To wish my baby was more of a potato

[Hard2Find09]

I'm a first time mum to an adorable 7 month old dd. I love her but she is driving me insane. I'm back at work part time and I'm exhausted. The days I am home she does not stop. It's constant crawling, climbing, and falling over trying to stand. We are in an apartment so there isn't a heap of room for all these activities. She hardly naps (maybe a short one if I'm lucky) even though she is so tired. When she is tired she gets wobbly and falls down more. Then she cries. It's just go go go all day.

Some other mums in my mothers group have babies who are so much more chilled out. They laugh that they are little potatoes. I feel like a terrible mother being so frazzled half the time. The house is a mess cause I have no spare time.

So lightheartedly AIBU to wish dd was a bit more chill and potato like?

Jumperoo, or other circle type activity centre. Long walks to fall asleep in buggy. If you have a v active child even more important to get a good nap routine I think so you get some free time.

HAve you got room for a playpen?

We had an old fashioned one with bars which was great for all sorts of reasons, but the bars were brilliant when the DCs were starting to cruise. Pop them in the playpen, and they would spend a while hanging onto the bars going round and round!
Also it was somewhere safe to put them if I had to leave the room for whatever reason. Put lots of different toys in there (not ones that were normally available to them) and that would keep them occupied for a bit.
Bright, active kids have their own challenges!

My 7 month old barely rolls over!!

I feel you. Other people had these babies I used to call "marshmallow babies" who just sat there smiling contentedly until they fell asleep. Mine were GO GO GO GOTTA MOVE GOTTA DO THE NEXT THING GOTTA EXPLORE and only slept when I more or less forced them.

A jumperoo is good. Plus help to wind down and a clear naptime routine. Plus if possible a padded area where they can just go nuts. It does get better. (Mostly.) Good luck.

No I feel your pain!
I have twins and I remember DH going off to work and having to constantly chase them around (in opposite directions.) at that age.

Had to buy a jumperoo, a playpen, used the travel cot and many many stair gates and barriers just to be able to nip to the loo! Oh and also the little tikes activity garden was an absolute life saver.

They turned two last week and it's easing slightly but the days of them gurgling on playmats in one position seem so easy now! (They didn't back then)

Jumperoo- actually saved my life.

If you wanted a potato baby you should have slept with Phil Mitchell...

I had one like this I know what you mean! I also used to look at those babies enviously but honestly as they get older it's actually easier as the other babies will soon be on the move, walking and that will be a huge shock to their parents! But you'll be ready for that energy level!

The only other suggestion I have is to work on the sleep/naps. These babies will just keep going but they are actually so tired and this can make things much more difficult. 7 months is a great time to start getting the baby into more of a routine. I used the Lucy Wolfe sleep approach about this age and it was a game changer. I was eventually getting 2 x1.5 hour naps a day and it was such a game changer. You really need that down time.

Good luck, my little ball of energy is now a toddler and I love it!

My DD was the same at 7 months - I bought a bouncer that fits in a doorway as we don't have a lot of space. She loved it - I would sing to her while she jumped. It kept her entertained for 20 - 30 minutes whilst I got a few bits done - like get meals organised/washing on etc....
DD was a nightmare and couldn't be left even for a minute at 7 months as she was always on the go 🙈 she was walking by 9 months.

If you asked me one of the hard things about this past year or so of on and off lockdown, my answer would be not having soft plays. They really would benefit from a good, safe romp around.

Not sure how safe I will ever feel in one again as they were always full of germs anyway.

Ha! Yes- I know exactly what you mean OP!!

Ah, man. I remember this well. It gets a lot lot lot easier when they can walk under their own steam. But I remember the envy at baby classes or nct meets, all the other tots sitting/lying, cooing happily away. Mine? On the go, constantly. Forever retrieving him from the furthest reaches of the room, half way up a flight of stairs.

Stick her in the pushchair, nice and upright, and go for a walk along a main road? The constant flow of cars always fascinated my eldest live wire, and it was the only way I could get any headspace.

My 1st is like this, second much more chilled out, though not quite a potato. Annoying as I am lazy mum 😁. But you get all the madcap adorableness that goes with it. 1st is starting to calm down at age 5 and I can see the light. But it’s v 2 steps forward 1 step back.

Lots of time outside —which I hate— lots of time with grandparents (COVID permitting) and as much rest as you can get. Good luck OP.

I had two busy and one potato, and spent the entire time worrying that my potato baby was never going to crawl/walk/etc, so there's no perfect answer!

I think a lot will improve if you can sort her nap routine, she does need it at this age and it will give you a break too. Easier said than done, but really worth the investment in time. I was never a Gina Ford type mum, but think that actually children who don't naturally acknowledge their need for sleep do benefit from a regular routine (and their parents too), you don't have to leave her to cry at all, just make it that she has plenty of activity and that meals, milk and sleeps are at predictable start times, then she gets to choose how much she actually eats/drinks/rests at those times . If she goes to nursery you could try working tightly to their timetable for a few weeks, or if she's home, there are lots of good guides that can work flexibly around your and her needs.

Both my children were like this and both walked at 8 months. It surprisingly gets better once they can walk as they're not as frustrated with wanting to be able to get around with more ease.
Saying that my son is 3 and still a ball of energy and a huge handful. You've got to get used to it and learn to embrace it.
Just remember you're doing great and it will pass.

(and of course if she's still wanting milk outside those times, go with her needs not a schedule at this stage!)

Omg YANBU. My first baby was like a bag of cats. I used to pray for a potato baby!

I actually got one for the second baby. He weighed the same as a whole potato harvest and dragging him around became its own challenge My lightweight mobile first born suddenly became a blessing.

My DD was a potato. My DS was and still is the Tasmanian devil. I found him with his legs sticking out the toy box at 6 months, because he'd managed to pull himself up and fell straight in head first 🤦‍♀️ I feel your pain!

YANBU, I used to dream of a potato baby! Mine have both been balls of energy and chaos!

The youngest bum shuffled at 6 months and walked at 10 months, at 16 months he never stops moving, climbing and falling. Will not go in a pushchair at all. The oldest walked at 12 months but talked really early (and hasn't stopped talking for 5 years straight). Neither have been sleepers.

My best friends baby however just sort of sat in a bouncer for a year and did nothing, naps 3x a day even at almost 2, sleeps 12-13 hours a night and will sit in a pushchair happily for hours. Sometimes I look at my friend and her dc all calm while my toddler is running round like a feral cat and am a little jealous... other times I'm happy my dc both have such vibrant personalities and are fairly independent.

It's hard while they're so little, but you also get to see your little one learning all these new skills and their personality blooming. As hard as it is now, and it can be really hard, it gets better.

My dd was like this, I was running on adrenaline and coffee and catching up with work with her asleep on me.. also wanted yo be attached/climbing on me constantly (baby wearing helped when she was small enough)

I also used to make playpens/soft play areas out of sofa cushions and pillows to keep her contained but entertained.

One of my twins walked at 9 months . Just ridiculous, like living with a deranged chipmunk!

Same here, it's exhausting. Always doing everything at the earliest possible point and refused to go in a bouncer or jumperoo for more than 10 mins and would only sleep on me. I was so so touched out and exhausted. No advice, just a hand hold!

I had a early crawler and walker. Def reccomend playpen. My dc used to love travel cot filled with small amount of ball pit balls

Those triangle shape walkers they hold onto are good to stop toppling over

We have a playpen which helps but she’s a bit hot and cold on it. Sometimes she will play happily and others times she’s crying and banging the bars like she is in jail! But it does allow me enough time to get her lunch warmed up without her getting herself hurt or terrorising our poor cat