Stay at home MOM's whats your daily routine/schedule like? pls share

pinksugar · Feb 19, 2014

STH moms whats your daily routine/schedule like?
I am a sthm of 6 month old baby girl. I dont have any fixed schedule. I feel i need one.
I feel i miss out on many things and lack time management skills.many things left undone and pending and then suddenly i have lots to do and i become insane.
Some people say do all the work when the baby sleeps. but when my baby sleeps i feel tired and i too end up sleeping.
Yes babies take most of our time. but still we can utilize our available time efficiently. There are moms out there who manage it so well.
when i take my baby out for a walk i see other mommies and babies looking so fresh ,glowing,neatly dressed and relaxed.. i feel how do they manage it so well!
what am i doing wrong?
ladies please share..
what all things u do?When you wake up, when you shower, when do u cook,eat, dohouse work,cook for baby, when you watch tv,when do u excercise,when u do any self improvement tasks, how much time u spend with your child(feedind,playing,walking,hanging ard..) & so on. Please share yours so that i get some idea and motivation to improve and do all my duties well to the max possible level.

Rakhii · Feb 19, 2014

Pinksugar, I was at home with my LO until she turned 13 months, so hopefully my schedule will help you.

Everyday she used to wake up between 7:00 AM and 7:30 AM
Then by the time I change her diaper and give her milk, it used to be 8:15 or 8:30. I used to keep her on the playmat and she used to have fun kicking the animals, making sounds etc. In 15 mins, I used to have coffee and breakfast. usually by 9, she used to beady for a short nap. That time, I was still rocking her to sleep. She used to sleep until about 10 AM. meanwhile, I used to take shower.

At 10, I used to give her very light snack (cereal mainly as I had just introduced solids to her). Then we used to go walking. Since i had already showered, I used to feel fresh. She was still at a crawling stage, so, I never used to get her off the stroller. She used to sit and she used to love our nature walks. Everyday we used to go for an hour or so. Someimes I used to call India and talk to them on the way.

By 11:30 usually we are home. I used to give her lunch and she used to sit in the high chair. When i am feeding her lunch was when I used to cook dinner. I make enough dinner to last for next day's lunch. Generally I used to cook one pot meals, so it never used to take more than 30 mins. Basically, by the time I finish feeding her, lunch would be either in the cooker or the oven.

Then we used to play together. she used to nap from 1:30 to 3:30. When she goes to nap, I used o quickly finish my lunch and load the dishwasher. I used to be in bed with her by 2 so I get to nap a little too.

At 5 we used to go for another small walk and I used to show her plants, streams etc. By 5:30 we used to be back. By 6, my DH also used to return home. I generally leave the laundry for weekends or for my husband.
Luckily, he helps me a lot at home. So he used to wash her milk bottles, give me time for myself by taking care of the baby etc.
It wasnt too bad. By 7:30 or 8 PM (even now), she used to go to bed. So, i used to have the evening to myself. She used to sleep until about 12 (even now its the same thing and she is now 2) and then wake up for water or milk.

It was pretty much the same for a very long time until I started working at 13 months.

pinksugar · Feb 19, 2014

rakhii

wow..very nice routine u had. thanks for sharing.
your baby followed the same routine daily thts really good. my baby's is not predictable. even her nap times vary. and her naps are usually only half an hour to 1 hour max. few things that came to my mind.. when did u prepare breakfast for yourself and hubby? and cleaning up house? when u used to bathe baby?
when did u cook food for baby? and washing bottles has to be done so many times a day. one pot meal is good..i too do it somedays but daily it gets boring.
i find cutting veggies takes a lot of time. even i prepare extra dinner to be used for my next day lunch. but while cooking the baby cries and needs attention in between so i am unable to focus and finish of work fast.and cleaning up after also takes so much time. I also find that much of my times goes in pumping...and when my babys awake i am unable to complete one full pump session.. so i wait for her to nap.
wow ur hubby did so much help.mine too does when hes free but most of the time he has office calls to attend when he comes back home.
play gym is really a saver but my baby stays interesed in it only for 10 to 15 mins max. so as soon as i put her in it i try to eat my breakfst,lunch,tea etc fast. like u did.
and now my baby grabs everything and puts it in her mouth. i am afraid to leave her alone to play while i do other work worrying what if she chokes on something.
really thanks to u for writing in detail your routine. i really appreciate u remembering it and sharing here with me.thanks.

