Activity for mom ???

[supermum]

I have a 7 mos old - on easy since birth - great angel baby, everything goes excellent, sleep, independent play, feedings...but I'm still waiting for the days when he'll sleep less during the day, and I'll be able to leave the house without rushing back home for feeding him his solids, and putting him down for a nap...All play groups in our area coincide with his naps, and the time we have is always so short to go out and actually enjoy it 

I almost feel isolated, other than my aerobic classes in the evenings...
Most of the time I feel in control about everything...but I'm a bit sad about ...socializing...don't get me wrong, we go out in the week-ends, and we have friends coming over, church, sometimes out for dinner, but during the week we're always around the same neighbourhood...
Our sched is:

6:30AM Awake
6:30-7AM crib play

E 7AM 6oz formula
A Exerciser, independent play
E 8:15AM Breakfast (3T cereal)
A Playpen, independent play
  Song & Prayer before bed
S 9:15 2H Nap
Y

E 11:30AM 6oz formula
A Jolly Jumper 
   Exerciser, independent play     
   OR we go out 12-1PM  HERE we streched to lunch so we can go out/ He won't take lunch right after bottle
E 1:15PM Lunch (3T veggie, 2T fruit)
A Playpen, independent play
   Book w mommy & swing before bed time
S 2PM 2H Nap
Y

E 4:00PM 6oz formula
A Exerciser
E 5:15 Dinner (2T veggie, 1T fruit, dinner with us)
A Jolly Jumper 15 min, while we clean up
   Bath 6-6:20PM
E  Bed Time Bottle 6oz formula
S 7PM in bed
   7:20 asleep

Any ideas of how you do it, I would really apreciate!
Thanks sweet ladies!!!

[aisling]

Hi Supermum,

We would go out after his 11am BF.   I would pack his lunch and we would eat out.  We ate in the buggy, at Starbucks, at friends, on a park bench, on a picnic, in the shopping centre, in the car before we head home, after a walk... etc...  I found lunch an easy meal to do away.  Sometimes I would go to a cafe or restaurant alone or meet a friend and he loved just sitting there watching everything playing with a toy I would bring along in his buggy. Even if I was alone I would bring a book as this was the only timeI got to read, it was just nice being out in  the community with other people, IYKWIM.  Our Mummy group would also take turns meeting 2x a month at each other's house and let the LO's play with toys and have their lunch there.  We took turns preparing nice picky foods for the Mums too, like hummus and pita etc...Then we all rushed off to get them home for their p.m nap.  (well at least the 4 of us who are BW'ers did!) HTH.

You can do it, go for it!

Aisling x

[HeatherC]

I honestly can't remember what I did when dd was younger, but I do know that once she went to one nap a day it seemed like I had the whole day to be out and about.  We had all morning, could eat lunch out, then still have time to get home for the nap.  The pp has given some great ideas, ones I'll keep in mind for #2!  I know it's easy to say, but this time of constant napping will pass very quickly, I promise.

[supermum]

Thanks so much for your reply ladies, I'll try few things and let you know how it goes...

[Erin M]

If a play group or something you want to do meets during his nap time, you can always tweak the nap time a bit if you think he can handle it.  When DD1 was that age, she would have her nap pushed back once a week when we went swimming and then once a week I would put her down a little early, knowing she would take a short nap and we'd go to a music class.  As long as it wasn't every day, it didn't seem to affect her overall schedule.  A lot of it depends on how flexible your baby is.  Mine has always been pretty easy going and laid back so I could move things around a bit without disastrous consequences. 

[jumblebox]

Since our DS was about 3 mos, I've usually taken him out right after his 1st nap. While he's napping, I get everything ready, so I can pretty much just change his diaper and walk out the door. His sleep/eat routine has always been a bit off... doesn't eat right away... so I just take the bottle (and now, solids also) with us. He's eaten a few times in the dining part of grocery stores. He's had his bottle in the laundromat, library, passenger seat of my car, dining area of Walmart, etc. I've fed him Cheerios while we grocery shop. Once a week, we spend his entire 2nd A time at the laundromat.

Once a month, the library has a 0-24 mos storytime which kinda interferes with 1st nap. I just catch him at the 45 min mark (when he's easiest to wake), we go to storytime, and he gets an earlier, longer afternoon nap.

Hope this helps!
- LisaW

[supermum]

Hey everyone!

Thanks so much for your words of wisdom.
We are doing much better, taking lunch out most of the weekdays ...We're enjoying the fresh air, shopping and the X-mas season ! Week-ends have always been great, no complain there, and looking forward to implementing a play group into our schedule !

Thank you very much for your suggestions, which were great help and good stimulation
Alina

[aisling]

Hooray Supermum Alina!  Enjoy now, as when they are walking it gets tougher to sit in peace at lunch!


A x

[Brandonsmom]

You are doing a lot better than I did! I didn't even take my son out to the grocery store until he was 8 months old! I think it was because I was afraid he would get fussy or something. Well, now that I've done it, I'm loving this time of year because we can get out to do Christmas shopping and I'm not afraid I'll do something wrong and he'll start fussing. I always keep in mind now that if he does happen to get cranky, I'll just get our things and leave. But fortunately for the both of us (and everyone in the stores) Brandon loves getting out just as much as I do. He will just look around and stare at all the lights and people. It's a lot of fun to watch him. And it's good for me to get out so I don't feel like I'm drowning in my house.

O, and just a quick thought, if you find yourself out and about and it's nearly time for a bottle feeding, try going into a dressing room to feed. That way you don't have to hurry and get your things to rush home.

Not everyday is going to go smoothly and sometimes it is hard. But I am the type of person that can be content in my house a lot. Some people struggle with that and the lack of adult contact during the majority of the day. My SIL told me how hard it was for her because she felt like she lost her identity when she became a SAHM. But getting out, even just to walk around a store for half an hour will do you and your LO good. And you get a bit of excersize while your at it.

Good luck to you, hon!