How to Get Tasks Done with 15-Month-old

Sorry this isn’t the answer you are looking for but I haven’t been able to do anything you described since the arrival of my son 2.5 years ago. He needs constant supervision, especially outside. I get things done when he and his sister naps (if I don’t nap too) or things when my husband can watch them. I just have lowered my standards of a clean house! Is there a friend you can swap time with? Maybe if she had someone to play with it would be easier. Good luck. I didn’t help but I just wanted to you know that you aren’t alone and a to-do list is just that…spend time with the little one while she is little. I blinked and mine are now 11 months and 2.5 years old!

Include her. She can help you weed, give her simple tasks to help you clean, my little guy used o love having a damp rag to wash the wall with. He helps me with everything loading the dishwasher, switching out laundry (he even used to push laundry basket down the hall for me) she's crying because she wants to be included.

Does she have a playyard, playpen, pack n play, whatever you want to call it? Put her in it and if she cries, she cries. I know it's hard to listen, let alone focus on your task at hand, but she needs to learn that mommy can't be in sight 24/7. You'll be within sight at times or within hearing distance, and she can use the opportunity to learn to self-sooth, to play with her toys, and patience.

I also put my guy in his stroller strapped in sometimes to keep him nearby but out of things while I tend to chores, I talk to him if he's not hollering and can hear me, and he's not suffered. We do what we have to do ; )

Hellooooo pack and play! My son hates this thing with a vengeance, but I couldn't have survived some days without it (since he learned out to climb out of the high chair)... if you're outside, stick her in the pack and play by you with snacks and a sippy and some toys... Inside, get her to 'help'... if she puts ONE measly little thing away, make a huge stink about it (she'll start helping more, for real!)... Get a baby backpack, just don't lean over with her in it (bend at the knees, woman!)... all these things helped with my very needy son when I HAD to get stuff done. Also, find a kiddo around the neighborhood to come be 'mother's helper'... it's not babysitting, because you're there, they're just there to make sure the baby doesn't dive off the stairs, put things in electrical sockets, pull a bookshelf on their heads, leave the house, or set things on fire. For me, my helpers are my 5 and 7 year old daughters, and they watch him just FINE :)

Now that it is summer time, try to find a mother's helper, who can play with her while you do some of those things.

Otherwise, swap babysitting with another mom. I am just starting to do this now, as it was getting WAY too expensive to hire a babysitter any time I needed to do things. The other day I had 5 kids at my house (my 3 and 2 others), and it was a blast! My kids were so excited to have friends over to play, and the friends' mom was able to clean up storm damage in their back yard without worrying about her kids getting hurt from broken glass. I'm excited for my day--I plan on finally getting the wallpaper stripped off the bathroom walls--a project I began over TWO years ago! :-)

For little things like organizing in the house, I usually put on some fun music (kids's songs) and I sing along to it, periodically breaking from my task to dance with the kids. You can also let her help with some of the things..."Mary, would you please hand Mama the green shirt? Oh, great job, thank you so much for helping Mama!" etc...You've gotta give her attention from time to time to tide her over, and then she should give you a few minutes to work on your stuff before you need to lavish a bit more attention on her.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Get a "Super Yard play-yard." For IN the house.
Put her in there, when you have to step away and do chores.

And, baby-proof everything.

Or, get someone to come over to help you.
Being that your Husband is not home much.
That is what my friend's Husband did. Got her a part-time Nanny/babysitter. She has THREE boys.
And he is hardly home, due to his job.

You don't have to 'occupy' her or entertain her every minute.
Put her in the play-yard, with some toys, then try and do what you can.
You can also use the play-yard outside. It is portable.

You could try a pack-n-play, and put some new toys (or new used toys) in it.

You can also put her in her high chair and feed her her snacks while you're cleaning (I just pulled the high chair into the room with me---but I only did this for rooms that had easy-clean floors & not carpeting). You could also let her do fingerpainting on her high chair tray w/ different flavors of pudding or that sort of thing.

We used baby gates to keep our son in the "safe room" with his toys. I would say, "Mommy will be right back. I'm going downstairs for a minute." And I would lock him in, run downstairs, throw a load of laundry into the washer or dryer, and then run back up.

