The Toddler Schedule…..
So you finally survived the baby stage…Just when you think you’ve got this parenting thing down pat – your baby is now a cruising toddler and decides to drop a nap…Before you freak out – like I did – know that your new schedule and your childs new schedule will be one that will make you both much happier…Why?
Your baby is growing up! Your baby is entering the toddler stage…this adorable waddling little guy is as busy as a bee getting into just about everything and wants to see and do everything. Throw in a curve ball and try and take them away from their “new” thing and you will have a tantrum on your hands….AND the more “up-in-the-air” their day is – you can say bye-bye to a normal sleep regimen!
It took me ‘til my daughter was 13 months old and me being a zombie to realize that while I was running on my hamster wheel every day doing my “thing”…my daughter was all over the place. She didn’t have a daily routine…she slept when she wanted to (or when it was convenient for me!)– She ate when I thought she should be hungry…and took classes that I thought she would like no matter what the time of the day was.
Well – you could say that my husband and I out of nowhere became sleep deprived and had a very whiney child on our hands…I must have taken her to the pediatricians office every week for 4 weeks telling them that there must be something wrong with my daughter – I said she must be sick – she is reverting back to being an infant – not sleeping – crying all the time and she seems like she is in pain.
They kept saying no – she’s fine – she’s just teething. My husband jokes with me that we will blame every mood swing on teething til she’s in her teens!
So – after speaking with our sleep gurus (www.dreamteambaby.com), we realized that the reason why she was acting like this is that she was craving routine…I am known by my friends and family to be the fly by night kind of gal – whatever comes my way – I deal with. While you too may be that way – your child has no concept developmentally of time passing – so they measure their lives by the order of events in it.
Setting a daily routine:
It’s best to write down and map out your day.
Every activity that your child does should be done every day at the same time.
A Sample schedule for a 1yr old can be:
7:30am: wake up
8:30am: breakfast
10:00am: Snack
10:00am-12:00pm: playtime/classes
12:00pm: lunch
12:30pm: nap
2:30pm: wake up
3:15pm: snack
3:30-6:00: playtime/classes
6:00pm: dinner
6:30pm: bath
7:00pm – book/milk/wind down time
7:30pm – sleep
Getting your child to adjust to a new schedule can take up to 2 weeks. You will see that your child is much happier and much more cooperative when they know whats coming up next.
It’s funny – if I am running 5 minutes behind schedule taking my time cleaning up dinner – I will find my daughter in the bathroom waiting for her bath…or when its time for bed – she will turn on her sound machine…It’s really funny how they pick up on things..they are a lot smarter than we think…
So bottom line:
Toddlers love routines…they need routine in their lives to make them feel safe and secure.