Working out while having a baby/ young kid

babybluefire

Perhaps their spouse works 12+ hour days and has a commute? My spouse sometimes barely has the energy or time left to shovel some food in his face and read books to the kids before they are in bed.


What if the mother is exclusively breastfeeding and cant go more then a hour away from the baby during the day. No matter what you try you cant force a child into a nap schedule. All these things are biologically NORMAL for babies and toddlers.


Next time stop being so judgmental and better then every one else because you are lucky and have a schedule and kids that are easy.

janecdonaghey

I started back at the gym a couple days a week when my son was 2 months old and eased back into it. My husband or sister would be with the baby and I got some much needed alone gym time! I now go 3-4 times a week usually when he goes to bed at night or weekend nap time. I sometimes feel guilty leaving to go to the gym and not see him for a long time as I work full-time, but then I realize that being healthy is important to my whole family and not just me. Also, I suggest Jillian Michaels dvds at home for quick workout during naptime or a treadmill so when I can't make it to gym I can run after he goes to bed.

kjensen15

I have a 3 month old and I work 8-5 and right now the only time I have is my lunch hour. I am able to take about an hour and 15 minutes which gives me enough time hit the gym to lift. I just started doing Jamie Eason's live fit trainer so the first 4 weeks is all weights no cardio, so its working out well right now. However, when I start the second phase and add cardio in it's going to get more difficult.

I want to spend as much time with my little guy as I can in the evenings so by the time I get dinner made/cleaned up, we get him bathed and down for the night it's about 8:30. Then I have to get everything ready for the next day and do any house work (laundry,dusting, etc.), so by that time it's 10:00 and I'm pooped! I'm already getting up at 5:30 to get ready in the morning and out the door by 7:30. My little guy never quite caught on to breast feeding so I have pumped and bottle fed since the beginning. I was planning on doing this until he was at least 4 months old and then using what I have frozen till it runs out. This will free up 30 minutes in the evening and in the morning making it possible to get up at 5:00 to get a workout in!

I am quickly learning that a mommy's job is never done! My husband helps as much as he can, but there are some things he can't/won't do and some that I just feel better doing. I can't imagine doing this alone! If any of you are single mom's you are definitely super heros in my mind!!!

IndigoVA

I have a 2 year old and a 6 year old. I'm not a single mom, but my husband works 14 hour days, so I basically live as one much of the week. When my kids were younger, I did Stroller Strides (which is great, if there's one in your area). I also did long walk/jogs on my own with the stroller. Now that my kids are a little older, I generally give them some snacks and put in a kids' movie for them to watch so I can slip downstairs and workout. I usually get at least 45 minutes before they get bored and start bugging me. I also belong to a gym with childcare, but my 2 year old has separation anxiety issues, so I don't use it very often.

taramaureen

Perhaps their spouse works 12+ hour days and has a commute? My spouse sometimes barely has the energy or time left to shovel some food in his face and read books to the kids before they are in bed.


What if the mother is exclusively breastfeeding and cant go more then a hour away from the baby during the day. No matter what you try you cant force a child into a nap schedule. All these things are biologically NORMAL for babies and toddlers.


Next time stop being so judgmental and better then every one else because you are lucky and have a schedule and kids that are easy.

I believe you're mistaking "curiosity" for "judgmental" hummmm....

kendra0224

I have two children (3yrs and 1yr), and I just started working out in January. I give you a lot of credit for working out with an infant! We just got a membership to our local YMCA and I take them there just about every morning. They offer 2 hours of free child care a day for members. It's actually really affordable, and I feel like I get more exercise in because I am not stopping every 5 seconds to keep them from fighting, or get them something. I also just started doing the 30 day shred, but I wait until they go to bed at night. On warm days I put the kids in the stoller or wagon and walk for about 30 minutes, sometimes twice a day. According to my old HRM I was burning about 90 cals each walk, but it was messed up and didn't count accurately and I have yet to walk with my new one (the old one would count lower than what I actually burned when I did intense exercise). I think it would be pretty accurate though to say I burned about 90 calories when walking though. It is definately hard to work out with children at home, but there are ways to do it! Good luck!

jenlarz

Another option for working out with kids-if you like to ride a bike getting a pull behind trailer is fun too. And when they get a bit bigger, talk about a work out!

abbigail_r

Are you ladies single moms? I ask my husband to watch the kids so I can work out.

