How do you get things done?

SWBs Wifey · November 2009

DS wants to be on me every second of the day. I can wear him in the Moby and get some stuff done (laundry, picking up, vacuuming), but I can't cook dinner. I can't bend over to unload the dishwasher and put things away. As soon as I put him down somewhere (sleeping or not) he starts screaming. I only get a shower because DH comes home at lunch, so I shower then. On days he doesn't come home, or we meet him out for lunch, I don't get a shower. And DH wonders why when he gets home, I want to turn DS over to him to handle until its time for DS to eat again... Oh... and then I get to do it all night too...

I LOVE that he wants to be close to me, but I need to get things done...

mommy2b08 · November 2009

I didn't start getting stuff done til DD was 5 months old and sitting up well by herself.... then I could plop her on the floor in the kitchen while I cooked.

purplepuggles · November 2009

i kinda didn't for a looong time. there are still plenty of days where DH gets home and i just kinda shrug at the toys/laundry/dishes. i had to learn to let go. i get a lot done on the weekend. DH barely gets to see DS during the week, so they spend a lot of time playing while i get things done on saturday. it does get easier once baby gets a little older so hang in there!

the swing was a lifesaver for me. do you have one? are you opposed? jack took all his naps in there for the first 2 months he was home from the hospital!

sommerrayne · November 2009

One word - MOBY! Seriously. I did E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. with Rhayna in the moby. Dishes, laundry, vacuuming, etc.

SapphyrEyes · November 2009

I literally wore DS all the time in the beginning. I showered when friends came over and when DH came home from work but he understood I wasn't going to get it done otherwise as did my friends. I cooked and still do with DS in a carrier. It's just easier and I've always been as careful as possible. Plus, we did a lot of crock meals which is no standing at the stove if that's the main worry. When I did cook at the stove I stood as far away as possible and kept DS on my side furthest away. I kept DS papasan chair in the bathroom just so I could pee and even then he still wound up staying on in me in the Moby or Ergo. But, DH did come home and start helping right away with him or anything else that needed done. And several times he kept him long enough that I got a four or five hour nap because I had pumped to keep milk in the fridge from latch issues in the beginning.

sommerrayne · November 2009

And you can unload and load dishes - you have to put the Moby on much thighter than you think. Tuck him in there tight. Pull the tag part (the strap that has the tag on it, all the way up to over his shoulders. As long as his head is to one side or the other, he's money.

Cooking = learning to "side stand". I promise you, it can be done!

ANd for the simple event that you need to lean over to pull something out of the oven with both hands, he can go in a bouncy seat for 2 seconds and cry. He will survive! I promise

I remember, so vividly, being in your position. Try to remember, "do what you can and know that he's not going to die from crying....no baby ever has!!!"

WiggleBaby · November 2009

mommy2b08:
I didn't start getting stuff done til DD was 5 months old and sitting up well by herself.... then I could plop her on the floor in the kitchen while I cooked.

this was true for me too. i couldnt put DD down ANYWHERE. going to the bathroom was stressful. oye. crock pot recipes? my DH picked up food on his way home from work a LOT. that solves the dinner problem AND the dishes problem. try paper plates for a while?

eta: around your LO's age is when we started our bedtime routine, and baths did not go well for us so i started showering with DD before she went to bed. this way i got a shower everyday too! i still shower with her to this day and love getting two things done at once!!!

emathis2 · November 2009

Some days I do things during naps or wait for DH to come home. My LO needs to be held or at least looking at me pretty much all the time. It can get old but then again I have a friend and her baby rarely likes being held. That would be way worse.

proudarmywife08 · November 2009

I didn't get anything done until DD was at least a few months old. They're very demanding of mommy's attention and time at that age. It iwll get better though :-)

aspade · November 2009

Well, if it's a day like today, then I don't. She's been a terrible napper and fussy and wanting to be held, etc. In the tiny little nap times, I ran around the house like crazy and unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, stripped the linens off the bed, neatened up things, etc. I showered (quickly) with her in her little rocker chair. Around 1 I almost cried. I just want some time for ME--to knit, organize, whatever. But I really can't have that time if she won't take an extended nap (past 1 sleep cycle) in her swing.

When she was up, I managed to do 2 loads of laundry, one of them a stripped load of diapers.

Now she's fallen asleep on the boppy, nursing. Which isn't that great b/c the only thing within arm's reach is my laptop. I've had no lunch. Crying

I don't feel bad at all with handing her off to DH the second he gets home. That's how I get my cooking done, and that's how I get a little break.

