Our Schedule....

I recently had another request for a post. This time I was asked what my daily schedule looked like. I really enjoyed reading other blogger mommies schedules when I was pregnant & when Matthew was younger to try to get the hang of how to do things, & it definitely helped. Since I'm a first time mom I'm new at this, totally new. Most of the time I just go with the flow, when he wants to eat....he eats, when he wants to sleep...he sleeps. It's really important to get your little ones on a schedule as much as you can, routine is generally a stability factor that will help them later in life, save you some sleep, & know exactly why they are crying. I don't do these exact things, at these exact times every single day, obviously things come up all the time, & as sporadic as I am, you never know what i'm doing till last minute, but here is a little advice on my daily life with a 6 month old that is pretty darn close :)  

Morning

Matthew wakes up in the morning between 7-9 a.m.  Now since we sometimes don't go to bed till 12 or even 2 at the latest, this is kind of the "first" wake up. We feed Matthew a 5 ounce bottle of formula when he first wakes up, he feeds himself with the bottle & we all fall back asleep until at least 11 a.m. I realize after a while, we won't be able to feed him back to sleep, but hey, it works right now, & we enjoy the extra sleep. Around 11 a.m we sit in bed for a while & have "tickle time" like in the picture above, cuddle time, & just sit & socialize with our little man w/ our jammies on, as well as change him. Some times we have to change him when he first wakes up if he is still crying after we feed him because we know he is wet. We do that for 10-20 minutes. Then we dress Matthew & head down stairs to start our day. 

Afternoon

This is all depending on what we have planned for the day (in the picture above we went out to eat for brunch :)) but if we are just staying home then around 11 a.m once we head down stairs, Adam & I are ready to eat breakfast. So we give Matthew another 5 ounce bottle & sit him in the boppy with it on the floor & he feeds himself while we eat something for breakfast. Once Matthew, & Adam & I are done eating around 11:30 a.m its generally play time. We let Matthew sit on his own now, with a boppy behind him (but since he is so mobile he just goes into the crawl stance or falls to his tummy to play) to play with his blocks, or play on the play mat. Matthew will play for about 30 minutes or so before he is ready to be changed or sleep. Matthew will take a 30 minute nap (depending on the noise level it could be shorter or longer) from about 12-12:30 p.m. 

When Matthew wakes up around 12:30 p.m he is ready for a change & I'm ready to give him some solid food. If we wake up earlier in the day we will give him a solid feeding as his breakfast. Depending on the food he will generally eat around 2 ounces of solid food, possibly more if its bananas lol. We have several places we feed him at but we normally feed him in the high chair at the table for this feeding. I like to give him the veggies, or the new food during the day in case he has an allergic reaction to the new food, & so he gets the sweet dessert for dinner (fruit). I'd say I feed him from 12:30- 1 p.m at the latest.  He is sporting his Gator onsie that I made him the other day & our chevron shopping cart cover is a little big for the restraunt high chairs. 

Of course we can't get a nice sunny day all the time in the winter season, but Georgia has been having some lovely days lately. I like to at least take Matthew in the Bjorn even if its a little chilly & take a walk around the neighborhood from 1-2 or 2:30 p.m at the latest. When I have him in the Bjorn I wear a coat that's big on me & sit him in along with his UGGS, a baby hat, pacifier, outfit, coat, & I always hang a burp rag off the front on the Bjorn so he doesn't gnaw on the Bjorn or spit up on it. If it's not chilly we put him in the stroller & I push it down to the park so Matthew can swing. Matthew is always super preoccupied with the "view" & being at the park so we never need to bring toys or anything with us, just as long as we have the pacifier he is good. 

Once we get home from our walk around 2:30 p.m Matthew is ready for a diaper change & a bottle. You'll notice that the solid food never really fills them up, they still want the bottle because they see that as their main meal & the solid food is just a snack. We give him another 5 ounce bottle of formula. It takes him 15-25 minutes to finish his bottle depending on how hungry he is, & after he has finished the bottle he is ready for another 30 minute nap. So that takes us to 3:30 p.m once he has woken up. 3:30 p.m- 6 p.m is a random time, we are either eating dinner & Matthew is playing with his toys,  or riding around the kitchen in his walker, or we are playing with him. At 6 p.m I like to give him another solid food feeding 1-2 ounces of fruit this time. Keep in mind obviously we are changing him during that 3 hour span as well whenever he is fussy. After I give him the solid food feeding, he will probably want his bottle within the next 30 minutes give or take, so around 6:30 p.m i'll give him another 5 ounce bottle of formula & if he doesn't finish it all I'll put it in the fridge for the next feeding or if he wants more i'll give him more. 

Night Time

Once 7 p.m rolls around he isn't normally ready to take a nap again, he will wait to take a nap till maybe even 8, 9 or 10 p.m. Lately we still have a lot of teething going along, so normally we are rushing around trying to find the perfect teething toy that will preoccupy him for a while. He will play with his ball popper, eat some mum mums while walking in his car, jump in his jumper up in our room while we watch TV, crawl around on the floor with his blocks, or toy phones. He will at least go till 9 p.m or so before we will give him another 5 ounce bottle.

Matthew had his first fall off our bed this week & I completely lost it. I had pillows around him & everything, but now that he is pretty mobile by using his head to push him forward, we have to watch him any time we leave him on the bed. He loves to just play with his bucket of toys on the bed or on our bedroom floor, this is generally when daddy is playing video games, & I'm on the computer (which is kind of what were doing right now lol). This was the first sign of him pulling up this week, possible walker before crawler? haha. 

After he drinks his 5 ounce bottle around 9 or 10 p.m its time for bath time. I like to take a bath with him normally, he doesn't fit in our sink anymore with the blooming bath, & he loves the social interaction he gets with Adam & I in the bath with him. Honestly we could be in the bath anywhere from 10 min to an hour. Matthew loves the water, especially when he has his water book & duckies. When he gets out of the bath we put a diaper on him, rub lotion all over him, brush his hair & put his jammies on. 

From 10 or 11 p.m after he is cleaned up from his bath he will either want to sleep or play for at least another 30 minutes. If he is ready to sleep we will swaddle him right after his bath, as in, swaddle his body but not his arms since he rolls over now. We have him sleeping in the nap nanny next to us in the bed still, we have had him in the pack n play a few times it just depends on how we feel that night or how he feels. We will give him his pacifier & turn on the sound machine & let him fall asleep he will sleep till 1 or 2 a.m & Adam & I are still normally awake so we will give him a 5 ounce bottle, change him, & he will go back to sleep till 7-9 a.m when he wakes up for the first time :)


Long Story Short

Now even if we go shopping from 10 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon, or go out to eat for lunch & dinner. The "routine" with feeding, changing & sleeping is pretty close to always the same. He wants a 5 ounce bottle every 2-4 hours, he wants to sleep either right after he eats or 30 minutes after he eats for at least 30 minutes, & he needs to be changed 10-12 times a day. The solid food we like to do in the morning for breakfast, afternoon for lunch, & night time for dinner. But if we don't wake up early we just do two feedings, if we wake up early we do 3. But even will the solid food feedings he is still going to want a 5 ounce bottle every 2-4 hours. We like to give him a bath before bed time because it always helps him sleep & soothes him just like it soothes us adults :) If anyone has any questions feel free to ask!!