So because Cameron goes to daycare, we don’t have one single day in the life routine. We have a weekday (mostly) and a weekend routine since she spends a good chunk of her day during the week at daycare where I’m sure they do lots of activities of all kinds of varieties. As well as snack time, food time, and nap time.
Once again, while this may not be a perfect routine, or the right routine in some people’s mind, it is what works for us. We don’t claim to be perfect, we just attempt to keep Cameron happy and healthy as much as we possibly can.
Weekday:
Our weekday routines normally start a bit earlier as we have to get Cameron and daddy out the door to daycare by 7am. I make sure to pack her lunch either the night before or before we wake her up so it’s ready to go.
6:30am: Wake up Cameron (Now I know what you’re thinking, you never wake a sleeping baby, and some days she does wake herself up before we need to go get her, but because my husband and I work east coast schedules on the west coast, our days are already in full swing by this time, and they need to leave the house by 7am to make it to daycare so my husband can get to the office) she may wake up way before this if she’s having a bad night.
6:40am: Breakfast- we try to make sure she eats a little something before she leave so that she doesn’t get hungry on the way to daycare. Whatever she doesn’t eat, gets sent with her and she finishes it once she arrives.
7:00am: Daycare- now this is the time they try to leave by, unless there is a situation in which someone has a late conference call, or she’s putting up a fight. But she absolutely adores her daycare so most days she’s ready and waiting at the door.
5:00-5:15pm: Dinner- depending on when they arrive home from daycare and whatever is on the menu we try to keep dinner around the same time every night. I want her food to digest well before she goes to bed.
6:30pm: Nighttime routine– I’ve written a post about her nighttime routine and what that entails. But we try to get this started by 6:30 so she knows it’s time to wind down and get ready for bed.
7:15pm: Bed- Bedtime is normally between 7-7:30 depending on how much of a fight she puts up and how much energy we have been able to get out of her. She doesn’t always go straight to sleep, but she’s able to put herself down without needing our help.
Weekend:
6:30-7:am: Wake up– On weekends we do not wake Cameron up unless it’s absolutely necessary. It also gives me time to get up and enjoy a cup of coffee before the day begins. She typically gets up sometime between 6:30-7:00, although there are times that it’s earlier or later than that.
7:15am: Breakfast– I try to wait about a half hour or so after she wakes up to serve breakfast just so she can fully wake up.
8:00-11:30am: Morning play– these are rough estimate times based on what our day holds as far as errands, outside activities, etc. But this can include, reading, coloring, playing with her toys, pretend-play, listening to music, or watching a little tv.
11:30am: Lunch– because we try to keep her on a similar timed schedule as daycare we have lunch about 11:30. This gives her time to eat and digest before nap time.
12-1:30/2:00pm: Nap- She is every shocking us with how long her nap will be. Some days it’s 45min, some days it’s 3 hours. Right now it’s standing about 2 hours a day.
2:00-5:00pm: Afternoon play- once again this can be reading, singing, coloring, playing with toys, if the weather is nice we go outside, more music, flash cards.
5:00pm: Dinner– Try to stick with the same dinner time as during the week.
6:30pm: Nighttime routine- see above for night time routine
7:15pm: Bed- see above for bedtime
Now as I said this isn’t perfect, some days we don’t make it outside, or lunch is a bit earlier, or we put the tv on a little longer than I originally wanted. We are still learning what works for us and Cameron, but just trying to maintain some sort of routine is really helping us out. Also as a side note, from when I originally decided to write this, Cameron no longer goes to daycare, but stays home and is watched by my mom (did I mention how awesome my mom is, cause she’s amazing) so Cameron’s schedule isn’t exactly the same, but we have tried to keep her as close to what she was used too as possible. Most of our schedule now looks more like the weekend schedule than the weekday schedule. Although since she’s at “Grammy daycare” we do consider her still going to daycare somewhat. It’s just in our home.
Do you have a routine that works for you?
