The following statement is going to sound weird, however I feel as though many moms would feel the same way if in this situation: It is hard transitioning from a full time working mom (or student, in my case) to a full time stay at home mom! I graduated from dental school last Friday and am currently in the process of finding a job, which means we have taken LO out of daycare while I am unemployed. She is so used to having such a set schedule at daycare and only seeing me for a couple hours per day. I’m used to more of a set schedule as well, and being able to do the things I want when I want to do them without having to worry about what to do with the LO. Understandably, this created a lot of push-and-pull and frustration! I was confused about what to do with a little toddler all day. Not to mention, our communication was lagging 😉 She definitely communicates what she wants, I just needed to get used to what everything meant! This caused her to be frustrated too!
But, not to fear, just as I was thinking that days at home full time were going to be torture, we figured each other out again!!! And it has been amazing – I’m not going to want to go back to work!
Mom + 15 month-old ==> Our Routine:
10:00am-11:00am – Wake up, get dressed and eat breakfast together
11:00am-1:00pm – Run around town doing errands/activities OR Play time, outside if weather permits
1:00pm-1:30pm – Lunch (might be at home, might be while we are out and about)
1:30pm-2:30pm – Play time
2:30pm-3:30pm – Nap (might be at home, might be in the car
3:30pm-4:00pm – Snack
4:00pm-6:30pm – Welcome home papa/family time OR Mama goes to the gym
6:30pm-7:30pm – Dinner
7:30pm-9:00pm – Play/night time activities
9:00pm – Bed time!
Here’s a good website with tips on creating a toddler routing – I found it helpful 🙂 Tips for creating a toddler routine
Now that we’ve got that all written out, let me add a disclaimer… I am not really a person of routine. I get bored easily and like to do a lot of different things outside the house. Because of this, this is strictly a rough outline of what our days look like. Many of LO’s naps happen in the car while we are out and about. We are lucky if we get her to go to sleep by 9:00pm. With the two of us getting up at 10:00am, the 9:00 bed time has not really been happening! I’ve been very blessed with a fairly easy going baby! As long as she’s got food and a chance to nap in the afternoon, she’s fairly content 🙂
I hope you all enjoyed reading about our toddler routing – I’d love to hear what yours looks like!
Love, M
myhealthyohana
My 28 month old and I have basically the same routine as you! She wakes around 9 am, we go out to a playdate/errands/classes until around noon, have lunch, then nap around 2:30-5 pm, play and have dinner, bedtime is around 9 pm.
Congrats on graduating from dental school!
Kellie
Ours is a little more boring…mainly because I watch other kids from home so we never have the opportunity to leave the house during a weekday.
Wake up between 7 and 8
Breakfast around 830am
Little babies nap 9-11 while bigger kids play outside or quietly inside
Lunch around 1130am
All kids (and sometimes mama) naps 1-3pm
Used to do a snack at 3pm but I cut that out cus he wasn’t eating dinner as well then
Dinner around 430 or 5pm
Bedtime routine starts at 730pm (change diaper, pjs on, drink milk and read books with daddy, brush teeth, get in bed and say prayers) and then he is usually sleeping by 8 or 830
Works great for us now, but it will be really interesting when baby girl gets here!