Two working parents with baby in daycare: what do your mornings look like?

[Anonymous]

Some of these responses are so silly and negative! Divide and conquer.

I realize it may be much harder with multiples, but my husband and I have one, and we just take turns who is in charge of getting him out the door. I usually work out in the morning but sometimes I do it in the evening or even during the day if I can. If I'm being honest, I actually think I was better at working out when my son was a baby as opposed to now, but that's on me and not him.

My husband works from 830 - 5 or 530, I usually work from 9/10 to 6 or so , break to spend time with my son and do bedtime, and then am back online from 8-11 or so. However, sometimes I get up early and do a couple hours of work before anyone is up and that gives me more free time during the day to do things like workouts, errands, nail appts, etc. You'll make it work and you'll be fine! Congrats on the baby!

[Anonymous]

OP, as much as you plan now, the baby will arrive with his/her own agenda and schedule. And just when you adapt to that, his/her schedule will change. There is no "routine" that lasts more than a week or two.

Commit to extreme flexibility. That's the best you can do.

[Anonymous]

Are you planning to try breastfeeding? My body was not close to semi- normal until I stopped that, plus a few months. So while I did some yoga and swimming during parental leave, I was not in a space to even try real workouts until my son was over a year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maximize your maternity leave to work out as much as possible and get your body closer to what you are looking for. Think that you may need to hire a sitter or have family/friend over to get in a good workout. Don’t under estimate your nutrition in dropping baby weight. I have a 7 and 11 year old and it has never been the same as before kids. The best thing I did was stayed really fit through the pregancy and then it was easier to drop it. I would also say that imho if you are seeing moms drop the weight within a year, just start thinking they have a lot of support, aka someone else is watching the kid.

Do not work out as much as you can over mat leave!! If you are big into fitness the best investment you can make is rest and pelvic floor PT and easing back into walking and exercise and doing a postpartum friendly program like momma strong. My friends who jumped back into running have issues 6 years later. If it’s weight that’s the issue here, that’s also so highly individual. I’m not super thin but was back at pre-preg weight within a few weeks, something about breastfeeding makes me lose weight really fast.

[Anonymous]

PP with the evening work hours has good advice, I feel like it’s also common to try to limit the work day to 9-5 and then log back on after baby’s bedtime (once STTN) so you maximize the time with your kid in the mornings and evenings. 7:30-5 is a long day for a little baby to be in daycare every day (daycare mom here so nothing against daycare)

[Anonymous]

We split up the day so my husband is with the baby from 6-7:30 and does drop off while I either start work at 6 or start working out at 6. Then I end my work day at 4:30, having squeezed a workout in either in the morning or at lunch. Husband works out in the evening and works from around 9-5. Our son didn't sleep through the night til he was 17 months old but working out helped me weather the sleep deprivation. I also have an older daughter but she's pretty easy to fit into the morning routine at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean this in the kindest way, but you need to prepare for a lot less control over your schedule. Mornings with two working parents and young children are hard. You will be sleep deprived, stressed, behind at work, physically uncomfortable, anxious about what your kid needs, etc. Working out will not be your priority.

Most babies are up by 6am, and one of you will need to be hands on with them until you drop at daycare. What workes best for us was as early a drop off as possible so that we could start and end our work days early too. Babies are often in bed by 7pm so you want to be home around 5pm to have enough time to eat and do your night routine.

During your maternity leave you should be able to take walks and do 20 minute home work outs pretty reliably. But once youre on the clock back at work you'll need to get creative. Lunch time is good if you dont have too many meetings around then.

And sick. So sick. The first daycare winter was brutal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maximize your maternity leave to work out as much as possible and get your body closer to what you are looking for. Think that you may need to hire a sitter or have family/friend over to get in a good workout. Don’t under estimate your nutrition in dropping baby weight. I have a 7 and 11 year old and it has never been the same as before kids. The best thing I did was stayed really fit through the pregancy and then it was easier to drop it. I would also say that imho if you are seeing moms drop the weight within a year, just start thinking they have a lot of support, aka someone else is watching the kid.

Do not work out as much as you can over mat leave!! If you are big into fitness the best investment you can make is rest and pelvic floor PT and easing back into walking and exercise and doing a postpartum friendly program like momma strong. My friends who jumped back into running have issues 6 years later. If it’s weight that’s the issue here, that’s also so highly individual. I’m not super thin but was back at pre-preg weight within a few weeks, something about breastfeeding makes me lose weight really fast.

