If you're a zen chill mom with a toddler are you on an antidepressants?

I’m on an anti anxiety and and antidepressant and still not chill 😅

@Haley right? 😭

I'm on propranolol which is a blood pressure medication that i use for anxiety. Does that count? 😂

No. I just had multiple children.

Damn yall. I was thinking it was a holy grail lol to being chill.

@Haley feel like that would be me lol

@SquishyMommy1 hugs!! Did having more help keep them entertained

@Erica I would say yes if off label is fir anxiety lol

@Jade no. Having more then 1 child just made me realize that I was a ridiculous FTM that was worried about things I didn’t need to worry about 🤷🏼‍♀️

My antidepressants definitely do not make me zen or chill unfortunately lol that’d be a dream though

I think this is a bit of a tough question because I feel like everyone I talk to seems to be different on them. I'm a very laid back and calm person to begin with but I do have ADHD and I take Zoloft and ADHD meds for that. I do really think it's a matter of personality and also I don't stress too much about what my toddler does because right now it's all a learning experience for them. I hope 🤞🏻 that will continue as she gets older and more stubborn 🤣

My antidepressant is 🍃💨. Lol whenever someone asks how I’m so calm in the middle of a shit show , that’s always the answer.

No
Just like what is stressing out gonna do but make me die faster 🤣

My parenting mood or style varies based on life, my toddler’s state and how long he’s been in it, where I am in my cycle and most of all, on the amount and quality of sleep I get. Which also depends on all of the above 🙃🙂 I am not on antidepressants but not against them and have been in the past. When I was, I was not zen. I have also wondered if they would numb the good and the bad things now.

@Kate yeah that's a worry i have. I was on an anxiety med years and years ago and it cause muted effect in me, but I felt super zen. Nothing bothered me ever. I don't want to be numb but how the heck do ppl sit and and go yep this is ok when ur kid literally not eating or not sleeping or tearing the house up and touching and screaming and clawing at you and crying?

@Redss I wish. Those trees make me paranoid and I also still breastfeed

Antidepressants make me crazier than the toddler does

@Jade I imagine sometimes it’s apathy. No more fs left to give 🤣 I have been there too

I think it’s personal parenting decisions. I am not on anti depressants. I am a Canna mom but even if I wasn’t majority of my parenting decisions wouldn’t change much. I made the decision that I want my kids to be able to be independent & survive on their own after we lost my brother’s Bestfriend in the Las Vegas shooting. If anything was to happen to me I want them to be able to hold their own and be able to voice what they need & if I coddle them they will never learn that on their own. I was also raised in a high demand religion/cult which I believe shaped me to be more lenient so that my kids can truly find themselves and learn who they are instead of who they are told they should be.

I’m chill but not. I’m more chill now that when my daughter was younger but I try and really be on her and use strategies with behavior because she’s been tantruming and I want to guide her in the right way. So maybe I’m not so chill lol. I just feel more chill now than before.

Nope. I just realized I was stressing over ridiculous things that didn't matter. And I was able to trust that my instincts are good, which went a long way towards building confidence.

I run on fumes occasionally, AND I consider myself pretty chill when we’re out and just bouncing off the walls when I’m home. I only have a 19month old at the moment but I’m due July and have the ocasional freak out just thinking about how much crazier life will be. She alone keeps me on my toes 😮‍💨😮‍💨

Nope I’ve just sent my entire adult life working with children so one toddler is a breeze compared to 25 on one room 🫣 😂

Also I’ve found it easier to just say yes more often which makes it less stressful. Like I know she’s going to want to help me make breakfast so sure, let’s do it and I’ll allow more time. You want to get all the glitter out and art and crafts? Yes! Go outside? Absolutely! You’ve got to mix your day up on very short notice with a toddler 😂

@SquishyMommy1 I agree! On my first I was a right stress head worrying about everything and quite over protective! It actually made it far far harder to parent. On my third now and it’s like night and day.

No, no medication. By the time my daughter was a toddler I had long accepted that having realistic expectations was the best way. She didn’t sleep through until well over 3 years old, biologically very normal! She went through the occasional picky eating phase, again biologically normal and you just practice division of responsibility and keep serving.

I'm on antidepressants but the point of it is not to numb the experience! I'd say it's the total opposite actually, it allows me to be fully present for my daughter while being able to keep my cool and not get overwhelmed by the little things that aren't important. Which is exactly what kids need from us.

