I can feel for you, When my son was born I didn't get out for a long while ( I suffered wtih deppresion ). I finaly found a play group and started to make friends. I hope you enjoy you visit. Our play group used to arrange trips out. And these days being a singel pearent is not looked down upon as it was when I was doing it.    will be thinking of you .

Lisa x x x

I dont know what part of Adelaide you are in, but there are two suggestions I can make.

1. Look up Playgroup Association of SA in the phonebook and give them a call to find the playgroups in your area. Playgroups are great for parents as well as kids as you need to be there with your child so you get to meet and mingle with other parents.

2. If you are in the northern suburbs, or don't mind travelling that far, check out what Para West Adult Campus (23 Crafter Street, Davoren Park) has to offer. It's an adult education facility and they have a brilliant Childrens Centre on site, many good parenting groups and supports, as well as a plethora of courses that you could do part time or full time, or just pick a single personal interest subject to do. The school counsellors can help you chose the best option to suit your needs and they understand that many people go there just to break bordom and isolation, so you won't have anyone try to railroad you into a course or career you don't really want.

Of course there are other schools like it around Adelaide, but costs, parent support, and availability of good child centres on site seem to make a lot of people travel the extra distance to PWAC. But of course, no harm in checking out other such places anyway.

Good on you for getting out of a nasty situation and coming home. This is a better country to be in anyway!

There are plenty of members in and around Adelaide, so I'm sure one of the minti mums will let you know and see if you can meet up with them.  You never know, they might even be at your playgroup!  Sadly, I am still the only member in Gympie, so know how you feel!

Isolation is a big problem for every mother who stays at home, and you need to have an outlet for you.  That is, your daughter is not too young to spend a few hours a week in day care so that you can go and find yourself or just have a nap.  Nothing wrong with it, would use this option myself, but my partner is home much of the time. (The one who responded right down the bottom).

You can always minti mail me if you want to get something off your chest.  I will do my best to respond quickly, but 4.5 kids are really draining!  So is the flu  My point is, that you should never feel alone, and even though I'm at the opposite end of the country (and way to the left when looking at a map), I would be happy to offer whatever support to you and your daughter that I can.

Thankyou for all your advice I was searching parents group instead of playgroup. I have located Playgroups SA and now have gotten in touch with my local playgroup and we are going to start next wednesday. Apparently there is a really young group in there at the moment which is good because Madison is 10 mths old.  I am very excited and feeling very positive about everything now. Bonus is the group is very local to where I live. Once again thankyou for your help

there are a few ppl in adeilade from this site and they might be able to help you more. have you gone to the Adeilaide group? they will have more info in there and meet u ps ect

Try contacting your local Maternal Child Health Nurse. I live in Victoria, and  they were able to put me into contact with a mothers group and a playgroup. I assume this would be the case in other states too.

Your local Child Health Nurse should be able to point you in the right directions, as they are there not only there  to help with the health of the child, but also mum! They are a huge wealth of knowledge!!!

I am Australian, and live in Canada,  so when my son was born although I had my husbands family I was still the non working mum :) Nothing wrong with that, I enjoyed being mum, but i to felt like I was alone, even when hubby was around...

I found walking to the parks and finding out when most mothers took their kids there. I also found out the times that local home day care mothers all gathered around with tons of other kids...  

All you have to do is start up a conversation by asking how old their child is (what parent does not love talking about their kids). :)  And you don't have to swap numbers or anything on the first meet and greet.  I found that a lot of mothers or fathers had regular times to take their kids to the local parks...  You could try doing that, it gets you out and about for a walk, and you are sure to meet people  even if only for half hour at the park it is something that broke the ins and outs of my day.....

GOOD LUCk...
Also there is a group on here that I am sure these ladies would love to help you called Adelaide Parents

Once again good luck...

Hi and welcome to Minti - you have come to the right place

Adelaide is a great place and fairly large. There are a quite a few play groups around - if you do a search on Playgroup Australia - they can put you in touch with any play groups close by.

They often have morning or afternoon sessions - you can still go along even when the little one is asleep. while playgroups are for kids - they are also for parents.

Give them a try.

cheers

les