I seriously don't mean to offend anyone with this, but I hate it when people say husbands "watch" or "babysit" their own kids! It's called parenting. What I hate about it is that it assumes that all the mundane stuff related to kids is automatically my (as "mommy") responsibility. The inference is that hubby is doing me a favor when he's simply supposed to do it anyway. This is a battle I have with my hubby.

To answer your question, though, I work out at 5:15 a.m. every morning, before anyone else in my household gets up. Then, I can get hubby up, get my child ready for school, and out the door, then get ready for work myself. By 10:00 p.m. I am done.

I do understand completely what your saying about the husbands watching or babysitting the kids. But my husband works a lot right now and yes I feel bad about making him watch our handful of a 2 yr old. which is now turning into a better wellbehaved almost 3 yr old so soon I wont feel obligated to ask. while I dont call it babysitting I do ask him to "watch" the kid while im not in the room. And I see nothing wrong with that.

Jesea

I tried getting up before my boys (2 and 7) but my younger son is unpredictable, and needs supervision once he's awake or he may climb the dressers, so that didn't work so well. I work part time as a substitute teacher, so on the days I work, I work out after school and pick the kids up from day care afterwards. On days we're home, I work out at naptime, as soon as he falls asleep, and hope he sleeps long enough to grab a shower. It works fairly well most days!

223730

Married with two kids here – 3 ½ and 1. I work days, my husband works evenings (5-11 or so). We both are students as well. Any free time we have is usually running errands or doing homework! If he is home and the kids are napping, I’ll go for a walk (hopefully jog soon!) in the neighborhood by myself. Any other days, it’s a compromise of pushing the 1 year old in a stroller, while the 3 ½ rides his bike. He’ll get tired of the bike on one trip. We go back to the house, ditch the bike, switch to the sit and stand stroller. He can have a variety of ways to travel without having to sit the whole time, she is happy sitting in the front, and I’ll push the two of them for about a mile and a half walk each evening (2 kids+stroller=86 lbs!).

Right now, that is my exercise!! I slip in weights a few nights a week (just a set of dumbbells) for 15 minutes or so. If the kids are asleep early enough and I don’t have homework breathing down my neck, I’ll do a P90x dvd. Some afternoons, the exercise ranges from volleyball in the trampoline to chasing butterflies in the backyard! Another staple in my “routine” is I ALWAYS take the stairs at work. I work on the 4th floor, so it takes 8 flights to get to my office. I take the stairs in the parking garage to the 5th floor as well. Every little bit counts!

I got kickstarted by going to the gym for three months, but my husband was not in school at that time. Now the gym just isn’t feasible for me, but I have found that my little “routine” is still successful in helping me lose weight.

JanSmelly

I workout during nap/rest. I love routines and schedules for this reason because it allows time to do the things I want to do and focus on me.

My 4 year old twins rest for an hour and then get 30 min of tv while I finish my workout.

My 20 month old has nap for 2 hours in the afternoon.

I am about to go on a walk/run with the youngest in the stroller while the other two are at preschool.

223730

The best thing for me is to just get up before they do. My kids are much older now so I don't have to worry about it as much.
My youngest is 5 and still at home with me but she knows not to bug me. Some days she gets her little pink yoga mat out and works out with me. She has a set of pink 3 lb weights that she uses too.
She LOVES to do yoga with me. She knows that she can stop whenever she wants as long as she doesn't bug me.
If things get crazy I call my husband at work and give him the heads up that I didn't get a workout in.....that way when he gets home he takes care of the kids and I go squeeze in 30 min.

When they were smaller I pulled them around in a wagon or pushed them in the stroller. Also, pushing them in the swings is good especially if you do lunges while doing it.

Do squats holding the kiddos too.
My theory is if you really want it to work you will find a way to make it work but if you are looking for excuses there will always be excuses. Even a 15 min. workout is better then nothing!

^^^ now I feel lame, because my weights are the same as a 5 year old, LOL :laugh:

kim_mc

I have 3 kids, 2 of which are at home with me and the other one is school age. The little ones are 3 years and 18 months. I have to do all working out from home. I try to do it when they are down for a nap which is never at the same time. My 3y/o is sometimes awake when I workout and can play for a while but I have to workout when my 18 month old is sleeping. He's pretty unpredictable with naps so I try to start as soon as he lays down and sometimes I have to stop and other times it doesn't happen.

