Toddler Schedule

    If you haven't noticed yet, my articles tend to be written about things that I currently am going through or have experienced with my little one. Well as usual, this article is no different. Ha. 
    Even though my daughter is 14 months and walking/running, I still keep her on a schedule. The cool thing is that any time I wonder if I should alter her schedule, she shows me how much she loves the structure.
    So here's an example of what our day to day schedule looks like, in case you need any ideas for your little one:

• 6:50 or 7:00 am - Baby P. wakes up from her crib.
• 7:00 - 7:20 am - Breastfeed and hang out in the bed.
• 7:20 - 8:00 am - Diaper change and then Baby P. plays in her pack in play while I get breakfast ready and let out the dog/feed the cat.
• 8:00 - 8:25 am - Breakfast for baby and me!
• 8:25 - 8:45 am - Baby P. plays in her pack n' play for 20 more minutes while I clean up and get things ready for nap time.
• 8:45 - 9:00 am - Snuggles and breastfeeding.
• 9:00 - 10:30 am - Nap time. This length depends on when she falls asleep. Some mornings she will play for 30 - 45 minutes before passing out. But usually her morning naps will last for an hour to an hour and a half.
• 10:30 - 10:45 am - Wake up. Diaper change.
• 10:45 - 10:50 am - Breastfeed.
• 11:00 am - 12:00 pm - Watch Sesame Street in her walker and have a snack and water. Watching Sesame Street could come or go depending on what we have scheduled for the day. If we have plans we will use the next 4 hours to go to small group, go out, grocery shop, run errands... Even on days we have plans, usually I'll let her watch 30 minutes or so of this so that I can make lunch for me.
• 12:00 - 2:00 pm - As I mentioned above, this is usually the time frame we get things done outside the house. But some days when we need a break, we stay home. If it is one of those days, Baby P. will watch Sesame Street for a little longer. Then we will go swinging outside, and come in and play on the floor around the house. Usually before lunch Baby P. will have walking time. This is when I let her play around the house and in her room. 
• 1:30 - 2:00 pm - Lunch.
• 2:00 - 2:45 pm - Play some more or snuggle.
• 2:45 - 3:00 pm - Breastfeed.
• 3:00 - 5:00 pm - Nap time. Obviously this nap time varies too in length. 
• 5:00 - 6:20 pm - Floor play time with Mommy or Daddy.
• 6:20 - 7:00 pm - At this point, Baby P. gets a bath every other day... is put in her pajamas and then I set up this octagon gate that she plays in for the rest of the night.
• 7:00 -7:30 pm - Dinner.
• 7:30 - 7:45 pm - Play time with Mommy or Daddy.
• 7:45 - 8:00 pm - Rocking time with Daddy. I typically will take this time to shower, get babies room ready for bedtime and so on...
• 8:00 - 8:10 pm - Breastfeed.
• 8:15 - Bedtime.

    As a note, obviously things happen day to day and I am completely open to change. But I have seen and know that children appreciate and need discipline, so I try to stick to Baby P's schedule as much as I can. Also, this is just the bare minimum of a schedule. There's a lot I don't write about here, like how often we snuggle and I pick her up and so on... Baby P. loves to let me know when she needs some snuggles, and I'm happy to oblige her :D.

    What about you? What does your day to day look like?

It's All About The Schedule

    When I first had Baby P., I was just trying to figure out this new thing called motherhood. I was stressing because, it was very difficult to get baby girl to do anything besides eat, sleep and poop let alone get on a schedule! 

    I knew that once Baby P. got a little older, I could try to start a schedule. I had read so many articles (see this article) saying how important it was to get a child on a schedule, that it helped them feel secure... but it was such a scary concept and I knew that it would be difficult! But when is anything easy when it comes to discipline and a kid? 

So I sat down and tried to come up with a list of things that worked for me to get baby girl on a schedule:

1. Follow Baby's Leading.

    I started trying out a schedule with her as soon as I thought we could, at about 2 months. The most important aspect of making this schedule was that I based this schedule off of what I noticed that baby girl shaped on her own. Why make her take a nap if she wasn't ready?... I'd just be hitting my head against a wall if I did that. So I focused on what kind of pattern I noticed Baby P. made, by focusing on her nap times. Of course, at that young (2 months) there was no way I could set-up a real schedule. I just wanted to get her started on one, and started to be consistent. 

2. Start a Schedule and Try to Stick with it.

    Like I said, follow baby's leading. Whatever time baby takes her nap, try to get her to take it consistently at that time. At about 4 months, she was sleeping in her crib at night, so it wasn't such a strange thing for me to put her in her crib for a nap once she nursed to sleep or I rocked her to sleep. For some reason though, I always had to put her on her stomach for naps otherwise she would wake up. 

3. Consistency is Vitally Important. 

     Things always come up in your day that will change, and that's fine, but try to be consistent with the basics. Be consistent with when baby wakes up, nap times, lunch time, dinner and bed time. We go out grocery shopping, doing errands, walks and hanging out with friends/family pretty consistently. But I try to schedule those times during a free time I created in our schedule. 

Here's an example of what our schedule looks like (Diaper changes aren't listed, cause those aren't predictable. Also just a note that Baby P. still nurses at least every two hours at almost 8 mo, and I know that's not the case with other babys.): 

Schedule

6 - 7 am - Wake up. I get Baby P. up no later than 7:40 am (I found she doesn't take a nap if she wakes up later).

7 am - Nurse.

7:10 - 8 am - Play time in pack n' play.

8 am - Nurse.

8:10 am - Rock to sleep/morning snuggles (this usually can take up to 30 minutes of rocking).

8: 40 am - 10 am - Nap time.

10 am - Nurse.

10 am - 11 am - play time.

11 am - Nurse.

11:30 - Lunch time (solids given).

11 am on - Free time. So I let the day shape what we will do.

12 pm - 1 pm - Play time

1 pm - Nurse

1:30 - 2 pm - Take a walk.

The Day continues like this: nursing,  play times and so on...

6 pm - Bathe baby and get in PJs.

6:30 pm - Dinner (solids).

7 - 8:15 pm - Play time.

8:15 pm - 8:40 pm - Wind down and get ready for bed. 

8:40 pm - Nurse to sleep. Getting Baby P. to bed usually takes 40 minutes to an hour.

9:10 pm - Baby is moved to her crib, and she sleeps there till morning. 

This is what works for us! What does your schedule look like?