If you can, find ways where she can "help" you--putting dishes into the dishwasher, or putting her on a safe stool so she can splash in the sink while you do dishes; give her a little watering can and water, while you're weeding, or show her how to drag the hose around, etc.

If you can afford it, hire a mother's helper--this would be a young teen or older middle-schooler, whose job it is is to play with the child while you get stuff done.

I would advise you to either get a companion, like a pre-teen, to come over for a specified time and that could play with her and keep an eye on her while you work inside, and/or outside do your gardening in short bursts and just let her complain for the 15 minutes that you are weeding, then play with her for 15 minutes, then back to gardening and so on. As to the painting job, divide it up into increments of an hour here and there, for when you can have her "companion" over....if you are able to do it this way, it will get done, not just in one day!

I didn't paint or clean a spare room until she was four!!

I agree with the others who have suggested finding a young mother's helper, though. That would be fun for both of them!

Put her and some toys in a play yard or swing where she can see you. Talk to her while you're working and if she continues to cry then turn on some good music and get your work done. :)

I know how you feel-I have four little kids, and even though people say "that stuff can wait", some of it really does need to get done.

Maybe she wants to do what you're doing.
Her toys are boring compared to all the fun you're having. When you're painting, give her a brush and some water so she can "paint" too. When gardening, let her get dirty too. Save the dirty stuff for right before bathtime anyway. When cleaning the kitchen, get her a bucket and spray bottle and spong too.

Or, you can hire a babysitter. Or hire someone to do that stuff that needs to get done.

Incorporate her in the tasks that need to be done. If it is something that doesn't NEED to be done (like cooking or dishes) then don't do it. Wait until she is asleep, or your husband is home. Make it part of your routine and it won't seem like such a chore and of course if it is something that would normally take you 5 minutes- give yourself 20 :) for example- I clean the tub before my kids take a bath...ever since my son was about your daughters age, he would help "clean" the bathroom by using a spraying water on the walls or tub and wiping it down with a washcloth. I find that incorporating your kids in your daily chores is good for them too. My son LOVES to vacuum and hopefully when he is older and it is his Actual chore, he will still like it.

playdates help a lot-- having a friend to entertain them makes it a lot easier for me to work. but i wouldn't paint with out my husband, or a neighbor kid or friend because once you open that paint bucket you really can't leave it, and your baby shouldn't be helping with the toxic fumes and the possiblitly of spilling or getting paint all over herself.

i do signing time for my shower but i'm not willing to let the tv babysit for longer than that.

give her a clump of dirt and a toy shovel, or show her a worm and let her hold it. or put a little baby wading pool right by the garden-- that would entertain her really well, and you'd be right there supervising but she probably wouldn't need you to play with her much. water is way fun.

i have to plan on a big mess if i want to get something done-- markers on the wall, flour on the floor, and clothes all tossed out of the dresser are all things within the last week... the flour all over the kitchen floor happened while i was weeding the garden, in fact. would've been better if she was right there with me whining, right? anyway. i feel for you! they do learn to play independantly, and take less time and attention!! i have the opposite problem with my 6 year old-- he shuts the door and doesn't want me to come in because he's busy playing legos and doesn't want to be disturbed!! so, maybe you can wait to paint for a few months, when it's not as frustrating. or do all the prep-- moving furniture, washing walls, draping tarps and taping and dropcloths... but wait to do the actual painting till a weekend or a day when someone else can help.

Um, didn't have this issue, the kids went in the pack and play when I needed to do stuff that I needed them to be out of the way. Or they played in the hallway or their bedroom with a gate up so they could run around but still see me if they wanted. It's choices you make. If you have stuff to do then train the kids to play on their own, where you can still hear and see them but not underfoot.

Get a bored middle school kiddo to come and play with her in the living room while you are doing laundry/cleaning in the other room. The teen/pre-teen will be happy to make $10 and you will have some sanity and one more thing crossed off your list.

But for me, I get chores done during naptime or after the kiddo's gone to bed.

Playpen. I used to put the playpen outside of the room I was working in right by the doorway. The baby could see me and play with toys and I got stuff done. Outside, you can get those fence type things that look like a big circular baby gate set it up toss in toys, put her in, I would put her in a shady spot.