I had hyperemesis gravidarum through all nine months of pregnancy. Thanks to HG, I lost a lot of muscle and bone mass. Deconditioning exacerbates all kinds of health problems, and can cause new ones, so my OB recommend that I take up regular exercise after the baby was born.
Whether you’ve had health complications during pregnancy or not, regular exercise can be a great way to feel your best. Still, sometimes it can seem impossible with a new baby in tow. Luckily, there are plenty of easy ways to exercise with your baby. Whether you’ve never exercised in your life or you run marathons regularly, here are some great ways to introduce your baby to your exercise routine.
5 Ways to Get Active With Baby
1. Mommy and Me Yoga
I’m not a yoga person. In fact, I’ve been banned from yoga for life, according to my rheumatologist. But I do happen to have friends who are yoga people, and they swear by Mommy and Me Yoga. Many yoga studios offer Mommy and Me classes in varying levels of expertise. Some classes even offer a craft or snack for the child! Mommy and Me Yoga is a great way to get back into an exercise routine, or even start a new one.
If you don’t feel like getting back to the yoga studio yet, consider looking up a low impact yoga workout to do at home with the baby. There are plenty available online.
2. Mommy and Me Swim Classes
Starting between 8 weeks and 4 months old, your baby can attend Mommy and Me swim lessons. These swim classes are designed to get babies used to and comfortable in the water, and usually last 30-45 minutes each, though some are longer. As the child grows older and more comfortable in the water, the difficulty of the classes will increase. By the time you’ve got a toddler on your hands, you may find that you’re both worn out at the end of the class. Mommy and Me swim classes are a great way to ease into an exercise routine. Not to mention they help your child learn a valuable skill!
3. Hiking
If you’re into baby-wearing, or if you have a lot of arm strength, hiking is a great way to get outdoors and get your Vitamin D levels up. Pop your baby into a carrier and pick an easy trail, then head out. This workout is perfect for my area, because we are surrounded by National and State Parks. Whether I want to walk a mountain trail or hike through the (flat) woods, I can put the baby into her carrier and head out. Be sure to pick a good carrier that won’t strain your back!
Pro-tip: some areas offer hiking clubs for parents. Meet up with other parents and their babies and hike together!
4. Parent/Child Dance Lessons
Have you always wanted to learn how to dance? Do you already like jamming to your favorite songs? Many places offer dance classes for parents and their children. These classes start young, and introduce your baby to the world of music and dancing before they can even walk. Not to mention, dancing can be some pretty great cardio for you, too! From Zumba to Ballet to Jazz, there’s a dance class for every parent….and every baby.
5. Walking
Walking is great exercise, and it’s free. What can be better than that? Walking is my favorite way of getting exercise with baby, and it’s gotten even better since I got my Graco Modes Click Connect Travel System. This travel system comes with a stroller base, a reclining stroller seat, a car seat base, and an infant car seat.
My family and I try to go for a walk every evening. We’ve tried wearing the baby on these walks, and we still do. However, when it’s summer in Georgia, wearing the baby can get a little….warm. Plus, have you ever had to wrangle a sleeping baby out of a car seat and into an infant carrier? Not fun.
With the Graco Modes Travel System, we can use the Click Connect technology to easily pop the car seat out of the car and into the lightweight stroller frame. No more sweating until the baby sticks to your shirt. No more waking up the baby.
The Graco Modes Travel System is currently $319.99 at Baby’s R Us. Although the upfront pricing may seem steep, this stroller grows with your child, so it’s like getting four products in one: a car seat, a car seat carrier, an infant stroller, and a toddler stroller.
The stroller has plenty of storage on bottom for diaper bags and purses, and comes with cupholders for the parent and for the child. One of our favorite features is the storage on the handle of the stroller, which is perfect for holding keys or a wallet. It does not fit most cellphones, which is kind of a bummer. Our other favorite feature is the Click Connect technology, which makes it a breeze to move the car seat from the car to the stroller frame. You don’t have to wrangle seat belts, just click the car seat off of the car seat base, then transfer it onto the stroller frame. It does take a couple of tries to really get the hang of it, but once you do, you’re golden. The stroller is easy to fold and stores well in the trunk of our car.
The Modes Travel System from Graco is a great way to get your baby from place to place, whether you’re going on a walk or running to the store.
What’s your favorite way to get active with your baby?
*Not a sponsored/partnered post, I just love my Graco Modes Travel System.
Other Parenting Posts You Might Like:
5 Ways to Introduce Stem Activities to Children
10 Essential Products for New Babies
6 Tips for Traveling with Babies
When my son is little, I used to walked him around and it is so much fun to explore especially the park.
I love the idea of mommy and me yoga. Everyone who does yoga says how relaxing and effective it is for physical and mental health.
I am not a yoga person either. My DIL swears by it though.
Bless your heart! It sounds like you had it a little rough. I do A LOT of walking because that just seems overall, the best option.
You listed some great tips here to get active for those mothers out there.
I especially think the swim classes are a great idea; the little ones get learn NOT to be afraid of the water early on. A number of my little nephews are simply spooked by water!
Great tips! My stroller was my go to with baby, also found it fun to get on the floor and do simple exercise while baby got tummy time.
This summer we are taking the little lady in the pool and doing a lot of walking. It’s great for both mommy and baby!
Great list!!! My daughter and I did yoga and swimming! Both classes were actually pretty fun!
I did the Mommy and me swim class when my children were young. I hoped at least one of them would turn out to be an Olympic swimmer. Well, that didn’t work out, but anyway, I did have a great bonding time with them and enjoyed every splash.
I like the suggestions, sometimes it’s not that easy to formulate an activity with your kid. Good thing that each one is outlined and explained nicely and the adventure seeker in me would probably go for a walk and any one of the rest when the time comes.
I dont have kids yet but making notes on what I wanna do. I wanna do baby yoga and swim classes that will be awesome!
All of these are great. I am glad to see more and more of my friends doing activities with their babies.
I love this! I wasn’t able to participate in mommy and me swim lessons with my little because I feel like I was always working. Love the dance classes! We walked and exercised at home and did things like that. This takes me back! We are hoping to have another baby and perhaps this time I will get to try a few of these … swimming, yoga… *sigh* sounds so nice.
Oh, these are great activities. I am looking forward of enrolling in a swimming class, I hope my son will like it!
I wish I’d done a mommy and me swimming class. Our son is a pretty good swimmer. But he’d probably be even better if he’d started swimming as an infant.
I did Mommy and Me yoga with my little ones. It was a lot of fun, great way to bond too.
I am DYING to do mommy and me swim class again with my new little one. I did it with a few of my other kiddos and LOVED it!
These are fantastic ideas to get active with your baby. I used to take my babies to the park a lot and we enjoyed mommy and me classes as well.
These are some great suggestions for new moms.
These are great tips for new parents! I can still get more active now though.
What a great list of ways to get active while having a baby in house! Love these ideas, I am sure they will be amazing help for new parents!
I think these are great ideas. It’s definitely important to stay moving! I think a hiking club would be fun.
We owned a jogging stroller which was great! Never thought of going on a hike too. Fun and healthy!
I love these ideas! I used to love to go out and walk with my baby. It was a great way for me to get in some exercise and my baby to get some air.
I do not have children (nor do I plan to) but I live in a fifth floor walk up apartment in NYC (our building is ‘too short’ to legally be required to have an elevator) so needless to say I get great exercise each and every day!
Tracy @ Ascending Butterfly
I did mommy and me classes when my boys were babies and loved the time to bond with them.