To wonder how other parents get their infants out of the house on time?!

[Failedagain123]

I so desperately wanted us to go to sensory class today at 11, to get us out of the house. I showered last night, got baby’s clothes ready. I wanted us to walk there, leaving at 10:30.
But I never seem to catch the timings right.

He woke up at about 9 and had a quick feed. I got us both ready, changed nappy etc. But of course, by the time we’re ready to leave, he started crying because he’s hungry again and it’s nap time.

So I’ve just fed him and he’s fallen asleep.

No sensory today!! 🤦🏻‍♀️

For next time, I suppose the answer would have been to wake him up in the morning an hour or so earlier? Then by 10:30 he’d have had his next nap and woken up?

It is hard when they are so little. Could you not pop your son in his pram to nap whilst you walked there?
I normally go to a baby group on a Wednesday that starts at 10. My daughter falls asleep in the pram on the way there and when I get there I get a hot cup of tea to enjoy until she wakes up 😊

It does get etc easier as their routines get more predictable.

Tips;
Get up and showered/ ready before baby wakes up.
Plan to leave 15 minutes earlier than you actually need to leave.
Pack changing bag night before.
Embrace pram naps.

know that baby doesn’t need to be awake for the whole of a class…it’s perfectly fine for a little one to sleep for the whole class!

Unfortunately, he wakes up on transfers! He’s such a contact napper. If the class was at 12 then I would put him in the pram anyway and go for a long walk and hope he nodded back off.

I think I need to stop signing up to 11am classes and look for afternoon ones!!

Just continue with what you’d like to do. Go to the baby class events. Your baby will wake up, participate and then nap. If they stay asleep enjoy a chat with other parents/carers.

I was a bit like this with my first but now we have a very rigid routine to get the children to primary school and nursery so we have to stick to schedules.
It gets easier and sometimes you just have to rush around and panic a bit, my little one is 4 months now (today actually) and it's a lot easier now we are all used to the routine and he only feeds every 4 hours so I can usually work out how long I've got.
Obviously that could all change again once he starts solids but it will get easier but I do notice the difference on a weekend when there's nowhere to be at a specific time that it takes forever to get ready and to get out and is much more chaos so I think the rigid routine is key to making it work (for me anyway)

I'd always try and plan a sling or buggy nap just before anything. That said sometimes a particular time of the day doesn't work for you.

The baby classes around here are so oversubscribed you have to book and pay for the term, so that gave me a lot of motivation for getting there on time!

We've always had a routine with an alarm wake up at 7am, and booked classes starting between 9.30-10.30. 11am would be an awkward start time, as they would be starting to get tired and hungry.
Sometimes we ran a bit late and sometimes I physically had to do a buggy run to get there in time! I always figured it was better to get there late than never (especially since I'd paid anyway!).
With a younger baby it was often easier to use a sling than a buggy because she was always content there (compared to buggy).

This is why I never bothered with classes when mine was a baby because you could guarantee his nap time would fall when the class was😂

How old is the baby? I've fed mine secretly in his sling under my coat whilst walking to a baby group before. That was when he was a few months old. I passed another mum on her way to the same baby group who was standing pretending to look at ducks but was actually also feeding her same age baby, holding him in one arm and feeding with the other 🤷🏻‍♀️. It's slightly easier now he's a few months older. Or at least more predictable routine wise.

Guessing he's still a newborn?

I'd put him in the sling after feed and then walk there pushing the pram so you can use for the way home if you need it. Or just sling if you want.

I used to wake the baby up at 7 every day. This helped with a predictable schedule so I could plan stuff, was definitely a necessity with DC2 when DC1 had to be at nursery by 9am and added bonus was that over time it helped us develop a 7-7 sleep schedule. So I would have been up at 6.30, showered dressed and ready, baby up at 7, first feed then dressed by 8, play a bit, then first nap, feed at 10 (waking them if necessary) then immediately into the pram ready to go. If they fell asleep again in the pram that’s fine as they could join in the class when they woke up.

If I was feeding just before leaving the house I would just put their coat on and put them in the pram, I wouldn’t have stayed in just because they fell asleep!

He’s 4 months… I am EBF on average every 90 mins in the day so that does reduce my flexibility.

I have tried a sling/carrier a few times but I’ve never really clicked with them. Also I’m not 100% confident in wearing them out of the house as I have heard of people tripping/falling and of course that’s awful consequences for the baby.

