Where do you put your children so you can workout?

:indifferent:

A baby gate in the doorway of their bedroom?
what about a play pen, they are young enough to sit them in a play pen while you workout. that way they are with you and can watch or play with toys.

I work out at home. I have a full time job, three kids, and no husband.

It's not impossible. When you're done making excuses, you'll find a way.

Agree with the comments about napping - if my kids didn't nap nothing would ever get done in our house.

This may be an unpopular suggestion (although probably not as bad as the dog crate) but a DVD for them while you work out? The 1 year old may not have the attention span for the DVD, but then again, I think a 1 year old should be taking at least one 2-3 hour nap!

I also still make my kids (3 and 5) pile into the double stroller so I can get some exercise. Sometimes that is how I feed them dinner - I either pack sandwiches, squeeze applesauce and some cookies for them and they eat while we walk - or I will pick up McDonalds (another likely unpopular suggestion) for them - then they have a toy to play with when they are done eating too!

Also, there are programs near us called Strollerrobics where you work out with a group of other mom's with kids, and there is an instructor who leads the program. You walk/job but also stop and do circuit training as well.

usually im a huge proponent of "make the time to exercise", which, quite frankly, you could do.
(get up at 4, or stay up til 11)

however, after reading your OP, i'm going to go against my usual advice and say that perhaps you need to focus less on exercise and more on getting the rest you need and getting your kids on a better sleeping schedule.

7hrs of sleep is nowhere NEAR enough for children of that age.

the fact that you are putting them in timeout because they are coming to you when youre on the floor trying to exercise is a bit....unsettling.

i like bubbles idea of quiet time.
this would allow you to have your time, and gives them some more structured 'downtime'.

good luck.

I happened to find a gym that figured a Kids Club into the monthly price. Well worth. Have you tried running while pushing a stroller? Zumba with the kids? Getting up before they do? Working out as soon as the last ones sleep? Working out while they eat? There are so many options I had to try before I found what works for me.

Occasionally my 1yo will nap but it's getting rare. My boys are friggin' farmers. Awake and asleep with the sun.

We do go for walks but we live in a very rural area so we don't have nice maintained sidewalks, just the road to walk along side of. I sometimes drive to town (20 minutes away) to go for walks there at the parks and trails etc. It's a nice change but I find ineffective as a weight loss activity. It takes an hour to walk 3/4km thanks to my dawdling, inspect every living and non living thing, toddler.

We spend a lot of time outside, so I try to do like 2-5 minute sets of exercises in between bug hunting and building sand castles but it's not enough.

I read all about the benefits of exercise but I'm fairly sure it's only applicable if you can do it without a kid hanging off of you.

Exercise with a kid hanging off of you is just added weights. Added weight generally makes for a more strenuous workout.

On the note that kept me reading... how is the world do your kids survive with so little sleep? My 6 year old still has to nap or she completely losses her self control by dinner time. /baffled

I dont know if you have ever been on pintrest, but there are some great 20min workout suggestion that i love. I know what it is like with young kids as a stay at home mom and dad working alot. Mine are 9 and 7 now. I also get that when they nap you are torn btwn working out and getting house stuff done. When you do intense shorter workouts it can work. Good Luck!!!

*only read title*

I crate them... similar to this:



That way I can make sure they don't get hurt while I'm away.

Yup. Or Sesame Street, or in their crib, it was never hard for me to figure out what to do with them. I even hired a college student--who was actually observing them for an internship she was doing once.

Even though we eat mostly healthy, and we are on the go constantly, I'm not losing any weight (in fact I've gained weight since being home and I semi blame stress among other things)....

Can anyone help me? Suggestions? Ideas? Point me in a direction? I really need some advice.

Stop blaming other things for your problems. If you're gaining weight you're probably overeating. That's the root of the problem. You can still be fat even if you exercise twice a day if you don't control your food intake.