Rakhii · Feb 20, 2014

pinksugar said: ↑

rakhii

wow..very nice routine u had. thanks for sharing.
your baby followed the same routine daily thts really good. my baby's is not predictable. even her nap times vary. and her naps are usually only half an hour to 1 hour max.
Pink, Mine also never sleeps for more than 30 mins in the mid-morning naps. In the afternoon too she was sleeping only for 30 mins. But I slowly trained her to sleep longer. Like, she used to wake up but I used to gently rock her/sing to her and let her know that its still nap time. I think it took about 10 days for her to underatns that its still nappy time. Keep the room dark and dont turn the lights up. Just rock her or keep doing what you usually do to put her to nap. It will take more than a week for sure but the pattern will set. That one week is gonna be hard but its worth it.
few things that came to my mind.. when did u prepare breakfast for yourself and hubby? I never prepare breakfast Pink. We stock up on cereal, Oatmeal, fruits and bread and thats all we eat for breakfast during the days when DH is working. So, no preparation time involved at all.
and cleaning up house?
This was the challenging part. I used to make sure the floor on the main level of our home is sweapt and mopped when she goes to bed during the nights. The other rooms clean up was always postponed to the weekends. Actually I did try to keep the home clean but it wasnt working out for me. I used to feel stressed out and often used to wonder if my home will ever be clean again. My husband and I used to fight a lot to because of this...Then one day we had a serious talk and decided that for the next few years, home is not going to be perfect. We just need to live with it. After that understanding from husband, I never really bothered too much about the mess until the weekend/DH's day off.
when u used to bathe baby?
At that age, I was only bathing her once in 3 days. That too in the evenings. I used to oil massage her and then bathe her...maybe about 2 hours before sleep time.
when did u cook food for baby? At that age, she hardly ate anything other than cereal/mashed fruits etc. Eventually when she grew up a bit, I used to cook when DH is home/ still same thing. Sometimes he works night shifts and that's a challenge. That time I cook after she goes to bed in the night.
and washing bottles has to be done so many times a day.
Not really. I had 8 bottles handy. I or my DH used to wash only once a day. We used to quickly rinse with water after she is done drinking but the actual washing is done only once, all together.
one pot meal is good..i too do it somedays but daily it gets boring.
For us it turned out OK. My DH and i went on a diet around that time and we didn't mind eating non-indian stuff for days at a stretch. But what helped save time was planning a meal a week in advance. That gave me some peace of mind as I didnt constantly think about what I am going to make for lunch/dinner.
i find cutting veggies takes a lot of time. even i prepare extra dinner to be used for my next day lunch. but while cooking the baby cries and needs attention in between so i am unable to focus and finish of work fast. Yes, but this problem is not going to end any time soon. lol..mine at 2 years still does this and I have switch off everything and attend to her. Not her fault...lol; I just learned over a period of time that from the time she goes to nap/sleep, she doesnt wake up at least for the next 30 mins. Thats my time and I make the best out of it.
and cleaning up after also takes so much time. I also find that much of my times goes in pumping...and when my babys awake i am unable to complete one full pump session.. so i wait for her to nap.
yes, thats challenging. I wasnt able to breastfeed due to low supply after 3 months though. So, the time you are spending on pumping right now was used in cooking by me.
wow ur hubby did so much help.mine too does when hes free but most of the time he has office calls to attend when he comes back home.
play gym is really a saver but my baby stays interesed in it only for 10 to 15 mins max. so as soon as i put her in it i try to eat my breakfst,lunch,tea etc fast. like u did. A lot of people told me not to get the baby used to TV but I did. It saved my life actually. There were times I needed to go to the bathroom really bad but couldnt because I had the baby to care for. So, I used to put her on the high chair, swtich on her favorite show and used to go relive myself.
and now my baby grabs everything and puts it in her mouth. i am afraid to leave her alone to play while i do other work worrying what if she chokes on something.
Oh no...dont leave her alone...she needs to be in the high chair/swing or some place where she cannot really got out and put something unsafe in mouth.
really thanks to u for writing in detail your routine. i really appreciate u remembering it and sharing here with me.thanks.
Click to expand...

Pink, please see my response in blue above.

cooks2010 · Feb 20, 2014

Nice post, I am also interested in knowing other peoples routine. I am really tired some days and other days rested.

My baby wakes up at 6am most days, after feeding diaper change at 6:30, I put her in the crib where she plays on her own till 7. In that time my husband gets ready for work. I brush my teeth and decide which clothes I and the baby will wear the next day. I then quickly unload the dishwasher, make tea, toast and egg for breakfast.

My husband will bring the baby out to play on the playmate, we have breakfast in the meantime. Sometimes she's OK for 15 min, after that we put her in the swing or if she's hungry I feed her. I eat breakfast while she's feeding. At 8 am I rock her to sleep. She sleeps from 8:30am to either 9 or sometimes 10:30am. In that time I take a shower, have a mini snack (fruit etc..), check emails. If more time allows, I cut vegetables for lunch\ dinner.