Regardless, getting him in it would have woken him up anyway, so we’d have gone to the session with him having had literally had five minutes of sleep… he would likely have cried the whole way through - so I would have had to BF him to soothe him - I know it’s far better for him to just get the sleep he needs in the first place….

I think a lot of the time I am comparing myself with other babies who are on formula or who aren’t contact nappers so are happy to be laid to sleep anywhere.. I need to be kinder to myself!

This is probably your best bet. Some people like to get up and out and baby fits in and some are more baby led.
You have to do what works for you with your baby best it doesn't really matter if it suits you.

Even if it would have woken them up (and the walk wouldn’t be long enough to get them back to sleep)?

Yes be kinder to yourself you are bonding and doing it your way.

Ah, it's so tricky when they're so small! You're doing great, just go with the flow (and definitely turn up to places with a sleeping baby if that's an option - I used to just lie on the floor at baby massage if DS1 was asleep)

Thank you for your kind messages!

For next week, if he wakes at 9 you know the next feed will be about 10:30so I would aim to be where I needed to be by then so I could feed baby before the class, he would hopefully then nap on the way home. I would try very hard to stop contact naps at 4 months

Walked everywhere and he slept in the pram. Just breastfed on the go.

You need to figure out which awake window gives you the best chance of predictability
At 4 months my daughter had a short awake window between waking and first nap then a longer gap between nap 1 and 2 so this was my best window to do something. A short gap between nap 2 and 3 (around 5-5.5 months these two merged into 1 nap) then a longer gap to a short nap around 8 pm which turned into bed time around 6 months.
I had a velcro baby and at 4 months she was in my arms 23h a day a sling saved me. For a long time she hated the pram so I wore the sling and switched her. I'm quite a clumsy person but never fell with her in the sling. Having the pram to hold on to gave me confidence in the early days and I stuck to flat pavements avoided icy weather.
My daughter was queen of the 7 minute nap at times as she was sensitive to being moved. It wasn't ideal but the odd failed nap didn't have a huge impact sometimes my needs had to be acknowledged whether that was because I needed a wee and she was lying on me or I desperately needed to leave the house and she'd fallen asleep at an inappropriate time.

When I first started going to these classes I wanted everything to be perfect- full belly, clean nappy and just woken up from a wonderful nap. That is never never going to happen unfortunately! Every baby at class will be one, or a combination of, hungry, tired, cranky, overstimulated. It's just the nature of it. I stopped stressing so much when I just showed up resigned to the fact that I had no control over how DS would be during class. Some babies nap, some feed, some need to leave early. Just getting there will be good for you to chat to other mums and at least you've tried. Every mum says the same thing every week 'I can never get the timings right.' Baby classes are so relaxed and baby led, so no one bats an eyelid if little one isn't in flying form. We're all in the same boat but it does get easier as they get older and stay awake a little longer.

I used to offer a feed (rather than feed on demand, which I did the rest of the time) and do a change just before we went out. if DC looked like they were going to sleep I'd bung them straight in the pram or car seat (depending on where we were going) so that I wouldn't need to do a transfer. But I needed to get out of the house for my sanity, so I'd just push on with my plans if DC fussed or fell asleep then woke up. It gets easier as they get older!

How far is the class? Is it an easy walk? If your baby likes contact naps then the sling is your friend. My second had almost all naps in there until they were gone one. We had the best time patrolling the pavements together - it meant that I could simultaneously look after the toddler and get stuff done and also get outside/to classes/wherever. They were snug as a bug. I think we both loved it.

I learnt with my first that being trapped indoors made me miserable - may be less of an issue in early Feb but it’s getting more Spring-like! Agree with PP that if your windows between feeds are short, just set off a bit earlier when you’ve done a feed/change and walk around or hang out before the class.

Edit - sorry, I just saw the bit about not getting on with the sling! Ignore what I said! 😂 Although definitely don’t let anxiety about falling put you off - obviously you need to look where you’re going and maybe take care on the stairs, but how many times have you fallen flat on your front without putting your arms out?!

I never took my son to classes as a baby, not just because he was a colicky nightmare (just being honest!) but because I could do a sensory class with him at home for free and that could work around his schedule. Doing the school run / work with a baby however? You have no choice but to get out of the house pronto 😅