5 Ideas For Helping Your Toddler Get To Sleep | Child Asleep www.oddhogg.com

5 Things To Do While The Baby Sleeps

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When you have young children life can feel chaotic but there was always one saving grace – nap time. When my boys were little that time was sacred. I didn’t like to change our routine and risk cutting those peaceful 2 hours short. I need my down time!

Now they are older I have to make do with evenings if I want them to sleep, or make use of the time when they’re both out at school or nursery. Where there’s a will there’s a way!

I have a few things that I like to do when my children sleep. Some are functional and some self care! Here are the top 5:

1. Have a Meal

The first thing I do once the kids have gone to bed is make dinner for myself and JHogg. This has it’s flaws though, as on the nights that they are late to bed we will end up eating quite late. Its the price we pay to eat without them with us.

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy families meals and we have them a few times a week. But sometimes I just want to eat in peace while my food is still hot, without having to get up and down to get someone else a drink or battle with them to eat one more bite.

2. Tidy Up

I am also a lot faster at tidying or cleaning when the boys aren’t around. As soon as they’re in bed I can have a proper whip around, get the toys away (without them being pulled out again 20 seconds later) and pull the hoover around. I can get the kitchen tidied while I make dinner and generally make the house feel fresher for the morning.

If you’re short on time then check out my favourite ways to make it look like you’ve cleaned when you really haven’t to grab a few tips

3. Have a Shower

Any parent will tell you how hard it is to get any peace in the bathroom. I can’t even think about going without someone else suddenly needing in. The amount of showers I’ve had while being told a vital story about a Pokemon, or being asked never ending questions about why cheese is sometimes orange.

I often wait and shower once the kids have been dropped at school, giving me 5 minutes to actually wash my hair and feel ready to face the day. Or if JHogg is on dinner duty I’ll jump in once the kids are in bed.

4. Play Games

Ever since I was a child I’ve loved playing games. Snake on my mums mobile turned into stealing my brothers gameboy, and now 20 years on we have our own Switch console and a never ending supply of apps to play with on my phone.

The problem with playing games on your phone though is that the phone itself is a distraction. I can easily get sucked into checking my emails or mindlessly scrolling on social media. Recently I’ve been playing games online on my laptop instead and really enjoying it.

One of my favourites for a quick game is is Tetra Blocks. As the name would imply, it is a Tetris inspired game and I’m quite good at it even if I do say so myself! I also really enjoy playing simulation games, and I reckon with enough practice I can now consider a career as an air traffic controller.

5. Catch Up On TV

JHogg and I have differing opinions on what makes for good television! That means I don’t often get to watch my programmes in the evening so I record them. When the boys were younger I was able to spend my days snuggled with them on the sofa getting my fill of trashy telly while they were oblivious, but these days they tend to object. Selfish – I know.

A TV screen with the Netflix logo on it, and a hand holding up the tv remote

Theres only so many times I can watch the Sonic Boom or Let’s Go Pikachu, so if the kids are asleep and everything else is done I can actually sit and watch what I want for once. Usually I’m eating my lunch or doing the ironing at the same time – but it’s better than never watching it at all!

So there you have it – 5 things I do while the baby sleeps. What do you get up to? Do you rush about doing chores? Or sit with a hot cuppa and enjoy the peace for a bit of time to yourself?

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17 thoughts on “5 Things To Do While The Baby Sleeps”

  1. You know I really do need to eat better myself. Reading that first point made me realise that. I’m 14 weeks pregnant so granted appetite isn’t brilliant BUT still when my 21 month old is napping or engrossed in an activity (and by activity I mean a bloody dreaded youtube video) I should grab a quick meal. Really love that your points are focused mainly on you and re-energising. I always end up getting lost in the housework and then I sit down when she wakes up thinking how I wasted my time haha! It’s so precious, we must use it well! #bestandworst

    1. Its so easy to grab some junk because it’s quick. It’s so much nicer sitting down in peace with something healthy but tasty!

  2. I wrote a post like this once but I cant remember what was on it! I completely get what you mean about eating without someone watching. Our little one isnt even weaning yet and I feel bad when I eat in front of him. He just looks like he wants some sometimes! Same goes with the tidying up, its so much easier to blitz the house when they’re asleep, even though hes no trouble when hes awake. But you dont have to keep starting and stopping, making a 15 minute job a 45 minute one! Emily #bestandworst

  3. haha I remember these days and reckon my Thur and Fri will look like this! I think my things will be cleaning and blogging. I don’t mind eating with my newborn – may change in a bit. I too, don’t have that many naps either. Probably quite dumb when I’m tired. Thanks for sharing with #bestandworst x

    1. The newborn days I found I didn’t need to nap as much, but once he got bigger I have maybe one a fortnight as a top-up! I tend to do most blogging in the evenings 🙂

  4. Alana - Burnished Chaos

    Showering is a definite for me, although I sometimes get up super early to shower in peace before they get up. I also attempt exercise occasionally, but mostly catch up on blogging while also catching up on any recorded series I’m watching x
    #Picknmix

  5. Sounds like a good plan! I try to do these things and definitely find myself trying to get blogging stuff done also! x #picnmix

    1. My blogging tends to be more in the evening once he’s asleep, not quite enough time during naps 🙂

  6. Oh to nap again would be lovely haha! My list would be to get the toddler to sleep and then I would do all of the above hehe!! #MarvMondays

  7. I also do exactly these things! I love the lunchtime nap I hopefully get to have lunch myself and sit down with some catch up tv! #MarvMondays

  8. I used to love napping with my eldest when he was small 😉 , once he got to be a toddler though, I was mostly clearing away his carnage from everywhere around the house! Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix

    Stevie x

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