Moms of young kids; how do you exercise at home?
 

Lets have some tips for how to get some exercises in with babies and toddlers around. Especially stuff that can be done in the winter. Over the past 10 months I've become a mommy to a newborn as well as stepkids ages 2 and 3. How exciting! And consuming!

Congratulations on your instant ticket to mommydom x3! :)

I exercise at home. I only have 1 at home during the week (he's 2 1/2) as my older 2 are at school. On the weekends I just go hiking with the whole family one day (toddler in a backpack), so that makes it easy.

I exercise in my bedroom that has an adjoining bathroom. While for some it might not be ideal, I let him play in the tub in a few inches of water while I exercise. I set myself up so I'm in the doorway area though, so I can see him while he plays in the tub. I do step exercises with hand weights, and kickboxing and bootcamp style exercises. My little guy LOVES to be in teh bath with a bunch of bath toys, so it works well for us. I chat with him the whole time too (sometimes huffing and puffing), so he has plenty of company.

Then there's the old walking standby.. but I guess you'd need a triple stroller! ;)

I have an 8 month old and watch 3 two year olds during the week. I use the walk away the pounds dvds. And squats whenever I can. While in the shower, washing dishes, waiting for something that's in the microwave. I just do what I can when I can and its been making a difference!

My kids are 9, 6 and 4. When I'm home with them, I exercise inmy basement during naptime (with the door open). When my 6 & 4 year old were younger, I did my exercise videos after they went too bad. I've always heard you shouldn't exercise at night but for me it was either the evening or nothing. Now, I exercise from 5-6 a.m. (before they wake up).

I also do Walk Away The Pounds (when I have time I can do the longer portion or shorten it up). I have a few other exercise videos that I use as well.

That's what I did too until a couple of years ago. I nursed my toddler to sleep and then out the door I went - usually around 8pm. In the winter it was in the dark, but we lived in the country so I didn't mind. I'd do a 30 minute walk/jog circuit every other night, and strength training the other (handweights, lunges and situps). I always slept well, didn't bother me at all, and it really helped with the postpartum weight loss.

im actually going through this now.... I have an 11 week old....... right now im going to the gym in the evenings every other night after my boyfriend, baby daddy, lol, gets home... he works shift work, so sometimes hes home around 2pm, other nights hes home 630...... i hope once i get more into the work outs i can go in the mornings on his late days.... i do take my daughter out on walks alot too, but i mentally can not get myself to believe that our walks are any type of exercise... i know it is but to me its a mental thing.... im lucky though living in southern california our "cold" weathers isnt really that cold... im originally from West Virginia... now thats cold..... but i would love some ideas on good DVDs out... i have p90x but not to that level...YET!!

When my twins were little, i used them as weights.

One on each hip, crank up the rock and roll and dance.

Lay on the floor on your back, use one as a weight for bench presses, switch babies, do some more. Granted, you have to hold baby with both hands, but it still works.

Lay on your back on the floor, balance baby on feet, hold babies hands, for balance and safety, do reverse squats. Babies love the interaction and you get exercise!

Pushing and or pulling baby in a stroller or wagon is good exercise and baby gets some fun too.

I had a 3 wheeled bike with a big basket, I'd put the twins in the basket, pillow underneath them for comfort and take a bike ride. Pedaling those two babes, on a 3 wheeled bike was a workout, and then we'd pedal to the grocery store for a few things, and then back home with the groceries.

my kids are 5 and 4, they actually enjoy working out with me to Insanity dvd's or jillian michaels' 30 day shred.... they love workout dvd's and get super excited when I put one in. I'm ok with having them a bit underfoot since it is teaching them good habits.... they generally do not finish the entire workout so i have a small table in the room that they can sit and color at while i workout....

For the newborn I'd suggest working out during one of their naps.... ! Or one of those bouncy recliner things so they can watch, if they are awake. :)

My son is 5. I walk and run while he's in school. At home I have a stationary bike that I got off of Freecycle (and it's really nice). I also have work out DVDs and do Zumba from YouTube.

When I'm watching television I do pushups, crunches, lunges etc during commercial breaks.

I have a 2 year old and a 5 month old, my 2 year old has special needs and therefore I have little to no time to myself so I do all of my workouts at home. I have been doing Zumba since Oct 17 and have lost 13 lbs, I think I would have lost more but I was moving and forced to eat nothing but fast food for 4 days for lunch and dinner, also those 4 days I did not workout. I just recently purchased p90x and insanity, I also get Jilian Michaels 30 day shred on demend so I will be mixing them up starting on Monday. Also, my house has stairs and I run up and down them for about 15-20 minutes every day and do squats, lunges, push-up and crunches.

Yoga DVDs...cheap and easy.

I live in a place where the Winter doesn't always suck, so I usually run outdoors/ride bike/walk.

I put my son in his stroller to go walk, for running, the running stroller, I also have an Ergo carrier.