Like the other poster, I also plan the menu in advance. So I know which vegetables to cut, dal to soak,boil etc.,. The baby then wakes up, feeds. By 11am or 12am again on the playmate, plays for 30-45 min. Sometimes the TV is on, so will glance or i turn on music\ radio. I then cook lunch prep for dinner or cook dinner. Boil rice, make flour for Roti's, makes sabji, cut salad. If I can I try to have lunch.

Sometimes the baby does get cranky in between, I will either feed or put baby to sleep, then have late lunch at 1pm. After that I quickly finish cooking, clean the kitchen. I then go to sleep. Usually my baby sleeps from 1, 2 pm till 3,4 pm. I also sleep then. Sometimes if the baby wakes up, I will do a short feeding in between or gently rock baby to sleep. At 4-5pm we are done with feeding, diaper change. I will either give a oil massage, wash cloth bath or when my husband gets back from work at 6pm give a tub bath.

I will feed again at 6pm then on playmat or with husband. I will finish making dinner, Roti's etc.. My husband makes juice, loads dishwasher , checks mail etc.. Sometimes at 6 pm we will go to temple, mall, grocery shopping etc,. Baby will sleep in the car. When we get home I feed, by 7:30 - 8 pm we are ready for dinner. We keep baby on playmate or swing or if fallen asleep then on gaadi.

Again baby wakes up or feeds at 9 or 10pm. We watch TV at that time and go to sleep at 10 - 10'30pm. Sometimes if I am tired I will go to sleep as soon as baby goes to sleep at 9 or 10pm, my husband watches TV alone.

Again I feed at 1,2 or 3am and again at 5,6 or 7 am. The days when my baby wakes up late at 7am, my husband makes breakfast if I am feeding.

The most challenging times are the day times from 10am to 3pm when I am really trying to keep the baby asleep for longer than 30 min or trying to put the baby to sleep, which is difficult if I am hungry. Even mom gets cranky when she's hungry .

Hope this helps.

Cooks

pinksugar · Mar 5, 2014

rakhii

so nice of u to reply prompltly and in detail. sorry for replying late.
i was not able to log in IL for few days. I liked a lot of point of yours.
the extending nap idea is great. i tried one day it worked and gave me extra time to take care of other things. but today it dint work.no rocking,dim lights anything helped. what u used to do to make her sleep?
we also started having shortcut breakfasts in weekdays.
really saves time in the morning. my pumping output has reduced a lot now so slowing it down and that is giving me some time now.sad for the baby but some relief for the mom.
what was your babys fav tv show?
Is high chair uselful? u used to feed her on it? she enjoyed that? we r thinking whether to buy it. as of now we hv the rocking chair in which i put her while going to bathroom.she stays there max 10 mins then starts screaming. u r so right whenver we have to use the bathroom urgently the baby needs our attention.lol.
u used to cook baby food and store in fridge for the nexr day? i am thinkng of doing this as its very difficukt to cook in small quantity daily.hope it shd be fine to give baby previusly made food?
thanks so much for ansewring and simplifing things for me.

pinksugar · Mar 5, 2014

cooks

thanks for sharing your routine.
wow u r managing to make full proper lunch and dinner.thats great.
u r right Even mom gets cranky when she's hungry and when sleepy too.

cooks2010 · Mar 7, 2014

Thanks pink. I also put my baby to sleep while rocking. I have a rocking chair next to the crib in our bedroom. As soon the baby rubs eyes, stares in one direction and becomes sleepy I know its sleep time for baby. As soon as I enter the bedroom and sit on the rocking chair the baby also knows its sleep time. I always put baby to sleep in rocking chair , try to keep same routine, except at night when baby falls asleep at breast.

Sometimes baby will fuss while trying to sleep, I gently him or say shhh...in a slow rhythm. At times I use white noise, there are many apps and also you tube videos, it really calms the baby down.

Regarding feeding the baby, gasve you tried just giving slices of fruit vegetables, it really keeps babies busy. A friend of mine tried this, its called " baby led weaning" there are videos on you tube of 6 month old eating by themselves with there hands, its fun to watch

Cooks.

Rakhii · Mar 7, 2014

Ladies, I know your LO's are still infants, so I am suggesting this. If its possible, try to not put them to sleep while drinking milk. Let them finish milk and then you can take the bottle/breast out and then put them to sleep. I made a mistake of putting he to sleep while feeding and even at 2 years, I am still finding it very hard to break that habit.

cooks2010 · Mar 8, 2014

Hi Rakhi, thanks for the suggestion. For me, my night time routine involves feeding baby, then baby delatches, I burp and put in crib. Then baby will fuss for about 5-10 min, will pass gas, wave arms / legs and fall asleep on its own. Rarely does the baby fall asleep in the crib within a minute.

Where you breastfeeding till 2 years of age? Also, you said your baby formed a habit, did you mean he wouldnt sleep unless you fed him at night and wouldnt sleep on his own?

thanks,
Cooks.