I’m not a schedule person, but I would love to figure out a daily routine that works well with an infant and toddler. So far, we’ve been playing it by ear, which I think is necessary with a newborn. But as Joseph starts to have more periods of “happy awake time” (wide awake and not hungry), it would be fun to try to get out more, and especially to see my mama friends and their babies, and to go to the community pool with the kids this summer.
Whenever I try to make a schedule (I haven’t lately), I tend to stick with it for a few days and then fall away from it when we start needing to do more errands…even things as simple as grocery shopping, a doctor’s appointment, or going to La Leche League or my parenting group (Natural Parenting for Non-Hippies) meetings.
I just asked a friend (@amberw131) what her routine was when she had an infant and a toddler. She said, “Go to Starbucks with Emily as much as possible.” (Er, that’s me.) HA! So I asked when her kids usually napped. Her baby would nap from 10 to 11 or 11:30, then her toddler would nap from 12 or 1 until 2 or 3, and her baby would nap again from 3 to 4. So…no matter when she went out and about, SOMEone was missing a nap.
I remember that our babies (who are now toddlers) would often fall asleep in our slings or wraps while we hung out together. So I suppose when planning to go out, keeping the toddler’s nap “sacred” is more important, since babies can be more flexible about where they sleep. I remember that sometimes when Anneliese was tiny, there were days when she wouldn’t nap at all at home, but if I went out, she got a good nap in.
Another friend, @joniboloney, who has a newborn, a toddler, and 3 “big kids,” told me this is her schedule:
Up by 5:30-6. Laundry. Beds. Shower. Breakfast. Play. Nap (9) (household stuff). Play (run errands). Lunch. Play. Nap. Big kids home from school. Homework. Dinner (6). Bath (7). Books. Bed (8). Household stuff. Laundry. Fall down dead (10-11).
Just reading that makes my brain hurt. Basically she is Superwoman.
Another friend, @TouchstoneZ, says:
Pop 1 on, pop 1 off, wipe a butt, forget to eat, pop ’em both on until they sleep, sneak away to pee, forget to eat again…
(Which sounds really, really realistic and attainable!)
Soooo…I guess I should just try to list out what needs to happen rather than overthinking.
- Wake up
- Everyone dressed/ready/beds made
- Breakfast
- Out and about (LLL and NPNH are morning meetings) or morning walk (since in the summer here any other time of day means melting). Probably also a baby nap during this time.
- Play (or pool when it opens?)
- Lunch
- Ideally AT HOME: Nap for toddler and hopefully nap for baby at the same time
- Snack
- Play, read, play outside
- Dinner
- Bathe kids
- Coconut oil massage/PJs/books/nurse/bed for Anneliese
- Pick up the house, finish the day’s laundry, dishes, etc.
- Bed for me
Usually I do my blog work at night. I would love to get it done during the day so I don’t have to work so late. Naptime is the obvious time to do that. Usually I have 100 other things to do during nap, though, OR I’m exhausted and need a nap too. So it doesn’t happen that way. But if I could arrange things so it DOES, I could go to bed earlier, wake earlier, etc. Which I think would be better overall.
For fun, I’m going to assign times to the list above. I’m not sure if I’ll follow the routine as written for a day or a week or at all. But I’ll print it out and give it a shot.
- 7:30 Wake up
- Everyone dressed/ready/beds made
- 8:30 Breakfast
- 9:30-12:30 Out and about, errands, or morning walk. Probably also a baby nap during this time.
- During the time above, if it’s a shorter activity, play (or pool when it opens?)
- 12:30 Lunch (If out and about, have lunch a bit earlier so we can be home by naptime)
- 1:30 Ideally AT HOME: Nap for toddler and hopefully nap for baby at the same time
- 3:30 Snack
- 4:00 Play, read, play outside
- 6:00 Dinner
- 7:00 Bathe kids
- 7:30 Coconut oil massage/PJs/books/nurse/bed for Anneliese
- Pick up the house, finish the day’s laundry, dishes, etc.
- 10:00 Bed for me
Written out, it looks so simple. But, you know how that goes…
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2 Comments
When we get into the new house and get into a good routine I plan on making a huge white board with a picture frame with glass in it to make a calendar for each week. That way if things change or I need to add something it will be easy with a white board marker.
I like your schedule! I hope it works out for you. We don’t have much of a set schedule even with just a toddler, except I try to get up and moving before she does and we do errands in the mornings and try to be home for naptime. Other than that, it varies day by day.
I’m a little nervous about adding a newborn into the mix.