Do you get anything else done?

sangarepa

Does your LO get "alone time?"  How do you do it?  If we are supposed to sleep when they do, who makes dinner, does laundry, cleans, etc?  LO is in my arms to feed or to soothe.  The rest of time, he is asleep or I am next to him playing.

Anyone want to share how you do it?  I am anticipating real issues when I go back to work and time to get it all done is even more limited than it is now. 

sparkymcgeee

They sleep SO much. I couldn't actually sleep every time she did. So I did laundry, and other chores when she was asleep. I also wear her and make dinner or clean up a bit. If she's awake in her bouncer or swing I can get stuff done as well. Hopefully you DH will help out a lot when you go back to work.

Lisa Frank

My son never slept very well at first, but this little girl is much better. She sleeps well in her crib and we started Eat Play Sleep at 2 weeks with her.  So, she's up for about an hour, and then naps for 1.5-2.  It's amazing. I never had time to get things done when my DS was this little.

Don't worry. You'll get there. I really remember 6 weeks being a huge turning point with my DS.  We were getting into a groove.  Hang in there!  Have you considered getting a sling or a carrier? That was my lifesaver with my DS.

sangarepa

Maks loves being in the moby but i am scared to go near the stove with him in it.

 We can get through the cooking with his afternoon nap but as soon as we sit down to eat, he wakes and gets to eat while my supper gets cold. (Murphy's law for moms-right?!)

Raquellyo

Baby seems to sleep around 16-20 hours, so I just do things when she's napping between feedings and diaper changes.  Just got done cleaning up the kitchen, emptying dishwasher and eating some breakfast.  I might go jump in the shower while I can.  Today is my husband's first day back at work, so I'm definitely taking advantage of the downtime.

When she's awake (not hungry or dirty), we will walk around, explore the play gym, do tummy time, or she might sit in the mamaroo (bouncer/swing).  If she just wants to be held, I might put her in the moby so I can have my hands free to do other things.

Once my husband gets home, he might prepare dinner, or we might trade off and he can entertain the baby while I put something together.  So it's not like I have a ton of time to be productive and get the whole house cleaned, laundry done, groceries, etc.....but I definitely have some "time" .

alliejoe

Up till this point I haven't napped during the day when he's sleeping.  I hate napping for the most part so when he's sleeping I scramble to get stuff done. 

He was up a lot last night and I'm looking around the house and it's a mess b/c we just got home from a weekend out of town.  Ugh.  I am feeling like a nap may actually win out today though.

meghanchrisaz

Up until today we've had visitors, so my sense of reality is a bit swayed.  But, its a bit unrealistic to sleep every single time your baby sleeps.  Thankfully, this being my 3rd child, it is a lot easier to put her down more.  I also take advantage of the times she is asleep in her carseat after a ride a lot.  For example, we just went to starbucks and she fell asleep, normally I would try and get as much done as possible.  I am just being lazy right now .

 

EJensify

I don't get too much done.  Thank God I have the Roomba and Scooba or my floors would be a sticky mess. There are about 9 loads of laundry waiting to get done...

I still sleep when the baby sleeps when I can, but it is Summer break and I have 3 older kids (DD5, SS7, SD8) to entertain, so we are not home often.  The most I get done anymore while he sleeps is getting a tan, browsing the library, or grocery shopping.

Heather & Nayt

I have a 2 year old at home so if I am lucky i have maybe a 2 hour time slot in the day where I can actually nap, and that is only if I time it right and both kids sleep at that time, and that is also my time to shower so napping rarely trumps clean hair. 

I try to do my cleaning and cooking around her nap time. Luckily she doesn't need to be on me to sleep and is content in her swing or bassinet.  On days she is really fussy i stick her in the moby and she is happy and I am free. 

I will say that this time with DS i wasn't getting anything done. Don't beat yourself up about it!  

tokenhoser

I'll be honest: playing with the baby bores me to tears. We do a little tummy time, but most of his "activities" are watching me do things that need to get done. I take him with me and do laundry. I sit him in the kitchen and talk to him while I do dishes. I wear him and go for a walk (which usually induces a nap in about half a block).

I know very well that my mom didn't sit around and gaze at me adoringly for hours while waving stimulating baby toys into my line of sight. I think I turned out pretty smart. 

