what's your routine with a baby and toddler?

[Meganmae]

hi, my dh and I aren't ttc yet I'm currently being weaned off prozac with the intention of thinking about it in the new year. I was just wondering how to you cope with 2, as in routine wise, managing bath times , getting ready, you time etc thanks in advance

 

[lau86]

Well 5 months in I'm just getting there! But others might be quicker At getting into a routine...
So my baby wakes at 5 for a feed
My oldest gets up 6.30-7 on a good day and comes into our room to watch a bit of tv. Usually the baby is asleep again and may or may not wake up (he's still in our room)
My eldest then has his teeth brushed and I bring them both downstairs.
I put baby in his bouncy chair and make my oldest breakfast and eat breakfast myself
I get them both dressed and shower and dress myself. I make sure one of them comes into the bathroom with me so my oldest can't shove the baby out of his bouncy chair etc. That bit is usually done on a wing and a prayer tbh.
We go to play group (3 days my oldest is with nanny / nursery as I would usually be working) and my baby naps for part of it in his car seat
We come back, my oldest has lunch and then I try and get them both to nap till around 2.30.
I get them both up and do an activity, a walk if its nice or playing
We all have dinner around 5.30 and usually my husband is back from work then so helps with bath and bed. This I find is the hardest part of the day to do by
Myself as having to get tea cleared up, bath them both and into bed.
We take the baby out of the bath first, feed and get him into bed, one of us supervises my oldest playing in the bath. Then we get him out and give him a story And into bed for 7pm on a good day
Plus lots of potty trips for my oldest and nappy changes for the youngest throughout the day!!
I have found it hard with breastfeeding my youngest as he is still quite random with his feeds and being still in our room is hard as I don't think he sleeps as well as he would in his own room.

 

[Sarah lo]

My youngest is only 4 weeks old so we're only just starting to form little bits of a routine and its changing frequently. At the moment our day goes a bit like this:

Baby wakes up at 6am and has a feed

DD wakes up at 6:30 and DH takes her downstairs and makes her breakfast.

Baby lies in the crib listening to his mobile while I get up, washed and dressed then baby and I go downstairs. He has a bum change then I put him in the bouncy chair or playmat while I make my breakfast.

7:00 DH leaves for work.
After that, anything goes for a bit. Baby will feed lots and DD will either watch TV or play for a bit.

If its Monday or Tuesday, I try to fill the morning with an activity for DD and will put baby in the carrier. Yesterday we made a sweet shop with play-doh and danced to nursery rhymes. If its Wednesday we go to toddler group at 9:30. Thursdays and Fridays DD goes to nursery at 10:00

12:30 - lunch time. We usually have a chill out hour after lunch where we'll read stories or watch a film
After that we usually do another activity like we do in the morning. Baby usually has a good long nap in the afternoon while we play.

4:30 - if the weather's nice we go walk the dog to the park where we meet DH walking home from the train station.

5:30 - dinner time

6:30 - DDs bath time. Sometimes baby has a bath too if he's not sleeping or cluster feeding. If he doesn't, I take him in the bath with me later or in the morning.

7:00- chill out with DD, reading stories or watching TV while baby cluster feeds a bit more.

7:30- DD goes to bed.

Baby does his own thing with regards to bed time

 

[Feathers]

My routine depends on the day as DD has nursery three days a week during term time (what would be my working hours) but holidays and other days- like today - my routine goes roughly as follows.

6am- DS wakes and we feed in bed

6.20am DD wakes and she comes into bed with us for a snuggle.

6.40am- we all go downstairs. DD has her morning warm milk and I do nappy change for both and get them both dressed for the day. I have TV on Milkshake or CBeebies whilst I do this. OH goes to work during this.

7.30am- breakfast for DD and me, we all sit at the table, DS in his high chair even though he isn't eating breakfast yet.

8.00am- we all go upstairs, DS sits on my bed whilst I get dressed etc, DD plays with her upstairs toys. Then we move to the bathroom, DS sits up in his boppy cushion on the landing whilst we brush teeth and wash. Then we go back down and DD chooses her hair bobbles and we do hair (I do hers, she plays at doing mine)

8.30am- DS needs a feed and a nap. I sit on the sofa and DD either plays with her downstairs toys or I will have TV on for her again cbeebies or milkshake or sometimes a bit of her favourite film (toy story).

9am- This is the time I aim for us to be read for and generally we have somewhere to go or someone coming over between now and 10am. Playgroup tuesday, grandparents or some of my mummy and baby friends, or an outing to the park or playgym. Something that involves us out. If it's just me and them, DS is in his sling.

10.30-11am- snack (fitted in depending on what we're doing. If we're at home we chop up fruit and sit down together. DS likes to chomp on some now too.

12- lunch, again we sit at the table for this. We're usually home for this time.

1- depends on the day (I have portage one day) but on other days we're just playing upstairs or down, again I'm feeding DS so we fit in around that.

2- DD goes for her nap which gives DS some one to one time.

4 - DD wakes up (she has lovely long naps!) We have warm milk and a snack and usually she's feeling cuddly so we snuggle up together, play with some downstairs toys and generally chill out. I often fit in household chores at this time. DS has a nap.

5.30 - I'm cooking tea, DD cooks tea in her play kitchen and DS is in his bouncer.

6- OH comes home, we have tea and run the bath and getting ready for bed routine.

7.30 - bed time for kiddies

 

[george83]

I'm actually in amazement that so many of you have routines, we still pretty much go day by day.

My 4 month old wakes anywhere between 5 and 7, we go downstairs for a play and some nice one to one time before my toddler wakes about half 7ish.

My 2 and a half year old rarely eats breakfast but has it offered between 8 and half past. Baby has bottle then too and we get ready and head out anywhere at all - toddler groups, library, town, park, shopping just some where to get out of the house. Lunch will happen about one but could be at home or out.

We usually head home for mid afternoon which can then make the afternoon long and difficult as my oldest has usually stopped having a nap.

i try to prepare tea whenever the baby sleeps but he's usually only down for half an hour at the longest so that can be a bit hit and miss. Ds1 will eat and then three nights a week we have baths and into pj's to wait for daddy to come home. If dads home early enough he takes the baby while I put my toddler to bed. Then tidy up, sterilise bottles etc before ds2 goes down about 9ish. Then I collapse into bed! Exhausting but I totally love it, dreading going back to work in a month.

 

[CaptainMummy]

I have an 8 month old and a 3yr old who goes to nursery 5 mornings a week.

Both girls wake around 6am, sometimes 3yo sleeps until 6.30/7am but not often. We get breakfast etc just before 7 and then play until 7.45 when we all get dressed and leave for nursery at 8.35. Dd2 naps at around this time/9am for maybe 30 minutes.

Pick dd1 up at 11.30 and lunch at 11.45/12 (it's a 10 minute walk lol)
After lunch both girls nap for around 1.5/2hrs (BLISS!) whilst I sit on my bum doing nothing

OH get home around 5.30pm and we have dinner. Bath is at 6/6.15 for both girls then dd2 gets bottle and goes to bed (usually at 6.45/7pm) and we both sit with dd1 for a while and she goes to bed around 7.45pm.

This seems to have sort of happened on its own. Weekends are different and don't follow this but during the week, I seem to have everything under control. It's only been like this for maybe 3 weeks but I love it haha.