Entertaining baby: The advantages of walking as a new mummy

Life with a newborn, Life with a toddler, Life with baby
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As a SAHM I have to find varied ways to entertain both me and the little one. One of those, which I loved both before baby was born and after has been our walks.


From hill walks with hiking boots, baby carrier and waterproofs to pram walks around the area we live, I love them all.

  1. Walking gives you fresh air, and that does wonders for everyone!
  2. A change of scene. I noted from early on baby and I would go stir crazy if we stayed in all day. A grumpy baby is not good!
  3. Exercise, need I say anymore? Pushing a pram is hard work. Pushing a pram for an hour with shopping in the basket is even more hard work.??
  4. Hydrating! I take a bottle of water or luke warm cup of tea, pop it in the drinks holder and it’s a great way to keep hydrated and even have a vaguely warm cup of tea! (More ways to have a hot cup of tea here)
  5. Calming, a walk calms you down. If it’s been one of those days the rhythm and monotony will help
  6. Variety. Remember not to just do the same walk, visit the ducks, pond or a more exciting park otherwise you might get bored of seeing the same places
  7. Gossip Get some friends together and walk round the local park, and fit in a coffee too!??
  8. Confidence?Start going for walks as soon as you can after baby is born. The confidence of going out every day does wonders, and really gets you in the routine of getting out every day
  9. Family time. We often try to do a family walk at weekends, round the streets, park, or up a hill. I was brought up going up hills (and Munros) at weekends, and it’s something hubby and I have always enjoyed too.??
  10. Most of all, baby might sleep

We first took Baby H up our local hill when she was 4 weeks old, it was one of the things we didn’t want to change. We’ve alway gone walking its our ‘thing’. I’ll admit we’ve done it less, and we’ve struggled recently as she’s been a very grumpy girl screaming the whole time so we’ve had to cut our walks short. So I’d recommend timing your walks well around naps, and not when baby might decide one o’clock is nap time! Believe me, I can never get her to nap twice in a day, and never before 3.30, but at weekends when we want to go for a walk she decides lunch time is nap time. Babies (yes, toddlers too) are a law unto themselves!

I completely recommend getting some friends together and organising a weekly or biweekly walk. Of course, fit in a coffee too! My nct friends and I did this from when our little ones were five or so weeks old. It was brilliant, we met in the car park, bundled the babies into their snowsuits and we walked for an hour around the parks and had coffee at the park cafe or the boating lake cafe. We were also known to walk from a park or car park?into town for lunch or a coffee, or even?just do circuits round the streets near our houses.

?How I wish I’d had a fitbit or excercise monitor to show just how much we did 6 weeks post birth! We did a lot of walking and I must say we all felt better for it, there’s nothing like a good walk and rant about the latest baby phase!

Did you find walking helped post-birth? Did your tribe of mummy friends do similar walks??

Lynne xx

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25 Comments

  • Reply
    Katie/Squirmy Popple
    March 17, 2016 at 11:07 am

    Sometimes it feels like all I do is go for walks! My baby wouldn’t nap anywhere but the pram for the first 7 months, so I’d be out pushing the buggy for hours in all kinds of weather. It can get exhausting, but it’s the only thing that’s kept me fit post-pregnancy since my cake consumption has gone through the roof! #coolmumclub
    Katie/Squirmy Popple recently posted…An apology letter to my babyMy Profile

  • Reply
    Talya
    March 17, 2016 at 2:21 pm

    Walking is ace! Me and the now toddler walk everyone and love it. Always such an adventure and a great way to burn off the cake & wine! Thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub lovely x
    Talya recently posted…4 new apps for parents-to-be and parentsMy Profile

  • Reply
    Sam - Travelling With Our Kids
    March 18, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    Walking is great. I love getting out and about with the kids. Definitely makes you feel better x #TheList
    Sam – Travelling With Our Kids recently posted…Moving HouseMy Profile

  • Reply
    Harrogate Mama
    March 18, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    Walking certainly kept me sane when my twins were little. All those reasons are SO true ?

  • Reply
    Su {Ethan & Evelyn}
    March 18, 2016 at 6:11 pm

    I agree that walking can calms you down a great deal. It really does help for me anyway. It gives you space to clear your mind and think rationally – I think. I also think that going with friend will also help the little ones with their social skills too. And a great catch-up gossip as well! 😉 Thank you very much for linking up with us on #FabFridayPost
    Su {Ethan & Evelyn} recently posted…#FabFridayPost Linky #23 {18.03.16}My Profile

  • Reply
    claire
    March 18, 2016 at 7:46 pm

    I don’t think I walked more than when my now seven year old was a baby in a buggy, even if most of the time it was try to encourage him to sleep. I loved those times though! #FabFridayPost

  • Reply
    Crummy Mummy
    March 19, 2016 at 12:04 pm

    I was lucky enough to have a year of maternity leave after BB was born and I walked every day for all the reasons you list. Also, I do think fresh air helps us sleep better #coolmumclub
    Crummy Mummy recently posted…5 reasons to enter Tots100 MAD Blog AwardsMy Profile

    • Reply
      newmummy
      March 22, 2016 at 10:20 am

      It definitely does help with sleep, on all counts! ?