SC1977

Last week I was telling my husband how I wished the baby would take a nap so I could get dressed and brush my teeth. And my husband said "why don't you just set him down while you change? You have to take care of yourself too."  Duh. We don't have to be in their faces 24/7. Sure, 5 minutes after I set him down, he started to melt down. But at least by that time I was dressed and my teeth were clean. 

Lisa102304

I do very little entertaining ... She just goes with me where I go if need be. If she is fussy, I bring her in the laundry room, kitchen, whatever. If she cries while I brush my teeth, then so be it. She will not be harmed by crying a few minutes. However, as far as dinners go, I am spoiled - my DH loves cooking so he does most of that when he gets home. I don't cook much because of that.

EJChapman123

Today was my first day with DH back to work, so I wasn't sure how productive I would be able to be (especially because I exclusively pump right now, so there is pumping and feeding, double work grrrr), but I got quite a bit done.

I only nap maybe once a day, and when I do I nap with her on my chest and we snuggle for an hour or two.  Other than that, during the day, she is mostly sleeping and I get all my stuff done while she sleeps.  I manage to cook, do laundry, and keep things clean (but I won't lie, I have cleaning people for the big stuff every 2 weeks).  If she wakes up and gets bored, I do some tummy time or we take a tour of the house, or sometimes I just plop her next to me and the change of scenery makes all the difference.  Or I put her in the Ergo, and she immediately passes out.

Considering she sleeps about 4 hours at a time at night, I am okay with not napping during the day.  Maybe she's exceptional, maybe I am still on adrenaline, but whatever it is, I have had the energy to stay productive.  Who knows how long it will last...

sangarepa

I am so jealous you all have good nappers.  DS naps in 1/2 hour blocks it seems and I often spend half that time trying to decide what to do next.  It's been a little rough this past week or so and very often he fusses more than I can handle when I put him down.  I know, I am probably perpetuating it by not letting him cry more, but I have a hard time thinking you can spoil a newborn.  Hopefully it will get better.

KelsnEm

tokenhoser:

I'll be honest: playing with the baby bores me to tears. We do a little tummy time, but most of his "activities" are watching me do things that need to get done. I take him with me and do laundry. I sit him in the kitchen and talk to him while I do dishes. I wear him and go for a walk (which usually induces a nap in about half a block).

I know very well that my mom didn't sit around and gaze at me adoringly for hours while waving stimulating baby toys into my line of sight. I think I turned out pretty smart. 

Thank god I'm not alone!  I was starting to feel really badly about not devoting every minute of my time to my DD!  I don't really have a problem getting things done around the house, because if it needs to be done-I do it!    She's often in her R&P with me in the kitchen while I get dinner ready in the evenings.  I enjoy cooking and she enjoys the music I play & sing along with as well as all of the kitchen sounds: water, chopping, stove-top cooking, etc.  That said, I still do have time in the day to play with her when she is awake, I just don't do it every minute that she is. 

pinkflipflops44

I also put her on her play mat and can watch her from the kitchen while I do things.  I try to do stuff during her morning nap, like shower, dishes, one thing of cleaning and maybe some laundry.  When she naps in the afternoon I eat lunch and use it as my 'nap' time but I usually just bum around on the internet or read a book.  I am trying to get her to sleep while not on me which has been a problem, but I kind of need to get an ergo so I can just lug her with me everywhere.  When we tried our friends out she fell asleep instantly in it.

andigurl

We are on the Eat Play Sleep routine (which I didn't even know was a well known routine until reading LisaFranks post about it yesterday. we just naturally fell into this routine when we came home from the hospital).  I wake him every three hours for a feeding, that takes about 30-60 minutes between waking, feeding, burping and changing the diaper.  Then we "play" (sit in bouncer, read books, sing, walk around the house, hang on the couch and chit chat, play with his arms/legs, whatever) for about 45 minutes to an hour.  When he starts showing signs of being tired I put him down in the RNP, Swing, or just lay back on the couch or bed and put him on his side and he falls right to sleep.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  While he's napping I get all my "chores", trip to the gym, anything else done.  At night I don't wake him, I wait for him to wake me up which is every 4-6 hours.  No lights, no stimulus, just eat, change and right back to sleep.  Its been working so far.