Sex Life After Children
This is not about simply telling you to go on a date night. Being a parent has many joys, but an exciting sex life after children is not common.
Sex Life After Children and Understanding Changes
For many women, change begins when she begins to prepare for motherhood or upon first knowledge of pregnancy. Her body begins to change and so does her relationship with it.
If there have been infertility issues, sex between the couple may have a different feel—more mechanical rather than pleasure-filled and fun—after cycles of hormones and prescribed sex. If sex was a way that either or both partners fulfilled their need for connection, the intimacy of the couple begins to wane.
Women are usually advised to forgo sex for at least six to eight weeks after giving birth. The sleeplessness, caring for a child, the bodily changes, and fluctuating hormones tremendously impacts a woman’s libido. Her need to connect with her partner also greatly impacted as her need for intimacy is impacted by baby constantly touching and clinging to her.
Postpartum depression is common and often mistreated leading many couples to feel even more disconnected. It is also seen as a “woman’s problem” that she needs to treat on her own rather than an experience both partners are enduring.
Becoming a parent can also open up issues with parents own childhood or misunderstanding on what it means to be a good parent and a sexual being. Past traumas and unresolved issues also come to surface and affect your sex life after children.
Emotional Distance is a Sex-Killer in a Relationship.
Sex in a committed relationship is most likely to happen when both partners experience emotional intimacy. The problem is that with both parents being busy with work, life and child rearing, sharing and meeting the emotional needs of the couple takes a serious back seat.
And, the biggest factor impacting the ability of a couple to nurture each other’s emotional needs is chronic dissatisfaction with the division of chores and responsibilities in the home.
How Can Therapy Help Your Sex Life After Children?
- Assists partners in creating a space where they both can speak about individual needs and wants in an open manner ultimately improving awareness and communication
- Clarify and update roles in the home
- Heal unresolved issues that keep you stuck
- Learn to create a more sexually inviting atmosphere in your home
- Going beyond leading parallel but separate lives
- Assisting both partners through postpartum trauma and depression
- Creating healthy boundaries between parenting and your partnership
- Resolving cultural and religious rules/issues surrounding sex after kids
Sex Life After Children – Our Therapy Approach
At CRIWB, we are focused on being an inclusive and diverse practice with specially trained therapists to help you explore your spirituality as it relates to relationships and sexuality. We provide a non-judgmental space for you to look within and achieve your goals.
Contact CRIWB to learn more about how sex therapy can help you have a great sex life after children.