  • Reply
    Crummy Mummy
    March 19, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    Back again from #thelist x
    Crummy Mummy recently posted…5 reasons to enter Tots100 MAD Blog AwardsMy Profile

  • Reply
    Emma
    March 20, 2016 at 4:09 pm

    I found walking really helped me cope with my PND as well, except the time I got lost and got really anxious. But then a lovely woman I didn’t know came and helped me and that helped me learn to trust again. thanks for triggering that memory
    Emma recently posted…#TreasuredMoments 18/03/16My Profile

  • Reply
    Briony
    March 20, 2016 at 4:51 pm

    Couldn’t agree with you more. We’ve just got back from a walk as it happens, we were searching for dinosaurs in the woods! I took L for his first walk when he was 7days old, they let us out of the hospital and we went a walking!

    • Reply
      newmummy
      March 22, 2016 at 10:21 am

      It’s great isn’t it

  • Reply
    Fi - Beauty Baby and Me
    March 21, 2016 at 9:23 am

    This is so true – I go for a long walk every week with one of my good friends and our babies and also with hubby at every chance we get! I live near a lovely river and it is so beautiful to go for long walks along. Fresh air can clear your head better than anything xx #bigpinklink

  • Reply
    This Mum's Life
    March 21, 2016 at 8:41 pm

    I see that somebody else said their baby wouldn’t nap anywhere but the pram for the first 7 months, and neither would mine-both of them were the same! So I spent up to 4 hours a day walking, for 2 years, until they both took long naps in the cot! With the first one, I did enjoy it. I found being in gave me a lot of anxiety, and I needed to almost walk off my nervousness! And I’d just moved to a different part of the city, and I got to know it like the back of my hand! I found beautiful buildings, short cuts, parks I didn’t know about, it was great! And meeting up with NCT friends to do it was a great social aspect too! But when I had the second baby, I must admit to some days being just too tired to commit to that level of walking, but I had to for them to sleep! It was either walk or have overtired screaming, and I always chose the walking! Now though, with one who has dropped napping, and one taking a short nap, we can go out walking on our own, adult terms, which is much better!
    Thanks so much for sharing with #bigpinklink!
    This Mum’s Life recently posted…The Big Pink LinkMy Profile

    • Reply
      newmummy
      March 22, 2016 at 10:22 am

      It is exhausting isn’t it, glad you’re over the worst now though 🙂

  • Reply
    Fi
    March 22, 2016 at 9:39 am

    Lovely photos! I have a new baby and make it my mission to get out every day for a walk (weather permitting!) it really helps with sleep deprivation amongst all those other things you mentioned! #TheBabyFormula xx
    Fi recently posted…The Liebster AwardsMy Profile

    • Reply
      newmummy
      March 22, 2016 at 10:23 am

      It’s the best feeling isn’t it x

  • Reply
    Sarah
    March 22, 2016 at 9:58 am

    It’s such good exercise, especially post partum because it’s gentle. I couldn’t walk for weeks after the birth (thanks, Mr Big Head) but once I was better we used to get out all over 🙂 #thebabyformula
    Sarah recently posted…The Parent HangoverMy Profile

    • Reply
      newmummy
      March 22, 2016 at 10:24 am

      Oh I remember those first couple of weeks, walking really oddly! Yes it was much better after a bit x

  • Reply
    Ami from My Mummy Spam
    March 22, 2016 at 12:54 pm

    I couldn’t agree more with you on this! I loved nothing more than going out for a walk when bubba was little. We are fortunate enough to live within a 5 mins walk of a woods which is lovely. And now that bubba is 18 months old it is great to go wandering around with him as he can now explore out of the buggy 🙂
    #thebabyformula
    Ami from My Mummy Spam recently posted…To the Mum who…My Profile

  • Reply
    laura dove
    March 22, 2016 at 7:17 pm

    I think walking is pretty much all we do as a family to be honest! At least I know that one of them will go to sleep in the pram, plus when there are six of you then it helps that it’s free!! #Thebabyformula
    laura dove recently posted…The first time ever I saw your face…My Profile

  • Reply
    karen
    March 23, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    I love walking, and have set myself goals to get out the house to walk a certain distance a day. Some days I do it some I don’t. I discovered that my Iphone has recorded my step rate per day for as long as I’ve had it. It was interesting seeing how one moment I was doing 2000-3000 steps on a work day to 12-15000 on a weekend. Now I do about 6000 steps but have a few long walks of 10000+ thrown in the week too! I’ve got back to my old weight from before pregnancy too. #bigpinklink

  • Reply
    Mmt
    April 5, 2016 at 7:59 am

    Just don’t walk to the bakers every day 😉
    X MMT (the sausage roll mum)
    #coolmumclub
    Mmt recently posted…Go outside the lines: Wall art reviewMy Profile

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