Switching from Baby schedule to Toddler schedule
You spend months figuring out the perfect schedule to keep your baby’s day consistent, but out of nowhere, things start to change. Maybe nursing or bottle feedings have dropped to a lesser amount so naps and other meals get slightly shifted around. That’s okay! This happens because your baby is growing and their needs are changing. It can happen a few times during the first year, right up to the age of 10-12 months when baby is more on the move. (This age isn’t considered “toddler stage” yet, but your baby is already displaying characteristics of an older version of themselves and learning to become just like the rest of the family, like sitting for meals, standing, and trying to walk). This is the time when your life gets that much easier because the way your whole day revolved around your baby’s schedule is going to forever change.
This is where I’m finding myself now with Isabella. It’s like I’m learning from scratch with her because my last baby was 5 years prior and a lot of the scheduled part of Jackson’s baby stage is a complete blur. He was a different baby to begin with. Plus, life is too busy with a baby baby to remember every detail that gets you through the hard times.
So do you ever feel like you’re struggling with this transition? Making subtle changes in your day and sticking to it will make it easier. This is a milestone no one ever tells you about because it happens so fast.
Below I’ll share the changes I made to Isabella’s daytime routine and how I’m switching her from an old schedule to a new one.
Old schedule:
8:00am- wake up, play time
8:30am- bottle feeding, playtime
9:45am- sit down for breakfast
10:45am- nap time routine starts
11:00am- asleep
12:30pm- bottle feeding, playtime
2:00pm- snack, more playtime
3:30pm- bottle feeding
3:45pm- nap time routine starts
4:00pm- asleep
4:45pm- wake, snack, play
6:00pm- bottle feeding
6:30pm- snack or dinner
7:00pm- playtime with daddy and Jackson
7:20pm- bedtime routine
7:45pm- asleep
New schedule:
8:00am- wake up, play time
8:30am- bottle feeding, play time
9:30am- sit down for breakfast
10:30pm- nap time routine
11:00am- asleep
12:30pm- wake up, bottle feeding
1:30pm- sit down for lunchtime. Bigger feeding
3:30pm- bottle feeding
3:45pm- nap time routine starts
4:00pm- asleep
4:45pm- wake up
5:00pm- sit down for dinner with us
Earlier feeding
7:00pm- bottle feeding. Later feeding
7:20pm- bedtime routine starts
7:45pm- asleep
I started noticing that Isabella was pretty hungry after her 2nd nap, and somehow I thought she just needed a snack to get her to her next bottle. But it perfectly lined up with our dinner time anyways, so I figured she just needed to sit for dinner with us instead of having all these random snack times.
When it’s hard to make that switch
Sometimes we want to hang on to what has worked for so long, even when it doesn’t anymore. Because babies change so frequently, we have to change with them. And now that Isabella can handle more food, soon starting daycare, and noticing our meal schedules, it only makes sense that she start having a more realistic one herself. This way she knows and understands our meal times and I won’t feel like my life revolves around her schedule. It’s also a definite sign that my baby is growing up!
This new schedule will be the one that lasts much longer until her naps go from 2-1. That’s a blog post for later this year!
Update
Now that Isabella is going to a babysitter twice a week (so I can work in my home salon) she very quickly transitioned herself from 2 naps to 1. Thanks to the older toddlers in her daycare, she had to learn to adapt to their schedule in order to not miss out on snack time or play.
Her first nap was getting slightly pushed to later, so her second nap was getting ruled out all together. I would pick her up around 3:15pm, give her a bottle, and rush her down for nap #2, but her first nap would run late, so she wouldn’t fall asleep until 4:30, so her bedtime would be later. This was not good. She wasn’t tired enough for bedtime anymore. I knew it was time to drop her second nap.
So thankfully, with child care, Isabella has been able to, not only have a later nap, but nap for a longer stretch. This made it easier to skip that second nap and still make it to bedtime without getting over tired. Her 7:30pm bedtime was pushed back to 7:00pm so she didn’t fall asleep too late.
Her new schedule looks like this
This is at home with me
Morning wake up: 8:00am
Bottle: 8:15am
Breakfast: 9:00am
Play or Walk: 10:00am-11:30am
Nap: 12:00pm-1:30pm
Bottle: 1:45pm
Lunch: 2:00pm
Play and pick up Jackson from school: 3:00pm
Snack and bottle: 3:30pm
Dinner: 5:00pm-6:00pm
(Some nights) Bath time: 6:30pm
Play and wind down, last bottle: 7:00pm
Bedtime: 7:15pm