This is a follow up to my previous routine with a 12 month old posts. I recommend reading those first two posts before this one.
As many of you know, I am a full time homemaker with a one year old to care for 24/7. As a homemaker, I am always fascinated by and interested in other people’s routines and ways of managing life, especially those with children. So, I wanted to share a bit of our routine for those like me!
The bottom line is…
Children are a lot of work. They require a lot of time and energy. So, many parents are on edge with anticipation for the brief moments of freedom when their child sleeps. The few hours before bedtime that parents get can be crucial to their sanity.
Please do not parent shame in the comments. If you have any tips that are kind and presented without shame, that is fine. But please do not criticize the way we raise our baby. We are only human, and we do what is best for our Stinky.
Our Current Morning Routine
5:30pm – 6:00pm
After playing and reading books, Stinky has a bath, brushes her teeth, and gets a bottle of oatmilk and formula (we are weaning her from formula). She is still very attached to a bottle before bed, but we are working on it.
I will listen to an audiobook while I hold Stinky in the dark with a white noise machine on after her bottle until she is drowsy. I put her down in the crib as soon as she is half-lidded and relaxed. She usually goes down pretty quick unless she is teething, going through a leap, or still hungry. I aim to have her asleep by 6:00pm but no later than 6:30pm.
6:00pm-8:00pm
Unfortunately, Stinky wakes up early in the morning (usually 6am or earlier), so I don’t have long after she goes to bed for myself. After she goes to sleep, I cast the baby camera to the kitchen Google Hub Max so that I can watch her while I make dinner and finish any chores.
Hubby is usually home around 6:30/7:00pm. We will have dinner, chat about our days, and do the dishes. If we have laundry to put away, this is when we do it.
8:00pm
After dinner and chores are done, hubby and I head upstairs to watch a video or two on YouTube. I will often read or write before bed while he watches more videos. When I am ready to wind down for sleep, I take some sleep drops and practice my Spanish on Duolingo before laying in bed recalling all the “wins” of the day.
9:30pm
I try to go to sleep before 10:00pm, but that has been more difficult than I would like the last few months. Hubby usually plays video games in the home office after I go to bed. If I can’t sleep, I will lay in the dark (for hours sometimes) until sleep overcomes me.
That’s it!
Stinky usually wakes up several times throughout the night from nightmares or just babbling in her sleep, so I wake up a lot during the night and struggle with insomnia. Some nights, I wake up just an hour or two after I fall asleep and can’t fall back into sleep for 30-50 minutes. Sometimes that happens every hour or two. Even if Stinky sleeps through the night, I hardly ever do. Life with young children is exhausting, and we have it pretty easy! Stinky is an excellent sleeper.
Pragmastery 