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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants
How do you get anything done with a baby?
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 7:43 am
I have a couple of older children and had a baby a few months ago after a very long wait. I am over the moon thrilled in a way that I never knew possible. BH. I am lucky enough to be home with my baby. I work very part time and have cleaning help a few days a week. But in between those days, I feel like I can’t keep up. I get almost nothing done. My baby takes up every minute. When he naps, I try to squeeze in what I can, but it’s not enough time. After he goes to sleep for the night, I’m busy with my older ones. I’m definitely not complaining. I’ve been dreaming of this for years. I’m just wondering how anyone with a baby gets anything done ever? I know it’s not my first, but maybe I just don’t remember how it was, or maybe it was easier because I didn’t have older kids who needed me as well. How do people do it? Is everyone as flying as I am?
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amother
Dustypink


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 7:53 am
Most things don't get done. But the baby carrier is my life saver. I stick baby in it and can do a load of dishes or eat lunch like a human or play with other children.
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gootlfriends




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 8:06 am
The first few months? You don't get anything done. No one expects you to. Once they can entertain themselves (around 4-6 months) for a few minutes at a time, then you can get chores done. My baby is now 8 months. I make sure the floor is safe and go do the dishes while she plays. Check on her every few minutes. Also they do longer naps when they get older.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 8:10 am
gootlfriends wrote:
The first few months? You don't get anything done. No one expects you to. Once they can entertain themselves (around 4-6 months) for a few minutes at a time, then you can get chores done. My baby is now 8 months. I make sure the floor is safe and go do the dishes while she plays. Check on her every few minutes. Also they do longer naps when they get older.

I feel like as he gets older it’s harder. They get into everything. I do have a large playpen (the type that you can build as large as you’d like with panels), but he likes when someone plays with him. So I can leave him in there for brief periods but not long enough to do get much done.
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amother
Dustypink


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 8:23 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
I feel like as he gets older it’s harder. They get into everything. I do have a large playpen (the type that you can build as large as you’d like with panels), but he likes when someone plays with him. So I can leave him in there for brief periods but not long enough to do get much done.


Once they're old enough to sit in the high chair with Cheerios we do that a lot.

Or I do things like folding laundry in the playpen with them. I hand baby a burp cloth or towel to play with and fold the rest of the basket while she's busy.

What chores do you want help getting done so we can give more specific ideas.
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 8:25 am
Just ask the working mom who is so jealous of SAHMs from the other thread. She will tell you how easy it is.

Personally, I was a SAHM and I have no idea. My house was flying. Enjoy you delicious bundle of love.
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 8:27 am
amother [ Dustypink ] wrote:
Once they're old enough to sit in the high chair with Cheerios we do that a lot.

Or I do things like folding laundry in the playpen with them. I hand baby a burp cloth or towel to play with and fold the rest of the basket while she's busy.

What chores do you want help getting done so we can give more specific ideas.


Sounds like a great idea. Personally, I found each of those activities were good for a few minutes and I spent more time putting the baby in the seat, getting the Cheerios and cleaning up the Cheerios that the time I got from it.
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amother
Steel


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 8:38 am
I had a two year old who loved pairing socks. I would sit her in the bed and tip out a basket of laundry, and while I folded it she would pull out the socks and match them up. She missed the subtle difference between the thirteen year old and the seventeen year olds black socks, but she was great with any obvious patterns.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 8:44 am
amother [ Dodgerblue ] wrote:
Just ask the working mom who is so jealous of SAHMs from the other thread. She will tell you how easy it is.

Personally, I was a SAHM and I have no idea. My house was flying. Enjoy you delicious bundle of love.

Which thread? I’d still be jealous of me even if I get nothing done 😉 because I get to stay home with my baby (kidding obviously, I don’t want anyone to be jealous and of course my life isn’t all roses).
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 8:45 am
amother [ Dustypink ] wrote:
Once they're old enough to sit in the high chair with Cheerios we do that a lot.

