Ideas for a new SAHM…

So my maternity leave is ‘officially’ over in March, however I’ve told them I won’t be returning. I’ll be a SAHM for the foreseeable (atleast until my baby is around 2-3 and I feel comfortable sending her to nursery). During maternity leave we’ve been very ‘go with the flow’ and not done loads during the week but also tried to get out of the house every day doing small things. Come March, I know my mindset will change and I wanna get more into a routine with my baby i.e. Mondays we do X, Tuesdays we do Y, and so on, sort of like what nurseries do… Any recommendations for cheap things we can do to get us into more of a routine other than the standard walks, shopping, park, soft play etc.? I do want to incorporate swimming into our routine but anything else? 🫶🏼

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I'd recommend joining a local home ed group on Facebook. My friend home educated her boy and they've got a really strong connection where we live locally. They always have really good ideas of activities no matter how small little one is 😊

@Janelle amazing thank you; I’ll have a look x

If you want to do the sorts of activities nursery do, but yourself at home, I'd consider thinking about things like messy play (sand, water, cornflour mixed with water, etc), going on a walk with a theme in mind (eg finding different coloured leaves, creepy crawlies etc depending on time of year and how old little one is), perhaps seeing if there's anything at your local library (eg rhyme time, story reading) or other local groups. Swimming is defo a great idea, it's the highlight of our week 🥰 maybe mum and baby fitness/yoga classes if you have any near you? It's a bit harder when they're more mobile though 😅 perhaps there's a gym with a creche so you could have a short break and LO gets used to a nursery-like environment? I'd also try and get a regular group of mums and babies of a similar age together so they can play together and interact (whether at soft play, a park, or just someone's living room). Partly to give you some adult interaction too!

Happity website has lists of activities by age. There is one where you can visit care homes with babies which is a really nice activity.

@Sophie thanks so much appreciate that 🫶🏼

@Krissy thank you!! 🫶🏼

I found a soft play near me that is cheap (£5 currently for me and my 11 month old) and also does a free return that same week! Helps massively

Play groups, soft play and library. Picnics out in spring and summer ☀️

@India I’m on the look for a good one like this. The ones I’ve been to are very small and only fill about 45 mins of the day x

@Jolene my girly is sooo not interested in books atm so maybe the library where it’s ONLY books may help with this ☺️ thank you x

Some libraries have children areas...... so they can crawl around and explore

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