Getting into a routine or schedule when you have a newborn isn’t easy. Then when you have a toddler as well, getting the family into a routine that works for everyone can seem even more difficult. In this post, I break down my methods for getting our family into a daily routine with a toddler and a newborn using a block schedule. This is what has worked best for us!
I actually originally learned the method of “block scheduling” from kind of an unexpected place. In my early twenties, I worked for Victoria’s Secret for two years. It was one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had and I’m thankful I had the experiences I did working there. Our days, shifts, and selling strategies all revolved around two hour “segments”.
I found like I really liked working in this way and that it helped divide the day up into more manageable increments. It also helped to stay focused on the sales goals and strategies for that block of time. I felt that helped make me work more efficiently.
I also applied this method in nursing school for studying. It has also worked well when applied to my cleaning routines. Our days can just seem really overwhelming if you look at them from start to finish. But if you can divide them up into more bite sized pieces, it really helps things to feel more manageable.
I will say one thing that made a tremendously helpful impact on us staying in a routine with our second baby was the fact that our toddler was already in an established routine to begin with. We were able to just incorporate the newborn’s schedule into what we were already all accustomed to. This was probably what helped us most to successfully create a schedule with a toddler and newborn.
Below is a breakdown of how a typical day can look for us. Not everyday looks exactly like this, but it’s a general outline. I’m a huge fan of having flexible routines over sticking to a strict schedule. This is just an example of our routine in the form of a daily block schedule with a toddler and a newborn.
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8AM-10AM
Mommy Morning “Me Time”
I know a lot of people, maybe even the majority, suggest starting the day for you and your kids pretty early. 7AM seems to be a common time I often see. But for me and my family, starting our day later has worked so much better.
I’ve always been more of a night owl and so has my husband. Then once I actually started working night shift as a nurse, I was super thankful my daughter was in a routine of sleeping in. Any time I tried to implement starting our days earlier, we were all crankier. It just wasn’t worth it for us. So from the time my first daughter was a baby, we’ve implemented starting our days around 10AM. I’m sure that’ll change in the future. But for now, it’s working beautifully for us.
Being the night owl that I am, I’m not the best about waking up before my kids. In fact I RARELY ever woke up before my first daughter when she was a baby. But now I do find that it’s nice if I can manage to wake up a little while before my kids.
I use this time to do my “Miracle Morning” routine. I started implementing this routine after reading this book when I was pregnant with my second daughter. Essentially, the Miracle Morning can be summarized by the acronym SAVERS. This stands for silence (meditation, prayer), affirmations (I add in a gratitude list), visualization (short and long term), exercise, reading, and scribing (writing).
If I finish doing those things and my kids still haven’t woken up, I’ll go ahead and drink my cup of coffee and open the blinds to let in some light. I feel like this helps boost my mood and it seems to do the same for the kids as well.
If I STILL have some time I’ll try to do my morning cleaning routine or get ready for the day. I typically only do one or the other and then do whichever one I didn’t get to later in the morning.
10AM-12pm
Bathroom and Breakfast Time
This time block consists of everyone waking up, getting their diaper/bathroom and feeding/water needs met, and getting ready for the day.
Sometime during the 10 o’clock hour is when my babies typically wake up for the day. Sometimes the toddler will wake up first and other times it’s the baby. Depending on which one wakes up kind of determines what tasks I start the day with.
If the baby wakes up first, I’ll nurse her and change her diaper and try to get her content before my toddler wakes up. When the toddler wakes up, I immediately change her diaper, get her breakfast, and we typically will watch an early learning TV show.
I try to get the baby to take her first nap of the day around 11, or about an hour after she wakes up. While she’s napping, I try to quickly get some things done that I didn’t get to if I woke up before the kids. Then I try to spend some quality one on one time with my toddler. This typically looks like building blocks together, doing a Bible lesson, reading a book, or doing some toddler learning time.
12pm-2pm
Independent Play and Lunch Time
This segment in our daily block schedule for our toddler and newborn typically consists of the toddler having independent play time in her room and eating lunch, and me nursing and changing the baby.
Independent play is something I really try to implement from a very young age. This has been extremely helpful throughout the years in allowing me to get things done and have some time to myself. It’s also helped my toddler be able to use her imagination and build her skills and independence. Now it’s super beneficial since having a newborn! Independent play time for my toddler allows me to be able to have focused time with the baby and tend to her immediate needs more easily.
Once the baby has been changed and fed and is content, I make a quick lunch for my toddler and then get them both ready for a nap. If we need to go somewhere that day or the weather is nice, we may go on a walk or play on the trampoline for a little while. If so, I’ll just push nap time back a little while. Again, when creating a “schedule” with a toddler and a newborn, flexibility is a necessity. For those occasions, I’ll typically wear the newborn in the wrap carrier to prevent her from becoming overtired.
2pm-4pm
NAP TIME!
Every mom’s favorite time of day right? So far, for the most part, I’ve been able to get both my toddler and newborn into a routine of napping at the same time. This has been a HUGE plus since having baby #2! Getting your kids to nap at the same time is one of my top recommendations when implementing any type of routine or schedule with a toddler and newborn.
It helped that we already had our toddler in a pretty established daily routine before we had our second baby. Nap time already was typically around the same time everyday. Then once the second baby came along, we tried to stay very consistent with our toddler’s schedule, and tried working the newborn’s routine around it. Doing this has seemed to work really well!
During this glorious time of both babies napping, it’s really the prime time for getting things done or taking some time for yourself. During the early days if the newborn is waking up several times throughout the night, this may be great time for you to take a nap yourself! Do not feel an ounce of guilt about that either. The housework can wait. If you’re exhausted, it’s crucial that you prioritize getting some sleep when you can. Everyone will be better off for it.
