Gardening with Infants?

[patandchickens]

I read that the one thing you want to watch out for in the garden is the child picking up rocks and trying to swallow them and/or choking on them. Someone recommended placing the baby on a sheet (or a tarp, as was suggested here) . . . that would help one keep an eye on them, I think.

I didn't have any rocks around but my first would put pretty much everything in his mouth - fistfuls of grass, dandilions, pine needles, pine cones, clods of dirt, you name it.

I did try putting him on a blanket but he would immediately grab handfuls of blanket so that it was runched up so much that its edge was right next to him and go back to eating handfuls of grass and pinecones.

My second OTOH did not want to touch anything yucky and frankly he was generally so cranky if you'd put him down that I did near zero gardening-with-him-sitting-nearby. Only could garden when my husband was watching him. He had to be being held or on a lap the whole time. But, they're only babies once, and I am relieved to report that in recent months (he is now 3 1/2 yrs old) he has started to mostly outgrow the need to be ON you all the time. Which was nice and snuggly but could get to be a bit *much*

So they're all different and you just have to see what works for you. Which you already knew anyhow LOL

Pat

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I did try putting him on a blanket but he would immediately grab handfuls of blanket so that it was runched up so much that its edge was right next to him and go back to eating handfuls of grass and pinecones.

Yeah, I'm wondering if mine is going to insist on being held all the time. He seems to prefer that right now. :/ OK, yes, I should enjoy it.

 

[big brown horse]

Yeah, when they are 14 and over 100+ lbs, you are going to be thankful you held them so much as babes.

How about a nice, clean heavy duty canvas tarp? Or invite a good friend that has a bad case of baby envy over?

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Or invite a good friend that has a bad case of baby envy over?

But of course!

I'm just trying to think of what I can do when no one can come over and I have a bad case of gardening fever.

 

[patandchickens]

Yeah, I'm wondering if mine is going to insist on being held all the time. He seems to prefer that right now. :/ OK, yes, I should enjoy it.

Yes, but it is 100% normal *not* to *always* enjoy it, especially with the ones that really want to be on you every moment 24 hrs a day and are still cranky. It gets real old after a while.

We do it because of the larger picture, not because every instant of it is actually fun per se

Pat

 

[lwheelr]

If you have toys that the baby only gets in the playpen, that might help keep it fresh.

And you'll have more problems when he is too tiny to feed himself - once he gets big enough for that, he can have his snacks in the playpen by the garden.

I think part of it is routine. Babies often adapt to what they have to adapt to.

I'm wondering some of the same things myself though, because when we had our other kids, we either weren't gardening, or I had older kids to help out. I will again, but I'll need their help with the gardening simply because we need such a big one.

One other thought - simplify the garden tasks. If you do companion planting, where you have more plants in a smaller space, weeding is less of a chore. Also, a moderate amount of weed cover doesn't hurt - it helps keep in moisture, opens up the soil, and generally assists the vegetables in producing. So you can weed less often than you may think you can, and your garden will thrive anyway. Some plants do well under black plastic or weed barrier, if you don't live in a blistering hot climate - tomatoes, melons, eggplant, okra, sweet taters, and other heat lovers. That keeps the weeds to almost nothing.

You might adopt "lazy gardening" strategies, even if it isn't the way you'd prefer, and you'll have time to grow more because you'll be able to focus on the critical tasks.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Also, a moderate amount of weed cover doesn't hurt - it helps keep in moisture, opens up the soil, and generally assists the vegetables in producing. So you can weed less often than you may think you can, and your garden will thrive anyway. Some plants do well under black plastic or weed barrier, if you don't live in a blistering hot climate - tomatoes, melons, eggplant, okra, sweet taters, and other heat lovers. That keeps the weeds to almost nothing.

You might adopt "lazy gardening" strategies, even if it isn't the way you'd prefer, and you'll have time to grow more because you'll be able to focus on the critical tasks.

Sadly, this has already become my gardening style, as I have more space to tend than time these last few years. It wouldn't be bad, if I could get out there and cut down the weed seed heads before the seeds spread everywhere. Oh well. I've been more focused on keeping edible plants alive than on keeping the garden cleaned up well. It just seems like every year I am getting farther into the weeds . . . .

Again, I guess I should be looking at the bright side -- in a few years I'll have someone to help me weed.

Pat -- when you are kneading bread with an approximately 15 lb baby strapped to your front (this was me yesterday) . . . its kind of hard to think of the long-term picture. But I hear you, nonetheless. Luckily my little guy is very content to be strapped on to me doing whatever it is I'm doing.

 

[patandchickens]

Pat -- when you are kneading bread with an approximately 15 lb baby strapped to your front (this was me yesterday) . . . its kind of hard to think of the long-term picture.

No kidding. I dunno bout you but when mine were each that age, the idea of "six months from now" seemed completely fanciful and laughable, something that existed only in theory and would never actually ARRIVE

Pat

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Yes, Pat, that is exactly how I feel. To the point where I try not to even read about what he should be able to do by then . . . keeping my head down and trudging along.

So why is it that parents have more than one kid? Parental amnesia caused by lack of sleep?

 

[lwheelr]

People have more because they are so cute, of course!

The more you have, the more capable you are of handling them. I think I hit the wall with seven, ages birth to 10. That was about the point where I seriously needed some time without having kids for a while.

See, when you have one, you do everything, including a lot of stuff you really don't need to do when you have more than one.

When you have two, the older one helps a bit - entertaining the baby (stealing their pacifier, taking toys away from them... oh... not that part, the OTHER part... making faces at them, BRINGING them toys, etc), taking clothes to the hamper, pulling clothes out of the dryer (on purpose, not for mischief!), etc.

Once you have three, the oldest one is generally old enough to seriously help out. I never let my older kids tote the baby around, unless they were teens (and even then they didn't feed them or change diapers all that much), just didn't figure they needed to play mommy, that was my job. But they did fix sandwiches for the little ones, start washer loads, hold kids' hands in the grocery store, watch the baby while I showered, etc.

Also, when you go from none, to one, your world radically changes. When you go from one to two, your workload with the kids almost doubles, but when you go from two to three, it increases by less than a third (though three is where many people run out of hands, which can be disconcerting until you learn to cope).

Raising them was never hard for me. Now, giving birth... that was awful (I don't produce oxytocin, have to be induced every time). But that is something you forget about, and you DO IT AGAIN!

We've been looking forward to having another for about six years now, and the only thing I am really not looking forward to is the toilet training stage. The rest of it I can handle again, though we'll have to figure out how to do it differently on a farm.

And this time, I'm going to make sure they aren't taking rides in the dryer when I'm not looking...