With our busy lives, we sometimes find it difficult to take time away from work to spend time with our babies. Play yards are one great way of taking a baby to work with us, giving the baby a safe and secure place to play while we do the jobs that help support our lifestyles. What are some other ways beyond a travel play yard to spend more time with our babies? In this article we'll discuss some of those options, hopefully giving you some ideas of how to spend more time with those you love.

As mentioned previously, play yards are a great way to keep our children close to us throughout the work day. Of course most people would much rather leave a baby with a sitter or in day care to avoid disturbing coworkers, however, we all know that sometimes life doesn't always work out the way we'd like it to. If we're called into work on short notice, it's nice to know that we can provide our baby a safe place to play while we keep a close eye on him or her. If you're in this position, consider purchasing a portable play yard (or "play pen") that would easily fit into your trunk for easy travel. Play yards come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so make sure you choose one that allows your baby enough freedom to play, but allows for portability.

Another way to keep your baby with you on a busy schedule (besides a play pen), is to bring your baby as you exercise. The best way to bring a baby as you exercise is a jogging stroller. These have become all the rage in recent years, and allow you to stay in shape while also keeping an eye on your baby. Jogging strollers must, however, be built to rugged standards to keep your baby safe while you jog. Most of these have larger and more robust wheels, which help reduce the shock of running over bumps and ruts in the road as you run. You should of course make sure that you stay on pavement for a better ride for your baby. In order to keep your baby from falling out, jogging strollers, much like play yards, normally include a nylon mesh to keep your baby safe and secure during your activities.

Hopefully this article has given you some ideas on how to incorporate play yards and other tools into your daily routine to help you spend more time with your child.