I am so excited to share my mum and bub skating adventures!
A little bit of background about me..
I started skating when I was 6. I started with roller skates, then moved on to blades, roller hockey, ice figure skating, roller derby.. So needless to say, skating is my biggest passion. When I skate, all problems go away. I’m 36 now, and daughter Cobi age 21 months.
I skated (sensibly) throughout my whole pregnancy. People would tell me off, “it’s too dangerous!”, “what if you fall?” But hey, I feel as comfortable on skates as I am on foot. Agile feet and quick recovery (thank you derby training) saves me from falling. I listened to my body and skated within my ability.
Recovering from childbirth wasn’t easy. As an active person, I longed for physical exercise, that awesome feeling of gliding on skates. So as soon as I was medically cleared to exercise, I went for a street skate with the pram. Skating with a pram is very tricky! Kerbs and hills are a pain. And then there’s traffic!! I only skate with the pram on smooth flat areas now.
Finding time to go out skating without Cobi was quite hard, so I looked for ways to include Cobi in my skating activities. I used to go ice skating with another mum who has a baby as well. We would go in the quietest time of the day, set up a corner with playmats and toys, and we take turns ice skating and babysitting.
On our daily outings, I often pack my roller skates with me. When Cobi is content in the pram I would find a nice outdoor area, put some music on, and do some jam skating in front of her. She enjoyed watching me do silly things. Dance/jam skating is great to do with your baby. You don’t need a large area, you don’t need to go fast. You can stay on one spot and still achieve a lot.
Now that she’s older she wouldn’t sit still in the pram. Luckily I found a routine that works. We go to outside the Melbourne Museum in the morning, skate around while she’s toddling around, then we would have lunch. By that time Cobi would be so tired and she will nap in the pram while I enjoy a coffee in peace. After she wakes up we go into the museum for a play. This video sums it all :) https://www.instagram.com/p/BRFPxLlgZy4
Our ice skating routine has evolved too. She now skates with me on the ice.
That said, some days things just don’t work. For example, one time Cobi woke up very early (5am) and by the time we were at the ice rink at 9am, she was already super tired. Putting her on skates would just be endless whinging. So I walked around with the pram endlessly trying to get her to nap. 2 hours later she finally fell asleep. So I quickly went back to the rink to have a skate, and of course, as soon I jumped on the ice she woke up, still grumpy. Oh well.. home we went.
Bottom line, It is definitely possible to skate with your baby. It takes planning and trial and error. Find things that work for you and your family. I don’t do roller derby anymore because it doesn’t fit in with our family schedule. I don’t do competitive figure skating anymore for the same reason. But I CAN skate on weekdays with Cobi, and with other mums and bubs.
Check out this video we made for fun.
If you’re a mum and you are looking for someone to skate with, please get in touch with me at belle@speedywasabi.com