Hi mamas! Can you please give me some color on how you spent your maternity leave?? Should I be expecting to just be breastfeeding, changing diapers, and sleeping whenever I can? Or can I expect to also have time to enjoy hobbies while not working full time and enjoy time off from work? My leave will be around 5 months.

It really depends on your baby’s temperament. I had one colicky baby that needed to be held or entertained 24/7 to not cry so I couldn’t do anything else except take care of them. Also didn’t sleep at night so I was a zombie. Going back to work felt like a vacation in comparison.

Another one of my babies was very happy and chill. I was able to take them out and enjoy my mat leave a lot more. So ymmv.

If you want to breastfeed prob hard to enjoy hobbies or other stuff but if you ditch breastfeeding you can always hire a nanny and then have lots of time to yourself - amazing!

Depends on the baby, mine was a nightmare (God bless him, he’s an easy teenager so he’s making it up) and I basically did nothing but try to keep him from crying for four months. Some babies are pretty fun, I would suggest you try to spend at least some of the time making other mom friends

I had a chill baby. I binge watched SO MUCH tv
haha.

No. Zero time other than to care for baby. And really this is what the leave is for so that’s fine.

I did not have time for hobbies, it was a cycle of feeding, pumping, washing bottles/pump parts, changing diapers, etc. Line up some shows/movies you want to catch up on, though; I did watch a lot of tv while doing all of the aforementioned things!

My son was a chill baby and I enjoyed my leave. Spent most of it abroad with family for built-in help, took a couple of trips (travel is easy when they are in potato-stage, then gets harder). Lots of walks, some meetups with other new moms in the neighborhood.
I would note that I am also comfortable breastfeeding about anywhere and good with carrier/stroller naps (actually he napped better that way).

I had a c section so my recovery was extended as compared to natural delivery (so first few weeks were rough). My hubs went back to work at 4 weeks so I solo-parented all day for the remainder of my 16 week leave. My baby was chill so I went on walks with my mom friends, ran errands, sat at a coffee shop with my stroller, and binged shows. I definitely didn’t have time/energy for all my organizing and home DIY projects, but it was an awesome leave regardless. I ended my leave with a short vacation with my baby, my mom, my sis, and her baby of similar age. It was so fun and I highly recommend if you can swing it!! It was a core memory I will cherish forever.

Depends on your baby. Mine was insanely colicky and it was horrible. Bless her heart. I had no energy for anything other than keeping both of us alive.

I’m on leave now, going back in 2 weeks. Agree that it depends on temperament, and depends on the stage of leave. My baby is 3.5 months and still insanely fussy so I’m basically with her all the time. She also barely naps so when I do get time, it’s usually short 30 min bursts. In the beginning though, it was survival mode as she refused to sleep unless she was held. I had high hopes of having time to do some things around the house during my leave, like going through my closet and purging stuff while she napped but that simply hasn’t been possible.

For those saying you didn’t really have time for hobbies, were you not able to switch off with your spouse so that you could each take time to go do your hobbies? This is not a husband slight at all, just wondering if there’s a reason that is not as practicable as it seems in my mind!

I’m on leave right now. My LO is 7 weeks today. I would say I have a relatively chill baby. However, he only sleeps well when he attached to me (contact naps). Sometimes he naps on my husband. I’m also breastfeeding (every 2/3/4 hours — depending on our child) and that takes a lot of time.

I have been able to do minor chores or take care of myself (wash my face/shower etc) when I’m free and go on walks with our LO. I also have seen friends/family. Other than that, it’s tough to get much more done. I listen to a lot of podcasts and watch some TV when I’m nursing but don’t have a lot of time to do much else.

I also couldn’t do much while I recovered from birth. Feeling stronger and much better these days so going on longer and longer walks.

All this said, in a month, my husband and I and our LO will be traveling abroad.

Find a show and embrace binging.