Thank you for mentioning this. OP- PLEASE do not overdo the first 6-10 weeks. There are gentle ways to start healing your core that involve floor work and you need to re-learn how to brace properly while babywearing and push a stroller properly. These two activities are actually the hardest on the PF and if you have diastasis.

You dont know what type of labor and PP you will have. You dont know what temperament you will get with your kid. Have a loose plan but give yourself GRACE and provide opportunities for healing. You will not regret taking 2 months to slowly increase the load on your PF and that will pay dividends over the year following your pregnancy.

I like getmomstrong program and she has a pregnancy program as well. The bloom method also has a early postpartum program specifically for the first 2-3 months.

[Anonymous]

Your morning routine will change. You might have to work out at lunch, at night after the baby goes to sleep, or, drop the baby off at daycare, and work out. But whatever you do, take it easy on yourself, and like other people said, be gentle with yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Baby is not here yet. Daycare is a 10-15 minute drive and nanny would cost 2x as much, we can't afford that. I realize that we won't be able to work out every morning, but not at all in the mornings is surprising.

You will prioritize what you prioritize. I did work out very early am when we had babies but I also took 10min to get myself presentable for work. My hair dried walking to metro. For me, 30min on the bike was more important than 30min getting hair and outfit right. I looked a hot mess but it was the right choice for ME.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Awww guys be nice, this post is kind of sweet.

I think I probably was similar to OP when we had our first and I did prioritize exercise, which works for a couple of months, until they want to be more interactive. A 1 yr old isn’t going to sit quietly while you work out. If that’s a priority, you and your husband have to find ways to give each other time for it.

You can jog a 1-year old to daycare and jog home though. There are ways. If it's a priority you get creative and make it work and let other things you care about less drop to the side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you planning to try breastfeeding? My body was not close to semi- normal until I stopped that, plus a few months. So while I did some yoga and swimming during parental leave, I was not in a space to even try real workouts until my son was over a year old.

Speaking of which, breastfeeding and pumping will eat into your schedule too. Fortunately, you work from home, so you don't have to coordinate with others to use a Mother's Room in your office, but it will be difficult to squeeze in a workout throughout the day, if you need that time to pump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awww guys be nice, this post is kind of sweet.

I think I probably was similar to OP when we had our first and I did prioritize exercise, which works for a couple of months, until they want to be more interactive. A 1 yr old isn’t going to sit quietly while you work out. If that’s a priority, you and your husband have to find ways to give each other time for it.

You can jog a 1-year old to daycare and jog home though. There are ways. If it's a priority you get creative and make it work and let other things you care about less drop to the side.

Yes but you shouldnt jog until properly healed and able to manage your pressure and PF. Too many women start jogging too early in their PP period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is really sad. Please consider a nanny or at least a share.

OP again. What is really sad about this? I see from the responses that maybe I'm being a bit idealistic, and I'll totally accept that. But most of the moms I know did daycare got back in shape within a year of having a baby so I don't understand why I'm being crucified for asking about how to fit in a workout and saying I'm going to send my baby to daycare.

Crucified??? Are you new here? The responses you have gotten have been very kind and practical except for just a few. You really need to toughen up a bit if you are going to ask for advice here.

OP, I apologize on behalf of the DCUM community. Please understand that there are a lot of people on these boards who literally spend their days bullying people online for fun. It's kind of sad.

It sounds like you've already figured out that having a baby and maintaining a regular workout routine will be hard. What it looks like for you is really dependent on a lot of factors including your baby's temperament, how fast they feed, whether you are breastfeeding, how well you and the baby sleep, etc. I think the best advice given here is to take it real slow after giving birth. Your body will have been through a lot and your priority should be to heal first. Beyond that, you'll figure it out. It is good you want to prioritize your wellness as a new mom. I didn't and it was rough. You're going to be a great mom. And daycare is awesome btw, ignore the insecure naysayers here.

[Anonymous]

I work out most mornings. I wake at 5 or 530 depending when class starts and get home between 7-715, shower and ready to go by 730. Baby sleeps late (usually until 7 or later), and my husband gets up with her around 7, feeds her, and I take over around 730 to get her ready for school.

Hiccup points in the schedule: you cannot plan to do any housework in the morning. Do not expect to be able to change the laundry or go through the mail or unload the dishwasher. Baby's stuff needs to be ready to go the night before. Pick out your own outfit the night before. Simplify your skincare and self care routines. You have to cut it down to the minimum to make this work.

Coffee and breakfast is another issue. Sometimes one of us will get delayed because it's hard to sit and eat with the baby running around. If you can do this at your desk, that will help.

Also, you may have trouble finding a daycare that's open before 8. Most of the daycares I toured open at 8.