I sometimes workout at night after they all go to bed. That is only if I don't have to work, because I work nights.

I can't get up in the morning and do it because sometimes my little guys are up around 5-530. And like I said, I work nights, so mornings aren't my thing!

Just try to fit it in whenever you can. I can't wait until I can actually plan out when I'm going to workout, but for now I just try to fit it in whenever I can!

Good luck to you! Feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like!

babybluefire

Perhaps their spouse works 12+ hour days and has a commute? My spouse sometimes barely has the energy or time left to shovel some food in his face and read books to the kids before they are in bed.


What if the mother is exclusively breastfeeding and cant go more then a hour away from the baby during the day. No matter what you try you cant force a child into a nap schedule. All these things are biologically NORMAL for babies and toddlers.


Next time stop being so judgmental and better then every one else because you are lucky and have a schedule and kids that are easy.

I believe you're mistaking "curiosity" for "judgmental" hummmm....

Nope, getting snarky and asking why the father isn't doing his job and asking if these women are single moms is judgmental. Then getting offended when someone calls you on it, well lol.

princilam99

Exactly. People are always quick to judge. You don't know if the father works nights, etc.

Are you ladies single moms? I ask my husband to watch the kids so I can work out.

Seriously I'm surprised at how many people don't just simply get the father to watch the children.

Ummm... I am not a single mother, but my husband just had his second back surgery so him watching LO is great unless something happens and LO needs to be picked up.... You never know the situations that someone else might be dealing with.

LauraHasABabyJack

I'm also in the get up early group. It's too hard to exercise while he's awake, even if he's playing with my husband since we have a small house. If I can't seem to drag myself out of bed that early or I'm going for some bonus exercise, I'll stick him in the stroller with a snack and walk at the park. He also enjoys riding in the backpack so I'll put him in there and then go hiking- add in a few hills with that extra weight and I get some awesome jelly legs. He finds it hilarious when I walk through mud and likes watching for birds and squirrels.

JAG1224

When my son was younger I tried to workout around his naps or took him with me on my runs (I have a jogging stroller). Now he's 21 months old and his naps are shorter and he doesn't like being in the jogger so I wake up early and workout before he gets up. I did p90x, online workouts and the elliptical. Right now, I do cardio plus the nike training workouts. If you have an iphone i would highly suggest downloading the nike training app.. they have awesome workouts you can do at home. Hope this helps. Best wishes!

iuangina

My son is 9 months old. I have a treadmill at home that I'll use when I can't get to the gym. I will run on it during his naps. My husband and I have a schedule worked out, so we can both get to the gym. We both work. I go on Monday, Wednesday, and he goes on Tuesday, Thursday during the week. We both go on Saturday and Sunday because we are members of the YMCA and they have a great childcare facility. We don't use it during the week because we feel bad taking him right back to the daycare when we pick him up. It's worked out great for us. I'm training for a triathlon right now and I've never felt better. Good luck.

taramaureen

Perhaps their spouse works 12+ hour days and has a commute? My spouse sometimes barely has the energy or time left to shovel some food in his face and read books to the kids before they are in bed.


What if the mother is exclusively breastfeeding and cant go more then a hour away from the baby during the day. No matter what you try you cant force a child into a nap schedule. All these things are biologically NORMAL for babies and toddlers.


Next time stop being so judgmental and better then every one else because you are lucky and have a schedule and kids that are easy.

I believe you're mistaking "curiosity" for "judgmental" hummmm....

Nope, getting snarky and asking why the father isn't doing his job and asking if these women are single moms is judgmental. Then getting offended when someone calls you on it, well lol.

I wasn't the one getting snarky, although I can if you want me to. I was simply curious. I didn't say anyone was a single mom, please re read what I wrote. KTHNXBYE.

Im_NotPerfect

This has been my issue until recently. I have an almost 6 year old and a 3 year old. Only just within the past few months have I felt like I could exercise during awake hours. And it shows them that Mommy exercises and I feel like I'm setting a good example. But other than that, I either got up before them and did it in the morning, or after they went to bed. SUCKED either way...