DAILY ROUTINE WITH A TODDLER & A BABY

I have been a parent of two for four months now, which literally blows my mind! One of the most asked questions I’ve had since welcoming Oliver is what my daily routine with a toddler & a baby looks like & don’t let the title of this post fool you into thinking we have a really well structured schedule down, because we don’t – other than lunch & Teddy’s bedtime – it is very loose & that is what works best for us.

Oliver is still a small baby so he is breast fed on demand and naps whenever he likes. I love hearing about other peoples routines with young children, especially during the day as I solo parent 5 days a week whilst Aaron is at work. I am writing this blog post as lockdown is currently still a thing (but gradually easing off every week) so places like soft play, play groups & parks are all still closed, which when you have a toddler with a shit tonne of energy hasn’t been easy.

However I still thought i’d give you an insight into our day!

7am: Oliver will start stirring but as we co-sleep I just pop the boob in and he will usually dose for around 30 minutes. During this time either I will dose too or read my book.

7:30am: I will chat and cuddle Oliver in bed whilst Teddy starts waking up in his room. He still has a baby monitor in there so he usually takes around 20/30 minutes before he actually comes out of his room and to the baby gate.

8am: I will take Oliver downstairs and put him on his baby mat with his favourite toy. I will then go back upstairs, make the beds & bring Teddy down. He doesn’t like to come down by himself in the mornings!

8:15am: Teddy will usually be chatting to Oliver on his play mat whilst I go into the kitchen and make his breakfast (today it was a bowl of Rice Krispies and a chocolate brioche) and get him a apple juice. I will also put the first load of washing on at this point.

8:30: I will change Oliver’s bum & get him dressed for the day and put him back on his play mat whilst I do any quick tidying that needs doing – putting clean pots away in the kitchen ect.

9am: Teddy will have finished his breakfast and Oliver will be ready for his first nap. I will put him in his bouncer with his blanket and get him to sleep. Once he is asleep I will make myself some breakfast and Teddy will usually have a piece of fruit – apple or a orange is a firm favourite at the minute.

9:30am: I will change Teddy’s bum and then we go upstairs to brush his teeth & get him dressed. We then go back downstairs & will play a game such as with his Happyland fairy house or with his car mat.

10am: I will run upstairs and get changed/washed ect quickly before Oliver starts stirring. I will also take the washing out the washer & put it on the miaden or in the dryer. Teddy will then have free play whilst I feed Oliver & change his butt again.

11am: Lunchtime! We always sit in the living room & watch tv whilst we have lunch, I find this is the best way for us all to just relax and chill, making sure Teddy eats all his dinner. I will put Oliver in his bouncer whilst we eat lunch.

12pm: Oliver will go down in his bouncer for another nap whilst me & Teddy do more structured activity such as some wipe clean learning books or we use his building blocks to count/do colours/encourage speech ect.

1pm: Oliver will wake up from his nap & then it’s another round of changing bums – LOL. I’ll then feed him again before we do some playing on his play mat, encouraging him to reach for toys and singing. Teddy will either join in or do some more free play.

1:30pm: Daddy is home (he starts at 5am)! Teddy will have a snack and whilst Aaron enjoys time with the boys I will run around and do things on the days to-do list, such as cleaning or work I have to get done. If I have managed to stay on top of everything I will also read some of my current book.

3pm: Oliver will have another nap but this one is definitely more a cat nap. Lasting around 20/30 minutes. Teddy will also play some games on his tablet with Aaron.

4pm: We are very lucky to live next to some fields with a stream so we will put Oliver in the carrier & go for a quick walk.

4:30pm: I will make a start on tea, we usually like to eat around 5/5:30pm so we are finished in plenty of time for the boys bath/bed routine to start.

5pm: Sit at the table and eat dinner, Oliver sits in his bouncer on the table with us, so he feels involved.

5:30pm: We usually start cleaning the kitchen whilst Teddy finishes up tea. So we will wash the pots, wipe the sides down & I will also put the cloth nappy wash on.

6:15pm: We will then all head upstairs; I will go into the bathroom and run Oliver’s bath and turn the shower on for Teddy. We usually put on music via the portable speaker we have in the shower – our current go to soundtrack is Frozen 2. Whilst Aaron finishes up washing the boys & brushing Teddy’s teeth, I will get the boys pyjamas and skincare ready in our bedroom.

6:30pm: Both boys are out the bath and we get them dry. I will do some baby massage with Oliver whilst Teddy will go into his bedroom and Aaron will read him some books. Before me & Oliver head downstairs we will go into Teddy’s room and have a kiss & cuddle goodnight.

7pm: I usually boob Oliver between 6:30 & 7pm and he might have a little doze & Teddy gets in bed too. Aaron puts his Tonie box on and he listens to Room On The Broom to fall asleep to, it is roughly 20 minutes long with the book & a song, he is usually fast asleep before it finishes.

7:15pm: I will go upstairs to do some blog work whilst Aaron & Oliver have some one on one time (it is hard to come by when you have other children!) I use this time to do some Pinterest & SEO work.

8pm: Aaron will change Oliver’s bum before bringing him upstairs to start bedtime. I will lie down in our bed and feed him to sleep here. He usually feeds for roughly an hour & then Aaron will come back up as he likes being rocked to sleep!

9/9:30pm: Aaron rocks him to sleep and we put him down in his Next 2 me cot with white noise. Kid is OBSESSED. Once I know he is settled I will carry on with blog work OR at weekends I have started NOT working and playing Two Point hospital. So good.

As soon as I start getting tired I will turn the laptop off and read some of my book. This definitely helps me to switch off and fall asleep much easier.

There you have it! That is my daily routine with a toddler & a baby. It isn’t overly exciting and obviously at the minute a lot of it is home based. Teddy should currently be in pre-school two mornings a week but we made the decision not to send him back, however in September he is due to start school nursery so I will share a new updated routine once he has settled in there.