How does everyone manage to exercise with small children at home?

[squeakermansmom]

I have a ds that just turned 3 and i'm having a hard time exercising b/c with dh's crazy schedule there's no one to watch him. i can do a work out tape at home with him there but he usually interupts and i find it very distracting. today i checked out the gym in town, but i don't think i would want to leave ds there. any suggestions???? what does everyone else do??

[lovebugmama]

For me, I put ds in the jogging stroller and carry dd in the baby bjorn. We go for walks on the roads and sometimes drive to a park with trails. 2 days a week we lift weights in our basement. DS plays nearby or "works out" with us and dd just gets passed around or sometimes hangs out in her infant seat. I would never be able to get it done if I didn't include ds. He wouldn't let me, so I just let him do whatever I do (making sure that is safe, of course).

[ShannonCC]

I have a six and a two (three next month) and they do it with me I put on my music (homemade mix) and dance around to it. They either ignore me or join in. When I get to the "fast song" (as the two year old calls it) I jog around the house and both kids join in, squealing and chasing me or asking to be chased Hey, it works Other than that, I've learned that I can't do any floor work with little kids. Mom looks too much like a jungle gym at that point :LOL

[apri4]

I try to do it during my dd nap time. That way I don't get too many distractions.

[Charles Baudelaire]

I go to Gold's Gym here in town and they have an in-gym child care which I like because the entire room is visible from the gym floor, which means I can peek in there any time, and furthermore, the child care area opens up directly into the gym rather than having its own separate entrance. My dd, if she got out accidentally, would have to go through the gate, a door, and a constantly monitored front door in order to get out.

The child care has been pretty good -- toys and doll houses and stuff to play with. She's four, BTW.

[taradt]

i made it a priority to get my 1/2 hour workout in. i explained to DD that excercise time was mommy's time and that she had to play alone for that time. it took a couple of weeks of her trying every excuse in the book but i did stand my ground and let her now she could join or play on her own but had to leave me alone for that 1/2 hour. some days didn't go as good as others but for the most part after a couple of weeks she learnt that i wasn't stopping to give her the attention she was trying to get and she gave up and now leaves me do my thing. i will talk to her during the workout, encourage her to join and even hold her hand if that is what she needs. she also gets 1 chocolate egg while i am working out (now most days she will ask me if i am doing my excercise yet so she can have her egg)
it sounds mean but i really needed that time to me and she gets a lot of one on one time both before and after the workout. and also i wanted to model to her good fitness habits (we are active all day but this is the time she sees me making it a priority) and the fact that *I* am a person with needs as well.

these days i have been doing treadmill during her 1/2 hour show she is allowed to watch in the mornings and then i do another short treadmill after she has gone to bed.

my daughter is also 3

good luck to you

tara

[KarenEMT]

I alternate between exercising during DS's nap or exercising with him. We take brisk walks with DS in the jogging stroller. His favorite is to ride in the Burley trailer while I bike. We exercise on our exercise balls together (this is one of the few times we watch TV while doing it). We have just started kayaking on the lake at the state park this week - and he loves that too!

[knittingmomma]

We simply make it part of our morning routine. I "try" to get in at least 15 minutes of a really intense workout on a video.... Even if our one year old is standing by the tv or I have to go and get her and bring her back... or even if I have to go attend to something I will come back and get another 5 minutes in... it is lowering my expectations and expecting interruptions... As long as I get my upper legs buttocks and heart rate up - I am happy....

Warm wishes,
Tonya

[Worldshakerz]

Yeah, it's hard. WIth my 2 yr old, the only way I can get on the treadmill is if I pop in a video for him. We have some acceptable choices and it works. I still get interrupted sometimes. I also try to have a bowl of snacks for him and a sippy cup with a drink, etc. Doing the treadmill while he's sleeping hasn't worked for me, because we live in a small apartment and it usually wakes him up. Sometimes he wants to get on the treadmill with me so I turn the speed down and hold his hands on it for a few minutes, then he'll let me be for a while longer .

[crunchy_mama]

I only have one who is 8.5 m.o. I started working out at 6 am as that is the best time with dh's schedule, he works nights and different days every week. We also have a jogging stroller, but I prefer to go to the gym. I haven't used the gym daycare yet, I want to wait until he is older- however if he had been a baby to just nap when he was with others I might have considered it more.

[cjr]

My youngest dd does the tapes with me, then she gets bored and does something on her own. Or, I will fill the kitchen sink up with colored, bubbly water and let her play with the tupperware and that keeps her buisy long after the tape is done.

My problem is the baby. I wait for nap time. Now that the wheather is nice I bought a seat for ds to ride in and we go for bikerides. If your ds isn't 40lbs and you have a bike, that would be a good thing. We ride to the bigger park so he knows there is a destination, he loves it.

[squeakermansmom]

thank you everyone for your responses. i ended up going to the YMCA in town for the first time - and I LOVE IT! the child care room seems so much better than the other gym i went to originally- more kid friendly and they even have tumbling and rythm classes for ds. and best of all....ds actually stayed by himself for 45 minutes...huge step considering he has never been without family. Yeah!!! i'm so excited! now i don't have any excuses for not working out! thanks everyone!

[clavicula]

i just have plans. when my DH will arrive home, i'll go to the gym. i will leave some milk in the fridge if DD is hungry while i am away.
what do you think, am i a dreamer? :LOL
by the way, after birth when did you start excercising regularly?

[Mihelinka]

I have this dilema myself. I take ds in the stroller for walks, we walk w/ dh after dinner when the weather is nice. Sometimes i need time just for myself, i left ds w/ dh after dinner last night & walked by myself. This morning I went back to Curves, (dh is home until he finds a new job) & left ds again w/ him.
It's much easier in spring,summer & fall to get outside & do physical things. This winter was rough getting enough excercise.

[mommy2boys]

my kids are a little older, 3 and 5 but like someone else said it's part of our morning routine. At 9 am I excersize for 45 minutes. My oldest is usually at school (except the last two days he's been sick). My youngest either colors, plays in his room or comes and watches and sometimes does some of the exersises with me. I also use a program called yourself fitness that is for a video game consel so I can pause it no problem if I need to.

[jeca]

I treid to wake up earlier in the mornings and work out to a tape but they would just wake up before I was finish, always. I have been going to the Y also it's much easier and less stressful.I can't depend on just walking caus ethe weather here is too unpredictable plusI'm not trying to lose any weight just tone up and walking is waaay too slow for that.

[Kleine Hexe]

you mean excercise beyond catching the kiddos all day? There is such a thing?