When do you find time to exercise?! I had my second baby 4 months ago, and recently I was out with my kids and someone said, “Wow! Such a little one and pregnant again already!” I didn’t want to make it awkward so I just kind of smiled and laughed and walked away. But when I got home I burst into tears. I know I look pregnant, my stomach is still so round, I just don’t have any time to exercise. And I know it will take time for my body to get back in shape, but I also know that if it’s ever going to happen I need to put some work in. Here is what my usual day looks like. I’m just wondering if anyone has any tips for things I could change to try to fit in a work out.

6:30am Baby wakes to feed and goes back to sleep

7:00am Toddler (nearly 2yo) wakes. She nurses, we go potty, get dressed. Sometimes she wants to read or play but we go down for breakfast by 7:45. While she eats I start prepping snacks and lunch and/or packing a bag if we are going out (we do dance class, playgroup, swimming, and music class most weeks). By the time she’s finished eating the baby is usually awake.

8:30am Nurse baby and get her dressed. 9:15am We do tummy time, play, read books, etc. (or this is when we leave the house if we have an activity)

9:30am Toddler has a snack

10:00am Baby has another little top up before nap at 10:30. While she sleeps (anywhere from 30-90 mins) my toddler and I usually do a craft or play in the back garden. This is the only time I could see maybe working out but I never know if the baby is going to wake up and I don’t think it would give me enough time to workout, shower, and get dressed especially if the baby only sleeps for 30 mins.

11:15am Lunch for my toddler. At some point while she’s eating the baby wakes up if she hasn’t already.

12:00pm my toddler nurses, we read some books and she goes down for a nap. Then the baby usually needs to be fed and I wear her while I do some chores (every day I focus on one room in the house to keep up on cleaning) and I start prepping for dinner. Baby goes down for another nap some time between 1-2 and I finish any jobs I couldn’t do while wearing her, although sometimes she falls asleep in the carrier and I just need to keep wearing her for her whole nap. Again this seems like a good time to workout but it seems like every time I get myself ready to workout, my toddler wakes up (or the baby is sleeping on me.)

2:00-2:30ish Toddler wakes up and nurses (if I’m not wearing the baby), and then she has a snack. When she’s done we play until the baby wakes up which is any time between 2:30 and 4, and then I nurse the baby and we do more tummy time, etc.

5:00pm I finish getting dinner ready and my toddler eats around 5:30pm while I wear the baby for a catnap

6:15pm my husband gets home and takes toddler up for a bath or play time. I nurse the baby and then nurse the toddler. We go through their bedtime routines and they’re both usually asleep by 7:30pm.

After they go to bed my husband has dinner while I fold laundry, we go over any administrative household things we need to do, and then we tidy up toys, clean the kitchen, etc and are usually done by 9.

During the night my baby wakes about every 2h and spends at least a 4h stretch only sleeping in my arms, so I usually try to go to bed as soon as we finish our chores so that I can get at least an hour of sleep at the beginning of the night. The only other time I can see maybe working out is if I got up at 5:30 to exercise and shower, but since I only get about 4h of sleep total, I just don’t know if I can give up any of it!!

My husband takes on as much as he can but the baby does not settle for him, as hard as he tries, so even on the weekends I don’t really have much time without her attached to me.

Sorry this is really long, I just know other people find time to exercise with kids so they must be doing something that I’m not doing!!

ETA: if anyone has tips for improving baby’s sleep id love to hear them! My first was an excellent sleeper from day 1. My second just screams when I put her in the crib in the night between about 12-4am, so I have resorted to just sitting up and holding. Her, I try to put her down every 30 mins but she wakes up and screams.

And as far as diet, I mostly eat my daughter’s leftovers, but I cook all her meals, lean protein, lots of vegetables, low salt, whole grains, nothing processed. I make as much as I can from scratch (including yogurt, granola, bread, etc to limit the amount of sugar and preservatives are in anything) If anything I think I probably don’t consume enough calories.

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