Exercising with a Mobile Baby

Before my pregnancy I was dedicated to working out every single morning, unless I was sick or injured, and while I carried Lyla it was about the same. Workout junkie I call it. Yes I'm a bit of a nerd.

Because of my c-section I had a longer recovery period than I'd anticipated, and doctor's orders to stay away from exercise for a full six weeks. I was too busy and tired to fully acknowledge the lack of workouts in my life, but I actually enjoyed the forced time off more than I thought I would. But when I got the green light to begin my old routine again, I was very happy since I feel so much better throughout the day after some good exercise.

When Lyla was tiny, we'd wake up and I'd nurse her before getting dressed and heading out to the living room. I would lay her beneath the toys on her playmat and I could get in a good 20-minutes before she'd need attention. Then I'd make and eat breakfast before some playing followed by her nap. I'd finish my routine and shower while she slept.

We've managed to keep this morning routine throughout her development- from playmat to sitting with support and now to crawling and pulling up. When Lyla started playing with toys I'd lay a few out for her, in greater quantities as she got bigger to keep her occupied. Now I just give her one or two since she likes to go retrieve more herself. :)

Even though she's bigger, the situation works better for me now. On the one hand she is mobile (i.e. crawling beneath my feet) so I have to dodge her and keep an eye out if she goes behind me. But more importantly, she has a longer attention span and can entertain herself better, so I'm able to get my whole workout in in one piece rather than breaking it up. My body much prefers this and so does my schedule.

My workout space is our living room (it used to be Lyla's room). It's not a huge space so my weights do have to sit in plain view. (This annoys me for aesthetic reasons but being able to exercise at home trumps the look, so I got over it. Moving on...) Before she could move they just sat in the corner, not bothering anyone. But now she could slip and fall on them and hurt herself, so I've placed them in these plastic containers. I remove the lids when it's time to exercise, and they make great items to pull up on and cruise.

It's not always easy and there are days when I miss being able to focus 100%, but it's a pretty good system. This is one of those things that I need to keep doing for me, and I like that I'm modeling good habits for Lyla from the very beginning.