Maternity leave opinion?

Question

I am gona take 8 weeks maternity leave maybe 10 weeks if I pay off some bills first. I get bored very easily, not that I'd be bored with my new baby just from being at home for so long. What did you do besides caring for baby to make the time off enjoyable and without going stir crazy or developing cabin fever?? Also, do you wish you'd taken more or less time off now that you are thinking back?

Answer 1

heh... first timer? I love you guys! Sooooo nieve (not meant as an insult) It's just so cute that you think you are actually going to have time to be bored. Trust me, when you are not taking care of the actual baby you will be cleaning up, eating, or my personal fav : SLEEPING. If you feel you need something planned to pass the time I suggest have a good book or two (not suspenseful page turners though), maybe a couple movies you like, a tv sheduale maybe. But trust me, you are deffinately not going to have that much free time this early in your babies life. You won't have time or will be too tired to even think the words cabin fever, much less get it. And personally, I'm a stay at home mommy so I am not taking time off from anything lol... I wish you all the best! Good Luck and have a healthy safe delivery!

Answer 2

Believe me you will not be bored or go stir crazy or get cabin fever. You will have so much to do you won't have the time to be bored. I thought the same thing..."Now what am I going to do for 8 weeks home alone while everyone else is at work/school?" I was so tired I slept most of the time. And when I wasn't sleeping I was doing laundry, playing with the baby, planning meals...etc. When my daughter was almost 6 weeks old things got a bit easier and I would talk her on day trips, shopping or visiting people at work, it was fun! Right about the time I got it all under control it was time to go back to work. I took 9 weeks off and it was just enough time, not too little, not too much, I was ready to go back to work and get my life back on track and get back into a schedule.

Answer 3

I had 3 children, the first two I had while in the military, and you get 6 weeks off. I didn't do alot while off with the first one except enjoy her and get some rest. I am sure I went out running around doing things that needed to be done, but I think for the most part, I just layed around and slept when she slept because if you don't.....you won't get much sleep. My second one, well I had a 2 year old that I had to take care of as well. I did get out and do more though. Spent time with friends and family, and just rested up. My son was my third and last child, now when he was born, I had a 2 & 4 year old to tend to as well. We lived in Utah and I didn't work at the time. You can imagine how crazy life was with 3 children under the age of 5. Yes, I did alot of nothing after he was born, well except take care of kids, clean the house, cook, and all the other around the house stuff. Enjoy your baby as much as possible while on maternity leave, once you go back to work it will be hard to concentrate on anything but I wonder what the baby is doing, he/she should be eating right now, or sleeping. But I would not suggest taking too much time off work, most places don't allow alot of time off and you don't want to risk your job.

Answer 4

Well, I am easily bored as well and I have to tell you that when my daughter was born, there was no time for slacking about. When she was awake, I had to attend to her and when she slept, I slept. Trust me, you will be tired! When and if it was decent to go out, I took her to the park, the bookstore, the library or made contacts with other mothers or friends. 8 weeks will go so fast, you will wonder if you need to take some more time. I am pregnant again and I am also taking 2 months and it already seems too short a stay. For my daughter, I was lucky and stood home until she went to Pre-school. I wish I could do the same for my son.

Answer 5

I can certainly understand how you feel, I am not one to stay home long, I work all day long, and usually just home at night, and weekends, I was always busy shopping. So when it came time for baby to come, I was a little bored at home, baby just ate and slept. What I did was every morning I got up, got ready (showered,dressed etc) and then I would go out around 1pm for a walk to the mall or just a walk around the block. Gave me time out of the house. On weekends when my fiance was home we would go out together, just a nice walk, and at night when he got home from work, we would just sit and talk, I mean all day long you talk to your baby, but you don't really have someone talk back, so it was nice when we would just shut the tv off and talk about his day, my day and anything else that came to mind. My little one is 4 months and shes a lot more active now, but I still do the same routine, plus its good to walk once baby comes, gets your baby back in shape.

Answer 6

I had 12 weeks off and it doesn't usually get boring when you have a newborn. When the baby was awake, I was always tending to her, but when she was sleeping, I tried to use that time to sleep, too. It was hard because there was a lot of cleaning to keep up with, but you really need to take time to rest as well. I also had my mother or friends come over to help out a little. But I promise you won't be bored for long!! There will almost always be something you can do (including staring at you little one for hours trying to find out who she looks like and what she will look like when she is older)! Have fun and enjoy!!

Answer 7

I took 8 weeks off. I only left the house once with my baby. And, only a couple of times with my boyfriend and the baby. Even then we just went to his parents house. You won't be stir crazy at all. When the baby is sleeping, you'll be sleeping or cleaning the house. The only thing I missed was working. Now that I'm back at work I just want to stay home with my son.

Answer 8

I took 8 weeks w/ my son and 6 weeks w/ my daughter I am also the type to go stir crazy but when you have a newborn there is always something to do and if it is warm enough when your baby is born take him/her for a walk. I will be so glad that I will be able to stay home as long as I want w/ the next one because you miss those precious days w/ your newborn.

Answer 9

In Canada you get 1 year paid leave from your job to be on maternity leave. I was not bored...there are all sorts of things that you can be doing with your new baby. Enjoy the time as it moves really quickly.

Answer 10

i took twelve weeks off with my son and loved every single moment of it, trust me you will want as much time off as possible and you will enjoy every single minute of it, i can not imagine getting bored with your baby, there will be lots of family and friends visiting, you will have a blast and you can always take the baby for a walk or go out shopping to get out of the house, good luck with the new baby.