is home.

Are there any AP mama groups in your area? Talking to other adults while still being with my baby helps me immensely.

[SilverFish]

i get bored too, although i don't know how much more i'd enjoy WOH... i've not really loved any of the jobs i've ever had and generally feel really burnt out and done by the end of the week. at least at home i can do things at my own pace and take a few down days if i need to. i feel your frustration on the houswork though. my husband sometimes seems to assume that i can get everything done during the weekdays, errands and cleaning and all, and while he's not snarky about being asked to help out, he definitely doesn't understand the time-suck that can be a 6 month old baby (or that taking care of our kid is the full time job i'm doing... housework is still a shared task in my opinion)!

i think you have to forget about finding excuses to go somewhere sans baby, and just do it. i often don't do the groceries or whatever during the day, just so i can go do them at night alone. we can't really afford for me to get massages or go to yoga (although they're partly covered by our insurance, it's definitely in the "indulgence" list) but i go anyway, because a couple hours away from baby is good for me, and good for my husband too, because otherwise i don't know if he'd ever take the initiative to take her off my hands.

i haven't totally solved the problem of being bored at home. i try to get out as much as possible during the week, although with the really hot weather in the summer, it can be really exhausting to even think about loading us up in the car and going somewhere. a few weeks ago, i reached my breaking point and got really agressive about making some friends... i joined two play groups and went to a bunch of workshops, and tah-dah! i now have a few people to hang out with on a regular basis. that really helped with the boredom, as has making a real effort to work on my particular artistic interests when i have the chance.

anyway, i don't think you should feel bad about not liking being at home. it's not for everyone. i don't think you should worry about being constantly "on" for your baby either... 6 months seems to be kind of a weird age anyway. my baby is much more volatile than she was before; the tantrums and giggles seem to follow each other without rhyme or reason, and things that held her attention before don't any more. obviously, i want to engage her, but not to the point of turning myself into a 24-hour entertainment unit... i have interests and needs too, so i do try to balance it.

[tzs]

are you kidding???? a trip to walgreens alone was like a vacation!
i also felt like dd was bored. at the mom and me group she would just crawl off and ignore me for 2 hours. she was most happy at walmart (not MY idea of a good time, i hate that place)
my worst is shabbos. that's the day i'm stuck at home alone all day. no tv, no radio, no cooking, no electrical usage at all, no driving, can't even go outside with her b/c you can't "carry." THAT'S when you really realize how boring it is.

[aramat]

I love the first year of babyhood the best, but just me and the baby, day in and day out... Oh my gosh, so bored! I'm just not really the SAHM type. Once baby hits the 1-yr mark, I am planning to get back to work, and I can't wait! With my middle daughter, I went back to work at 6 wks and my husband stayed home -- if we could do exactly that again, I'd jump for it.

[coldandsleepy]

We go out every weekday because I can't handle the tedium of staying home all day with the baby. :P Really, I find it a LOT easier to take the baby out and about to places that are interesting for both him and me.

The nice thing is, he's pretty easy to please. Almost anywhere that's interesting for an adult's going to be interesting for him. One of my very favorite things to do is to take him to the coffee shop. If I put him in the high chair and point him towards the baristas and the other customers, he will laugh, flirt with other people, etc, and let me have a little time to drink my coffee and maybe even read a magazine.

It's obviously not a solution for everyone, but it's helped me deal with it a lot better than just staying in the house day in and day out.

[Hannah32]

Yup,

Taking care of a young baby is incredibly boring for many people, myself included. My son is about 11 weeks and I'll be home until he's about 18 weeks. I'm looking forward to going back to work, if I'm being entirely honest. My hubby will care for him while I work at that point. I'm sure he'll have to find things to do as well, though hopefully the baby will be a little older by then and more able to nap independently, so hubby can job search and get some other stuff done. Oh and maybe he'll like walks in the stroller by then too.

I make sure to go out with the baby, mom's groups and I try to get out while hubby is home too.