where do you put them?

[2CheekyMonkeys]

when it is just the two of you at home where do you put your baby who is a crawler when you do things like go to the toilet or have a shower? used to just put her in a bouncer or on the floor where i could see her, but now she gets around i am not sure what to do? i can't really do these things when she is asleep cause she doesn't sleep that often.

[christy]

I used a play pen... I wasn't going to but Matilda was crawling at a young age & we weren't ready. Also because we have dogs and sometimes I had to go to the loo while Matilda was awake & the dogs were inside & I didn't want to leave her without safe space... so I used to put heaps of quilts inside the playpen & toys & she loved it in there. Heaps of space to move around.

[shellbell3]

Do you have a play pen? I also used to put DD in bouncer but last few weeks Df been home on school hloidays so I didn't have to. Now I've also started thinking about it for when he goes back to work next week and got out our playpen.
If you don't have one maybe just put your bub in the cot with toys or wait til shes gone down for a nap?

[~Kim~]

I've learnt to become REALLY quick at showering, going to the loo etc. Darcy usually just comes with me....

[Ambah]

I used to put him in the highchairin the bathroom with me, or sometimes in his cot or portacot. Also I would just let him crawl around and close all of the doors to the hallway, and into the dining/living room, so he couldnt really get far from the bathroom and only had access to the hallway and kitchen (which is baby proofed).

[Debbie Lee]

I used to let Gab crawl around the bathroom sometimes with some toys. Or sometimes I'd put her in her cot with some toys and take the monitor in the bathroom with me so that I could hear if she was getting upset etc. Normally she was ok because I'd only be 5-10 minutes.
Other times I'd set her up with breaky in her high chair then pull the high chair into the doorway of the bathroom.
It all depended on what mood she was in.
If I woke before her in the mornings I'd jump in the shower straight away! LOL It was like a race
Now that she's almost 2, I just stick Nick Jr on TV (or a Wiggles DVD) and just go and shower. She's normally ok for the few moments I'm in there. Otherwise she'll bash on the door and shout "MUM!" LOL. Not a moment of peace

[Kirsty77]

I did the same as Ambah, high chair or portable cot, or closed off the area and let her crawl. Most times though I waited till she was asleep for showering unless I was desperate!LOL

[simone]

i have a portacot set up in the lounge room (so Anneliese can have tummy time without the boys jumping all over her!) and i usually jsut put her in there. When the boys were little, they would generally just follow me, and would either sit just outside the door and waitfor me, or in the case of showering, they would just come in and sit on the floor (i'd put a couple of toys on the ground for them.)

[{sarah}]

I shower mostly at night when Aaron is home! Other than that I leaft the toilet door open, put him in front of it & by the time he zoomed off I was finished!! Like Ambah too, I just made sure he had a safe area to roam.

[Jodie259]

- porta cot with toys
- high chair with toys
- babyproofed his bedroom, so with heaps of toys he's happy as a pig in mud there
- babyproofed our living room too... so he has a playmat full of toys, baby gate across the doors and he runs amok.
- used to use a baby walker as we had no steps anywhere and a large flat livingroom.
- rocker chair with Elmo video - although that's not often.

- I don't have one, but a playpen is also handy.

Just thinking.... you may be able to hire some of these items from a baby hire place rather than buying them. In future, I think I'll be hiring stuff that I don't really need long term.

[Liz]

We used a play pen at my mums. But if I'm gonna be about 15 mins, I still pop him in his bouncer and he comes into the bathroom with me. I just give him a book or something. It's been ok so far.

Now tho, just for quick loo runs.. in the place we're in, we've got like a family room out the back, which we have completely babyproofed, and we've put up a safety gate.. so he's actually got a big room all to himself! It's great. The kitchen sink actually overlooks it... I couldn't ask for a better setup I reckon!

[hannanat]

Mine all just follow me - even the big ones, lol. I shower when DH is home.

[johT]

i always took the baby to the loo with me (or outside the door) - i just couldnt trust my older toddler with her alone.

[simone]

just follows me. I actually think of it as a small achievement if I manage to go the loo without one of them coming to find me, lol. same as the shower, all 4 come out of no-where as soon as they hear it and I end up with 4 in the shower with me.

I know what you mean!! I get up early JUST to have a shower on my own, and dont bother anymore, because all i accomplish is waking up2 children way too early, and having them grumpy in the shower with me!! Declan likes to sit on his potty if either Xander of myself are on the toilet. Its so cute!!