This is also a great time to do some cleaning. You can try getting to any of the things you weren’t able to get to earlier in the day. Or simply do something that you enjoy! We as moms give so much of ourselves to care for our families and households. It’s SO important that we also try to prioritize taking some time to fill our own cups.
Lately during naptime, I’ve been taking a shower and getting ready for the day if I haven’t already been able to do that. Then I use that time to work on this blog. Even though that is a form of “work” for me, it’s something I enjoy so it really does still feel like “me time”.
4pm-6pm
Daddy’s Home! And the Witching Hours Begin
This is typically a pretty busy time of day for most households. For a lot of families, this is around the time Daddy is coming home and it’s usually also dinner time. This is also typically when the dreaded “witching hours” for newborns begin. This has been the case with both of my daughters as newborns.
Around 4 o’clock I will nurse and change the baby. Then I usually go ahead and put her in the wrap carrier at least until my husband gets home from work. I have just found this to be the easiest way to get dinner made and take care of my toddler while simultaneously keeping the baby content.
Normally during this time I try to have my toddler either independently playing, or if she won’t go for that, then watching an educational TV show. I’m a pretty big fan of using TV to occupy the toddler when you also have a newborn. In my opinion, as long as it’s mostly educational content, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. Again, no mom guilt. You have to give yourself lots of grace during this season of trying to establish a routine or schedule with a toddler and a newborn.
My husband typically gets home around 5:30. This is usually a pretty loud, exciting time in our house. Without fail the toddler squeals with excitement and yells, “Daddy’s home!!” Then the dog usually gets involved and starts barking, which sometimes makes the newborn start crying. It’s a fun time! But we’re all happier once Daddy is home. After he changes out of his work clothes, we typically try to sit down to dinner soon after.
Dinner and Learning Time
We normally try to eat around 6 o’clock. Either I cook dinner, or my husband will pick us up something on his way home from work. Getting our toddler to eat what we are eating is usually somewhat of a struggle, which I’m sure you can relate with. But we still make it a point to try to all sit together as a family at dinnertime and we at least offer her dinner. If she eats it, great! If not, we don’t stress about it much. But we also don’t really offer her any other food choices.
After dinner, I will typically nurse the baby and then clean up the kitchen while my husband spends some time with the girls. As long as the baby isn’t being too fussy or needy, I also try to use this time to do a quick evening cleaning routine. Most nights, either me or my husband will do some learning time with our toddler. This consists of us going over some educational poster boards or using dry erase markers on her easel. Sometimes we even just do a quick review of the alphabet and have her count from 1-20. But doing a little bit of learning time most days has really paid off and she truly enjoys learning. This also helps her to feel special getting that individualized attention from Mommy and/or Daddy which is important during this season.
8pm-10pm
Baths and Bedtime Routines
We used to have our toddler in bed around 8 o’clock. As she has gotten a little older and needs a little less nighttime sleep, we’ve extended her bedtime to around 9 or 10 most nights. If she doesn’t nap during the day, we may move it up to around 8. Again, I know a lot of families have their kids go to bed earlier, but this is just what works well for us currently.
We give our toddler a bath almost every night. Newborns don’t need bathed as often so we really only bathe the baby about 3 nights a week. Many times my husband will either give our toddler a bath and get her ready for bed, or tend to the baby while I do so. If it’s a night when they both need baths, what we have found works well is to put the infant tub in the sink and bathe the baby in there and bathe the toddler in the bath tub. This is normally a team effort. One of us will typically run the baths and undress the toddler while the other undresses the baby. Likewise, one of us will get the newborn out of the bath and get her dressed while the other does the same for the toddler.
Once dressed, one of us will brush our toddler’s teeth and hair, help her clean up her room if needed, maybe read her a story, and then put her to bed. Since having the new baby, our toddler has had some sleep regressions, so some times are easier than others to get her to sleep. If she’s really fighting it, we may let her watch 30 minutes of a show or movie and she will normally fall asleep to that. Other times just singing her a lullaby and scratching her back for a minute calms her down and then she can fall asleep on her own. At 2.5 she is still in a crib so we have not yet dealt with her trying to come to our room at night.
As far as the bedtime routine goes for the newborn, once she’s dressed we will put her Owlet sock on, swaddle her, I’ll nurse her, and then lay her down to sleep in her bassinet in our room. We do use a sound machine for both our daughters and that REALLY helps them to sleep better.
10pm-Midnight
Adult Time
Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve always been more of a night owl. I rarely go to bed much earlier than midnight. And I personally love to have those couple of hours at night, kid free, to spend time with my husband or do something for myself. During this time my husband and I may each do our own things for awhile, such as him gaming and me reading or working on blogging. Other times we may have a little at home date night or take a bath together with a glass of wine. We do try to at least spend SOME quality time with each other most nights.
If it’s a night where I’m really tired though, I find that the best form of self care I can give myself is more sleep. Especially those first few weeks with a newborn, getting sleep when you can is at the top of the priority list. But as time goes on and you begin to settle into a more consistent routine or schedule with your toddler and newborn, this can be a great time to do things you enjoy.
For you, maybe that’s catching up on some episodes of your favorite show. Maybe you love to read and this is one of the only uninterrupted times of the day you can do that. Or maybe even this is the best or only time of day for you to fit in a work out or yoga session. Whatever it is that gives you joy and helps you to feel like YOU, apart from the mom aspect of you, try to make time for it. You’ll feel more equipped to give your best self as a mother if you take the time to care for yourself.
I hope this post has helped give you some inspiration and ideas on how a typical daily routine or schedule with a toddler and newborn can look. Leave me a comment below if there’s any other topics you’d like me to go more in depth on in a future post.
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