Nap Time Trades: How I Manage Day Trading with a Toddler

When I first started trading, my baby was barely 6 months old.
Let me tell you — I lost $2,000 changing a diaper and $1,500 making my husband coffee.

Yes, you read that right.
Nothing humbles you faster than missing a stop-loss because you were elbow-deep in baby wipes.

But I kept going.
Because the beauty of trading from home is that you can build it around your family — even if your “office” looks like a playroom exploded.

Fast-forward to now: my son’s almost 4, a full-on climber, and I sometimes make trades with him on my shoulders or literally trying to scale my head like I’m a jungle gym.
It doesn’t even faze me anymore.
This is just my version of a trading floor.


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🍼 Survival Kit for Trading with a Baby

Here’s what kept me sane (and mostly profitable) in those early days:

Diapers & wipes within arm’s reach – I wasn’t running to grab them mid-trade.

Breakfast, juice boxes & snacks prepped early – the fewer interruptions, the better.

My Starbucks in hand by 9:30am ET – because I refuse to start trading without caffeine.

Multiple mini-activities set up – tummy time mat, play gym, bouncer seat. One activity never lasted long enough, so I had backups.


Pro tip: set everything up before the market opens so you aren’t scrambling once things get moving.


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👶 Toddler Trading Strategies (a.k.a. Chaos Control)

Trading with a toddler is a whole new level — they have opinions, questions, and the ability to climb.

Here’s what helps me now:

Independent Play Stations:
Rotating bins with toys he hasn’t seen in a while. Keeps him busy long enough for me to catch a setup.

Safe Climbing Options:
I gave him a foam climbing set so he can do his best Spider-Man can do his thing somewhere safe while I watch my charts.

Visual Timer:
Toddlers don’t get “five minutes.”
But they do understand watching a timer count down. I use a visual timer for “Mommy’s chart time.”

Music or Story Time:
Spotify playlists or an audiobook he likes = quiet trading session for me.

Snacks (Again):
A toddler with snacks is a toddler not hanging off my head — enough said.



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💡 Bonus: Naps = Power Hours

Nap time is GOLDEN. If your kid still naps, that’s when you can:

Do a deeper market review

Journal trades

Plan the next day

Breathe


Once my son dropped his nap, I started waking up earlier to get my pre-market prep done in peace.


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🧘 The Mindset Shift

The biggest change wasn’t just logistics — it was mindset.

Instead of getting frustrated that trading felt “distracted,” I reframed it:
This is why I trade — to be home with my son, to be here for the chaos, to sip Starbucks while watching him grow up.

So yes, sometimes a winning trade takes longer to catch because I had to change a diaper or rescue someone from climbing the bookshelf — but that’s okay.

Because I didn’t choose trading to escape my life.
I chose trading to live my life — with him right here.


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Your turn:
Moms, what’s the craziest thing you’ve done while trying to trade?
(If you’ve ever placed an order with a toddler on your head, we should start a club. 😂)