How much time for scrapbooking will I have as a 1st time mom

It depends on your little one. Some babies will go with the flow, others don't want to sleep.... But, do take tones of pictures and try to enjoy your time. Those days go by so fast.

Kids are now 5 and 3. It's only been in the last year that I have had the time AND energy to scrap. But alot depends on your priorities. If you really want to, you can find the time. But not much!

You'll have as much time as you allow yourself to have. If you would sit down to watch tv, you can sit down to scrap. If you would sit down to read, you can sit down to scrap. If you have time to go shopping or to lunch, you have time to scrap. Just don't make it out to be a 'job', rather make it something you want to do to fill a few minutes of your day. You may have to alter your style of working/planning but don't give it up.

I wish I would have been a scrapper back when my kids were babies. My son napped from 1-4 or 5 almost every day. I was so bored at times. The pictures might inspire you. If you don't have a great camera, you might want to invest in one. You might also consider mixing traditional pages with pocket pages so you can scrap more pictures. And yes, for the first couple of months, I was exhausted. I think most people are but you don't stay that way forever. Will you work full time? I think your friends who aren't crafters don't know what you love will motivate you. Personally, I would purge some, but don't put it all away. Perhaps finding a paper line you love and some new baby embellishments might motivate you. How long until the due date? If you have time now, start creating page kits or even layouts you can just add pictures to later. I am already working on my vacation book for spring break.

Agreed.  You will have the time if you make the time.  

It also depends on where you scrap.  My area is set up in our family room, so the boys would be playing or watching a movie and I could be there scrapping.  I actually got a lot done when they were younger and we were home more.

I also agree with taking TONS of pictures.  You can never have too many and like a pp said, you can always scrap them later.  Just ask me.  I'm working on photos from 2004, lol.

Congrats on the upcoming addition to your family!

When my kids were really little is when I scrapbooked the most. I loved naptime and early bedtimes. Also, babies stay put lol so you can scrap with baby right by you.

I didn't start scrapping until a few weeks after my first baby was born. I did a million pages when she was a baby. She has a beautiful baby book! My poor son's baby book is very thin compared to hers. I didn't have as much time after he was born.

I started scrapping when DS#3 was 5yrs old, so I scrapped at night/weekends and a monthly crop as I was working.

When DD came along (#4) I worked 2 days a week - the days I was home,  when she slept during the day, I scrapped.

If it is important to you - you will find or make the time.

If it is something you want to do you will find or make the time. I scrapped loads after my first baby (now almost 11 ...) It was actually after my second that I just didn't have time, but he was a much more fussy AND I had an older child to take care of as well. Now I have a 16 month old, a 3 and a half year old and an almost 11 year old, and I scrap all the time.

Congrats on the addition to your family! I was an older first time mom too (43 when I delivered, I am nuts!), and at first I was totally exhausted. But like others have said, that doesn't last forever. I was lucky that DD slept through the night at ten weeks which was a huge blessing.

I worked from home so I had to find time to do things since it was my job. The two things that saved me during that time was our Fisher Price Rock 'N Play Sleeper and our swing. We originally didn't want to devote the space to the swing in our tiny house, but we caved when it became clear that DD wouldn't take decent daytime naps otherwise. She loved that Rock 'N Play and we got a lot of use out of it, it was so nice because it was portable. Once she got a little bigger and could sit up on her own, she would sit in her Babee Tenda feeding table and play with her stuff next to my desk in my office while I worked and couldn't get into anything.

If you have a dedicated work space, it definitely helps because you can start a project when you have a little time and leave it there until the next time you have a few minutes when they're small like that. My problem was that my studio was in the half story attic and my office was on the main floor of the house, so I ended up swapping my main floor office storage with my upstairs work table so she could be next to me, or in her swing just outside the office door in the livingroom. Once she was more mobile, it got harder because neither my office or studio was childproof. We moved when DD was two.

The lack of a child safe work space after we moved was what has really limited how much I could work on stuff in the last couple years. I have a great studio space in the basement but because I didn't have anywhere to put anything away, I never even unpacked most of it. (It's kind of hard to scrap when you don't know where anything is!) Between 2-4 years old, she was running around and getting into everything so not having a childproof space made me not want to have her down there with me unless I could watch her like a hawk (which meant I wouldn't be getting anything done). Because of that, I only worked when our part time sitter was able to be here, and she has since gotten a full time job. I'm finally getting my built-in storage now so I can get my stuff unpacked and put away (yay!!).

DD is almost 5 and she doesn't get into things quite as much as she used to, so I'm hoping that once my storage is installed and things are organized, it will make it easier to work on stuff and be able to walk away from it without having to worry about her getting into it.

One other thing I will say I'm glad I did was I made it a priority to have professional portraits taken of DD several times during her first year, and at least 1-2 times a year since. Having those gorgeous photos of DD makes me WANT to scrap them, and if you're motivated to scrapbook, you will!

You're in for a big adventure! Enjoy it!

Congrats!!!

You can do it. I was back scrapping when DS wasn't even a week old yet. My mom was in town visiting and she and DS were napping and I was bored. Plus I had some awesome newborn pics I wanted to scrap

If you aren't totally exhausted, the itty bitty stage is actually the easiest, if your baby likes a swing, bouncy or whatever. I used to nurse DS, pop him in the bouncy, chit chat to him as I started working, show him the papers and photos, etc. and he'd eventually fall asleep in the bouncy and I'd work until he was hungry again.

Now that he's 2.5, I scrap during nap. I just make it a priority. I.e. I don't do ANY housework that can be done with him next to me, even if his "help" makes it take longer. Laundry to fold? We do it when he wakes up. Dishes to put away? He plays as I do it. Etc.

I also cut out tv drastically. If I can't watch it on my phone or iPad in bed at night, I don't watch.

DH also has a sweet tradition of taking DS out for daddy time on Sat. mornings. They go to park, library, run an errand, etc. I use that time for me. Sometimes I scrap, sometimes I don't but that is a nice chunk of time!

If you can also find a regular crop to attend, that will help. Especially when baby is a little older. Having the dedicated time away to focus on scrapping is nice.

Congratulations! I scrapped all through my years with "littles". But way more now



this is so so true, no excuses in this digital age. My oldest was a baby when we only had a film camera (16 years old. wow. technology has really come a long way in a short time) and I don't have nearly enough documented.

So, make sure you WRITE STUFF DOWN! You'll think you'll never forget, but you WILL. Big. And then you feel like somehow you missed it... It's my biggest regret, to not have details to write with the photos when I go back in time.

Surprisingly, quite a bit once we got a schedule in place. Babies can't get into your stuff I found I could easily start a project and pick at it during the day.