@SquishyMommy1 i second this 100% more kids=more experience i dont think i relaxed w my first until he was like 18 months old maybe? but w my second im like “oh ya she’s fine” lol 😆

i took zoloft with my daughter and i was only on it for about 2 months because i weaned myself off. it didn’t make me numb, it made the anxiety i had go away. i still had occasional freak out but if you ask any mom or family members around me, im a helicopter mom😅 even on the antidepressants i was a helicopter mom but it took away the stupid stupid anxiety i had that was crippling. it was a good balance for me. but i was also on the lowest dose. now that im 3 weeks PP with my son i just started zoloft again because i have a touch of PPA and it’s making me freak out about stupid unnecessary things. fingers crossed it works great again this time around

I stopped taking them when I got pregnant with our first and I'm anxiety/depression free because I changed the factors in my life that made me feel worse. 1.) stopped drinking/smoking weed/nicotine completely 2.) got a house, made it a comfortable living place 3.) re-homed the dog when we got pregnant the first time because she made me absolutely miserable and was very reactive and aggressive. I have an amazing, loving and supportive husband. I don't have many stressors now. And when I do, I work through my emotions rather than numbing them

Idk my kid has some normal toddler quirks for sure. Then she has some extreme behaviors sometimes that in the past I've had to get actual medical assistance with. Like just chronic constipation from cmpa. Or speech delays. I've had to be vigilant since day one and idk how to turn that off now. Cuz what if I miss something and it's too late to get her help she needs? When she was colic I waited 6-8 weeks before begging the Dr to do something(before they were just telling me it's normal for babies to cry. Actually everybody and they momma told me that) so I did the wait and see and it nearly broke my mind. Turned out it was cmpa. I never want to wait and see again.

I’m not on antidepressants. Never have been. Never will be.

I let little things go because I have bigger problems to deal with

My son is 2. Will only be this little today and a mess is easily cleaned up

Now if he climbs the kitchen table and falls and is severely injured, I’d lose my shit internally lol

I can’t sweat the small stuff.

My child is happy. He is fed. He might not eat every meal served but he ate during the day. He stays hydrated. He produced pee and poo diapers plenty.

Stressing only shortens your life and takes away from the joy of the day between the chaotic moments

@Jade just to clarify here… I am very very pro medication. While my meds will never make me “chill” fully because that’s just how I am, my meds have helped me live a normal ish life. I can leave the house and turn left and not kill myself.

So while they do not make me super “chill” they do their job of letting me function.

I feel like some on this post and saying it “numbs motherhood” paints medication in a negative light. Kind of toxic positivity. Some people cannot just “not stress”. Hormonal imbalances cannot be “live, laugh, loved” away

@Haley I see. So it does not infact make you let things roll off your shoulders easily?

@Denise we are the same. I have that same mentality. I'm just a very chill person. My children have learned to be very chill. I think I'm more relaxed with my son than I was with my daughter lol the second child usually breaks that needs to fix everything and just go with the flow.

@Christina🤱🏼🍂☕️♈️ I agree 100% I’m the same way

I'm very chill but sometimes the meds has helped with coping with mess and cleaning, purely because I'm obsessive 🤣🤣. I'm not stressing just chilling in fact my little one had a big tantrum today at the doctor's because a lady told him he couldn't go up the stairs, I was just okay with it all, the crying lasted for like 30 mins and he was fine and fell asleep in the car home 🙃🫠

I just dont stress about those things because they're not that important.
Kids will sleep when they're tired

I eat what I want when I want, so my kids should be able to eat the things they like so long as they try new things at least once.

kids will be kids- eventually they'll grow out of it and on to the next phase.

Just go with the flow, a child led approach hasn't let me down yet

I am mostly a chill mom and I am not on an antidepressant. There are other ways to help your mental health other than taking a pill to mask it. Self exploration is the way to go. I wasn’t always like this, takes A LOT of work

I wouldn’t say I need antidepressants, but I could have for sure used some help with anti anxiety meds probably for the first 6 months of pp. I hardly slept. My child was a good sleeper, but I heard so many phantom cries in the night, it was unreal and then I couldn’t fall asleep.

But I didn’t. Some parts of me think I should have, but I just waited it out. Somehow got better at being chill lol. Hardly notice when she gets into things now lol

@Cassie what kind of self exploration?

@Jadie yeah with my next I think im going to get out. Something so I can enjoy motherhood more. MYbd I will Try to find more support system out here and a better pediatrician too. So much contributed to my disposition. I fired two therapist for basically telling "it gets easier instead of helping me with my thoughts

@Jade nothing prepares you for it.

@Jade paying attention to yourself, your feelings and the thoughts in your head. Paying attention to how those thoughts make you feel and what your triggers are. Why does that trigger you? How can you learn to let things go. Mindfulness is so important. It changed my life.

It’s important to understand that life is suppose to be hard. We’re supposed to have obstacles and challenges. It’s how we learn, grow and become wise! It’s a constant up and down and this is the adventure. Appreciate it because it can all be gone one day