I am still here. Just had a busy few weeks with the visit of my mother (grammies), who hadnt see her grandson since his birth. We had a great time. I have just been trying to get back in the groove without her and been working on getting my little ones routine going.
I am a firm believer in routine and consistancy with young children. It makes their day and yours run a whole lot smoother. They really count on it and enjoy knowing what comes next. I have been a nanny for about 5 years and prior to that I taught preschool for 3 years. I have definately seen how routine can make or break your day. Now that my little man has hit 4 months I am starting to establish a daily routine with him following along with the waldorf ideas. I know that he may seem young to start on a routine, but I think the younger the better.
We have had a daily routine in place for a few weeks now, but we have been struggling with the bedtime routine. The routine was a little out of whack for a few weeks while grandma was visiting. You know how that goes, but now we are starting to work more on it.
This is a look at how our day plays out right now at almost 4 months...
Little D has been waking at about 7:30 am and he has his first feeding at about 7:45 am after a little play time in bed with mommy.
At 8 am we are up and I am getting him dressed. While getting him dressed I recite Waldorf inspired verse:
-"Good morning Dear Earth, Good morning Dear Sun, Good morning trees and flowers everyone, Good morning dear animals and birds on the tree, Good morning to you and goodmorning to me."
I usually get a nice big smile from him or a giggle.
After that I eat breakfast. Little D sits in his baby bjorn bouncy seat or on my lap while I eat.
When I am done with breakfast we spend a little more time together before he takes a morning nap.
Morning nap happens about 9 or 9:15am. We go into his room for nap. I read a story to him, preferable the same one every day right now. I sing him a little nap song ,which goes like this
I love you Darwin o yes I do, I dont love anyone as much as you, expect for daddy I love him too, oh Darwin I love you.
Then put his lulluby cd on and he falls asleep within 10 mins.
After first nap I get him up, always with a smile, so he know I am happy to see him. Then I change his diaper and then give him a second feeding of morning at about 10:30 or 11 am.
Ususally after nap I will have a snack and then we will head outside for morning walk. We like to take a walk around the pond to look at all the ducks and birds, or we walk to library or this is the time we run our errands.
When we get back from our walk it is time for Darwin to have a little bit of tummy time on his sheepskin, which he does not like, but is getting better at. I usually put out a mirror for him to see himself and a few simple toys for him to try to grab. He especially loves his playsilks.
Tummy time lasts about 10 mins , then I roll him on his back for a little bit. At this point I try to let him play for a little bit on his own. I think it is very important that he learns to play on his own without always relying on me for entertainment.
I may also put him in the wrap to get somethings done around the house.
At 12 pm I make lunch Darwin sits with me again or in bouncy. After lunch we hang out in his room for a bit. He has another feeding at around 1, a diaper change and then I repeat nap time routine. Sometimes he is ready to go down by 12:30pm.
After 2nd nap which sometimes is usually an hour and a half to two hours, he wakes up and I have a second snack, while he sits with me. At this time it is about 3. We are getting ready for daddy to come home from work. Darwin has a feeding at about 4 pm before daddy gets home.
When daddy gets here Darwin is ready to see him . Together they have music time, which lasts about 10 to 20 mins, while I am getting dinner ready.
We eat dinner around 5:30. We have a verse we say at dinner as well. It is
Earth who gives to us this food, Sun, who makes it ripe and good. Dear sun, dear Earth, by you we live, our loving thanks to you we give.
After dinner little D sleeps for 30 mins in his bouncy seat. After waking he eats again usually at about 6:30 pm and then we take a nice family walk.
From about 7:30 to 8:30 he plays again on his mat, or hangs out with daddy again watching him work.
8:30 we start his bath. We are still putting him down a little later than I would like but he doesnt sleep very long at night so I try to give him last feeding at 9 or 9:15 pm.
Bathtime routine is bath, lay him on our bed sing some songs, give him a massage, and put on his pjs. Then my husband gives him a bottle (the only one of the day).
When he's done with the bottle I bring him into his room, close the blinds, read him a story, put on his music and turn out the lights. He will sleep usually only until 1 am. We are still working on his nightime, but he is breastfeed and seems to want to eat more at night.
I know that the routine can change and there are those days when things just dont work out this way. For the most part though they do and things just fall into place. It helps everyones day run a lot smoother.
No comments:
Post a Comment