My DD has no friends!

[catpagmo]

My poor DD doesn't have any friends. We have lived in our neighborhood for 7 years, and we hardly know anyone! The people we do know (and their kids) aren't around much.
She's driving me a bit crazy with all the talking, ALL DAY LONG.
I know she just needs to play with someone, but I don't really know anyone with kids. I don't have many friends myself, and feel so bad for DD.:(

[buddyleebaby]

I'm sorry. I'm right there with you. We moved here at the end of February and know no one. Not a single child. She does have her little sister to play with but I know it's not the same. She gets so excited when she sees another child at the supermarket and tries to strike up a conversation-"Hello, little boy. How are you? My name is Abigail."
It breaks my heart.

[Wife_and_mommy]

I'm sorry. :(

Have you tried the library story times? Book stores have them too. The mall play area?

[kijip]

moms groups? Mother's Day Out? Co-op (a few hours a week) preschool? Church or religious community? Lessons? Story-time? I'd start digging for some friends.

Host a neighborhood bbq?

Just some thoughts, I know it is hard!

[new_mommy25]

Hugs to you. That is so hard. I remember when I moved back home after 5 years I felt very much the same. None of my friends had children yet and it was lonely times. I was able to connect with people just by getting out there. I signed my DS up for Wee Play (like Gymboree) and we did that once a week. I took him to the park almost every day and got to know the regulars there. We did story time at the book store. You get the picture. I lucked out big time and went to a play date with a bunch of mamas from Mothering.com Finding Your Tribe forum. It was there I really connected with one mom, who told me about La Leche League where I connected with a few more moms, and those core friendships grew as we all got to know each other and introduced each other to our other friends. (How's that for a run on sentence?) Anyway, I got a lucky break and I hope you do too soon. Best of luck to you.

[egoldber]

I hear you on the talking. Its enough to drive.me.insane. It just NEVER stops!

We know some people, but they all work full time, so their kids don't get home until its really too late for her to play with them. Or they have older kids and already have established "friends". Its so hard to meet people I think these days and even harder to find someone you really click with.

I would suggest the neighborhood playground and also make sure to go to any neighborhood events (community BBQs, etc.)

It was amazing to me though that once she started the neighborhood public school how many kids we discovered in the neighborhood that we never knew existed!

[Ceepa]

It's frustrating, but your DD is still young. At this point she probably doesn't need regular friends as much as having exposure to other children in general. I second the idea of library storytimes, local play areas, parks, etc.

[SheriRae]

Is daycare or preschool an option just a couple days a week?

We've done it all (at different times)....music class, swimming, Gymboree, beach, park, etc. We're pretty active, but my dd still asked/begged to go to school. I was very reluctant just because I did not want 3 years of preschool. But, this was one of the best things for her. She has the same consistant friends to play with at school. She only goes 2 days a week, but she LOVES it.

Right now, my dd does 2 days of swimming and on the other 2 days does "summer day camp" at her preschool. The day camp thing is just for the month of June....it is really ideal.

[SheriRae]

Is daycare or preschool an option just a couple days a week?

We've done it all (at different times)....music class, swimming, Gymboree, beach, park, etc. We're pretty active, but my dd still asked/begged to go to school. I was very reluctant just because I did not want 3 years of preschool. But, this was one of the best things for her. She has the same consistant friends to play with at school. She only goes 2 days a week, but she LOVES it.

Right now, my dd does 2 days of swimming and on the other 2 days does "summer day camp" at her preschool. The day camp thing is just for the month of June....it is really ideal.

[DrSally]

I know it's frustrating. We had a great group of mom/kid friends we met through meetup.com in CT, then when we moved here it took several months to find other groups. The meetup.com was a bust here and mom's was disbanding their chapter. So, for several months it was just me and him. He would talk about his friends back in CT, even at 2 yo. He, also, would get excited when he saw other kids, sometimes they'd interact, sometimes not. Having regular kids they see is important, I think. Even if they're not directly playing with each other, they're aware of each otlher and comfortable. Sometimes he'd try to join in at the park and the other kids already had others they were there with. One day he said "need find some new friends". So, I know, it can be heartbreaking. IT does get better. We found a playgroup through the library that meets 2 times a week, there's always LLL, etc. but we're still working on it too. For awhile I did think it would never get better.

[cimberdog]

I second meetup.com because you can find lots of groups that interest you. Many go by city, age, hobby, etc. I JUST became a SAHM two months ago and pulled both my kids out of daycare where they had friends, and so until it dawned on me to search out some groups, it was feeling a bit lonely. And, I couldn't take the 437,921 questions from my oldest son ANY.MORE. Good grief that child can talk! As of now, I found a MOM's Group (local chapter) and joined that, and then two different meetup.com groups. It's really been a lifesaver and I've met some really great gals I hope to establish friendships with long-term!

Good luck - I can relate to how you are feeling and how hard it is :(

[erosenst]

Not sure where you live - but you can google Mothers and More and see if there's a group in your area. Ours has a weekly play group, and a lot of the moms/kids get together outside of that as well.

Emily

[catpagmo]

She gets so excited when she sees another child at the supermarket and tries to strike up a conversation-"Hello, little boy. How are you? My name is Abigail."
It breaks my heart.

Awww. My DD waves and says "hi" to EVERY kid she sees. Bless her little heart!

We are going to start up story time at the library again, and probably swim lessons. I'll have to look into Mother's Day out, and co-op preschool. Can someone give me the scoop on those? (Seriously, I have no friends w/kids to ask about this kind of stuff.)

I'm definitely going to do some checking online for the groups pps have mentioned. Thanks for that!

There are some very nice people in the neighborhood, though. It just seems like I'm always missing them. For example, lots of neighborhood kids are out playing in our cul-de-sac when DD and I get home. By the time she's ready to go out and play, they're all gone. Dang, how dare you people have other things to do! LOL!

Thanks for making me feel much better, ladies!

[C99]

Awww. My DD waves and says "hi" to EVERY kid she sees. Bless her little heart!


My 5-y/o does that and we know and see lots of kids! Like Beth, we discovered more kids his age in the neighborhood when he started going to pre-K4.