My 3yr Old Won't Let Me Workout

you are the parent... she should be doing as told- just my opinion

My thought exactly.
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Double ditto. If a three year old is dictating your schedule now, wait till she's a teenager. LOL

I am a mother of five. My youngest is 2, three in two weeks. They sure can be hard work and REALLY test you alot. My third child was VERY demarding like yours. You need to be strong and dont let them walk all over you. Going to bed with her can be "easier" but in the end you are making it harder on yourself. Most of my kids have adjusted to bed time easy but my fourth child took a long time, research and many different routines to figure out something that would work. It took my over a year and a half of hard slog to get him to go to bed. But if you want t exercise without lack of sleep you have to figure out the sleeping routine and let her get grumpy at you and don't give her something everytime she wants it. It's going to and has made your life harder. She is doing this because she hasn't got your attention but you need to show her this behaviour isn't good behaviour and your will give her your full attention but at the moment it's mommy time. I am by no means perfect and it's hard work whether you have five or 1 but you do need to stick to your guns and show her your mom not her

I have great empathy for your busy life style. I have 15 yr, 3 yr & 11 month old boys. My husband and I are just 'sails passing in the wind' or whatever the saying is. I am currently on mat leave, so I can go to the gym at 4 p.m. for an hour before my husband heads off to school / work (he is in school in the evenings and then works full time nights). When I am back to work, I will walk in the door when he walks out.

I walk a ton with my little kids in a stroller (but I am home during the day right now). 3 is a difficult age, they are starting to get that they need to listen, but they have no attention span, so they don't always grasp not interrupting others & their activities. My suggestion would be as others have mentioned, and work on the bedtime routine first. A book I used (that is an extremely short read too) is titled The Sleep Easy Sleep Solution: The Exhausted Parents' Guide to Sleeping. It uses a firm approach that allows for meeting your child's attachement needs. It assists with setting a positive sleep environment as well as sets out guidelines according to age for when a child should go to sleep. For a 3 yr old, it talks about how to discuss with your child the new sleep approaches and get them 'on board' with the plan. I used the book when my son was 9 months, and the next one was 7 months. I was really pleased with the results and they were going to bed with no fuss and sleeping through he night within 6 nights.

I get my children into bed between 7 & 8 and then have time to do work out dvds. I usually get it out of the way right away and then have time to veg on the couch and just enjoy some 'me time'.

Good luck with the approach you choose to meet your fitness needs.

I like the chase and play advise, for just the sake of it, I wore my heart monitor when i played with my daughter yesterday and i burned like 350 cals in 20 mins of horse play and running around the house. A total surprise to me!

strap her to your back and use her like a weight training vest!

I cosleep with my two kids and find that they sleep pretty soundly once they are really asleep (about an hour into bedtime routine). Then I can get up for a bit (watch TV in a different room or workout). So they go down around 7 or 8 and I can still do stuff and get 8hrs of sleep. In the AM if I get up before them they just wake up earlier and crabbier.

People who say "3 yr olds should just obey" are not helpful.

You can also try giving a special TV show that can only be watched during workout, or a special food/high chair or stroller combo that can only be enjoyed during your workout. Playdough keeps my kids still and occupied, as do messy things like water play, 'cooking' (with dry rice or pasta on a drop cloth). Your kid will learn over time that your workout time is separate from them and enjoyable.

In terms of punishment, you can try pausing your workout every time your child enters a specific area and giving a time out until they avoid the workout area during your workout. However, I think it would take several tries over several days before a 3 year old would get the message. Distraction/redirection in addition to this type of punishment might speed it up.

Good luck! Can your hubby give you 1 half hour a day to work out? That, of course, would be perfect.

Maybe adjust your work outs a bit.
I couldn't do p90x due to my then two year old thinking I was a jungle gym.
I ended up dancing or playing wii games (dancing, or even wii fit) with her in my ergo carrier.
I have a jogging stroller, but didn't take her out in the cold.
Set up an obstacle course or something that would keep them busy.
There was a period of time when my lil one was content with colouring books and a blanket fort.
She also was content with me opening "word pad" and letting her type.

Maybe short bursts, or just going to be earlier like someone suggested?

Like another posted said, once they fall asleep, I am able to get up. (We cosleep as well)

Once upon a time I was a single mom with 5 small children, ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 7. I was in school full time. I needed quiet alone time to get my homework done. When I tried to do it at night after the kids went to bed, it was so late by the time they all settled down I was too tired to do it. So I decided we would all go to bed at the same time. Which for them was 8pm.

We established a routine, if they wanted to be tucked in, they must be in their bed before I got there. I only went to each bed once. When I started this I would always go to the empty bed first. It didn't take long and they all raced to bed so they didn't miss getting tucked in. At first they would come to my room a couple of times to make sure I was still in bed too.

I would get up at 4am and enjoy about 3 hours of totally quiet alone time. I still got a full nights sleep and I had my alone time I needed.

It worked for me.

I don't know how old your other kids are, but perhaps one of them could entertain your 3 yr old while you workout for a bit of pay or special considerations for something they want to do.

Is there a slightly older kid nearby that can come play? Not necessarily one old enough to babysit on his or her own, but old enough to keep her occupied for 45 minutes or so and can keep her out of trouble as long as you are still nearby?

Yeah, 3 year olds should just obey, but often they DON'T!!!

you are the parent... she should be doing as told- just my opinion

This. I have a 6yo, a 5yo and a 3yo and when its time for me to workout, to their rooms they go. They're old enough to understand what "stay put until I come get you" means.