I'm really good at getting errands done with her in the stroller! But we live in a walkable neighborhood.

Hippinski · November 2009

You don't. Somethings have to give. In my doula training they said that the #1 source of stress after a baby is born is the 'getting things'. It's impossible to get things done when you have a high needs baby. Somethings got to give and dishes are lower on the list then the baby.

Hang in there. It does get better.

nsees · November 2009

When DS takes a nap, I completely maximize that time and get a million things done. There are days though that he won't let me lay him down either and those days, I don't get anything done.

Otherwise, I bring his bouncy seat or swing into the room where I'm working on whatever. Usually I can atleast get 10 minutes out of that. They key for my LO though is that he has to be able to see me.

It will get better though and you learn that being clean, you or your house, is just not as important anymore. Which is why I'm in the process of hiring a cleaning person finally!!

TCsbride · November 2009

It is hard at the beginning, but I promise, it will get better soon enough. Fr showers, I would feed DS right before and either put him in the papasan bouncer or brought him in the tub with me. I would just lay a towel over my lap and lay him on it t kick his feet while I washed up.

As for cooking, we had frozen meals saved up for the first couple months and gift cards for takeout that we had saved along the way. Obviously too late for that now, but I'd suggest waiting to cook till DH comes home and he can help. I personally will not cook while wearing LO. Just now DD can play on her belly or go in her exercauser while I cook.

Papasan swing was my saving grace too though. Ours was in the family room right by the kitchen so I could do dishes. Down by the laundry we had a little mat we'd lay LO on.....as long as I sung funny songs they would be fine for a cuple minutes.

babyluv617 · November 2009

Moby and no bending. I squatted. Oh and DH cooked dinner when DS was wee little. Wouldn't have gotten anything done without the moby. Whatever was undone just stayed that way until DH would take him.

ashawee127 · November 2009

aspade:
She's been a terrible napper and fussy and wanting to be held, etc. In the tiny little nap times, I ran around the house like crazy and unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, stripped the linens off the bed, neatened up things, etc. I just want some time for ME--to knit, organize, whatever. But I really can't have that time if she won't take an extended nap (past 1 sleep cycle) in her swing.

This!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Although my DH isn't much help, but he's getting better.

MandaGail · November 2009

Do you have some kind of activity toy you can put him under to entertain him for a few minutes? We got into a morning routine of Jack laying under one for 30 minutes. It's a hand me down from a friend. It's plastic and MIC, lights up, but he loved it. I loved it because I could have coffee or put dishes away, fold laundry, etc. I know you're stressed about the house.

hamilton.ja · November 2009

in order to shower I at least got out of bed and showered before DH left for work in the morning even if DS wasn't awake yet... I might have gotten back in bed afterwards but I got up and showered.

I found that he liked the bouncy seat well enough and would sit in it long enough to let me cook a quick meal - nothing longer than 15 minutes. On days when I just could not get up early to shower I took him in the bathroom in it and showered that way. I also learned to take REALLY quick showers. Like lather it all up, rinse it all off and get out showers.

clayswife · November 2009

When he was 1-3 months old, one word: swing.

mh2t · November 2009

I could have written this post myself - Moby and all. The only chore I am able to get done on a regular basis is the laundry. Showering is a catch as catch can situation. I hope things get better for both of us soon!

jennterrell · November 2009

We've gone through this during a few phases. When DS was a newborn, then again a few months ago when he was wanting to walk but would get too frustrated.

During the early days, I got my shower by feeding DS, then laying him in the bouncy seat next to the shower with the heat fan running. The warm air and white noise usually put him out for a nap. I'd shower and then crawl into bed myself most days, or i'd use that 45 min to get something done. I also cooked with him in a mei-tai carrier. It kept him bundled in so close that i didn't worry about it too much. I was very careful with what i was cooking - no frying with hot grease, nothing were i had to pick up a pot of boiling water, etc. It helps though that our oven is in the wall, so no bending over. I made a lot of casserole type things. DH also had dinner duty often, so lots of veggie burger and fry nights :P

Once he was able to sit up better, DS liked playing on a blanket for short periods as long as I kept talking to him and interacted every so often. He is better now at entertaining himself, but there are still days where I don't get a shower and nothing else gets accomplished.

*speedracer* · November 2009

i didn't get anything done until he started daycare.

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