Loneliness can be one of the hardest things about being a mother of babies and young children. Many women feel unsure about their new life as mom, or are somewhat isolated as they try to find their way into making motherhood comfortable.

One of the best things I did back when I was a new mom was start a mom’s group. It was really easy to do and helped me since I was new to my area, 12 hours away from family and friends, and alone in the journey of motherhood.

Basically, I kept finding other women that were first time moms, or pregnant moms, and I started collecting their phone numbers. I eventually called them and invited them to come to our humble little trailer home to meet. Some of them brought friends that they thought would be interested.

We ended up meeting regularly. (I think weekly.) Sometimes we had discussion topics and someone would facilitate a discussion or teach something. We brought our babies and they just played together in the middle of the room. (I found many things for mothers to do away from their babies, but I was looking for ways to meet other women without having to leave my child.)

Later we morphed into a play groups situation. Since we all lived in the same town, we got together two days a week. Two moms or more stayed together to watch all the kids at one house, and the other moms had a couple hours to get errands done or whatever. It was a really small group so there weren’t very many children and we got pretty comfortable with each other’s kids, so it wasn’t hard.

This arrangement allowed us to get time to hang out with an adult friend and share the childcare, plus we all got our turn for doing things without our child. It wasn’t so much about “I’ve got to get away from this kid” so much as it was recognizing that some things were just really hard to do with babies along. It was only something like 2 hours, but for those errands where kiddos aren’t easy to bring along, it helped.

I ended up with some very close friendships from that group, so I think it was a real success.

I also spent a few years attending La Leche League meetings and a spin-off playgroup that formed from it. That was a great way to get to meet an even wider circle of women. I was introduced to a lot of interesting new concepts about motherhood and pregnancy that made a big difference in my life, so it was wonderful!

If you’re struggling with loneliness, start thinking about how you can reach out to others in your area this spring. Most other moms are probably as much in need of friends and fellowship as you are–so jump in and see what happens!