Or I do things like folding laundry in the playpen with them. I hand baby a burp cloth or towel to play with and fold the rest of the basket while she's busy.

What chores do you want help getting done so we can give more specific ideas.

More like tidying up. Cleaning lady folds the laundry and does most of the bigger chores.
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amother
Dustypink


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 9:07 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
More like tidying up. Cleaning lady folds the laundry and does most of the bigger chores.


So I've given up on most tidying up...
I have a laundry hamper on each floor so I have somewhere to throw dirty clothes that were left around. I put things away as baby eats or naps or my husband does it
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 9:39 am
amother [ Dustypink ] wrote:
So I've given up on most tidying up...
I have a laundry hamper on each floor so I have somewhere to throw dirty clothes that were left around. I put things away as baby eats or naps or my husband does it

Ok that makes me feel a little better.. it’s just quite the adjustment for me and I was feeling a bit incapable.
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amother
Hibiscus


 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 10:29 am
It's hard. I work out of the house all the hours my kids are in school / camp. I have a 5-month-old baby who comes to work with me. I do get much less done in my office with her and then I come home I have to hold her a lot as well. I do have cleaning house once a week.
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tichellady




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 22 2021, 10:31 am
You don’t! At least I didn’t until baby started taking regular naps and I hired some help
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lucky14




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 29 2021, 11:10 pm
It's way past the 4/6 month old age when I start feeling like I'm able to do anything.
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amother
Wallflower


 

Post Thu, Jul 29 2021, 11:14 pm
Maybe your bigger kids never needed to help before, but now would be a good time for them to start pitching in.
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amother
Lemonlime


 

Post Thu, Jul 29 2021, 11:32 pm
Tidying up try to do throughout the day and a bigger clean up at night.
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amother
Lavender


 

Post Thu, Jul 29 2021, 11:45 pm
With the first baby, there is a learning curve, but everything else is so much easier. There's no bigger kids making a mess, meals are simple, and you don't have to worry about school/camp/bus/carpool/extracurricular schedules and homework. Right?

I had a big gap between my first two kids. The older one was already in elementary school so I couldn't just schedule everything around the baby. I had to be at the bus stop in time and help with homework and cook more meals and get more stuff done during the day when the older child was in school. I learned to do a lot of things one handed! I would nurse at the kitchen table while supervising homework instead of comfortably in my room. I tried baby wearing but it didn't work for me. I hear it's great for many moms though.

I got my baby on a schedule that worked for the whole family, with 1 longer midday nap instead of 2 shorter naps so I could do errands before and/or after and stuff in the house during naptime and not worry about waking the baby to get to the bus in time.

I found that as long as the baby could see me/us and I would talk to him as I went about my day he was ok with me leaving him on a playmat or in a bouncy seat for a bit. Once the baby was mobile I had to be more careful, of course, but at crucial times like while I was cooking dinner I would put him in an exersaucer in the middle of the kitchen or once he was old enough I would put him in the high chair with some Cheerios. Older children can also help entertain and watch the baby for a while.

Hope some of that helps! Remember, with babies everything is a stage they eventually grow out of.
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amother
Lightblue


 

Post Fri, Jul 30 2021, 1:31 am
Also, some babies are just plain harder.

My current baby, far from my first, is demanding in a way that most of my other kids were not.
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amother
Green


 

Post Fri, Jul 30 2021, 1:46 am
amother [ Dustypink ] wrote:
Once they're old enough to sit in the high chair with Cheerios we do that a lot.

Or I do things like folding laundry in the playpen with them. I hand baby a burp cloth or towel to play with and fold the rest of the basket while she's busy.

What chores do you want help getting done so we can give more specific ideas.


You sound like you have a very calm baby… my nine month old still wants to be held a lot. Won’t play with one wash cloth for long enough for me to fold a whole basket —will go for the piles! Etc.
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