Our Schedule - toddler + 2 month old

Something I always enjoy reading are sample schedules or other people's daily schedules, so I want to share that with you today.

I started a pretty strict schedule with Judd around 1 month, because I could not function without it. Jacob and I have grown so used to knowing what to expect that it was strange and, quite frankly, not working for us to not have a schedule anymore.

I also felt like I was spending all my days rocking Judd to sleep for naps and only getting 30-45 minute naps out of him. That wasn't working either, mostly because I cannot spend 30 minutes rocking him to sleep while Jacob plays in the living room by himself. God only knows what he could (and did) get into! Plus I'm a firm believer in the effects of overstimulation and overtiredness.

I had already done loads of sleep research with Jacob, so I kinda refreshed myself and decided what path we were going to take.

I love the adjustable schedules from Moms on Call and have heard tons of success stories of babies sleeping through the night by like 9 weeks, so I knew I wanted to go with that schedule. And I respect and understand the sleep training methods of Babywise, especially since I saw firsthand what bad sleep habits can do to a baby (ahem, Jacob). 

So with that little background, here's our current schedule. This is best case scenario. Some days we follow this to a T and other days I'm tapping out when dad gets home at 4:30. I've also noticed that Judd is ready to extend his feeding times to 3.5 hours, so we'll be changing things up very soon.

2am: Judd wakes up for the first time to eat. I feed him, change his diaper, re-swaddle him and put him back down.

6am: Judd wakes up again to eat. Like before, I feed him, change his diaper, re-swaddle him and put him back down.
7:30-8am: Jacob wakes up. After waking up myself, cleaning up and changing clothes, I go in and get Jacob up, change his diaper and clothes and bring him out to the living room for breakfast and milk.
8-8:30am: Judd wakes up. I change his diaper and bring him out to the living room.
(If Jacob has school, I try to feed Judd a little bit during this time before we leave. Otherwise, we play with Judd for a bit.)

9am: feed Judd while we watch cartoons (I try very hard to keep Judd on a 3-hour feed schedule)

9:30-10am: playtime with big brother, either on the playmat or in my arms

10am: Judd goes down for his first nap. I always change his diaper and put on lots of butt paste before naps. Swaddle + white noise + dark room = recipe for success!

10:10am: I pump, get Jacob to finish his breakfast, and clean up breakfast

11-12am: one-on-one playtime with Jacob. I also try to make Jacob's lunch at the end of this time, so he can graze on it for the hour.

12pm: Judd wakes up (or I wake him up, I only allow naps to go 2 hours). Diaper change and bring him out to the living room. 

12:05pm: feed Judd while we watch cartoons and Jacob eats lunch

12:30-1pm: playtime with big brother

1pm: Judd goes down for another nap. Diaper, swaddle, white noise, dark room. 

1:10-1:30pm: Jacob and I watch Thomas while he finishes his lunch. This is something we've done for almost a year now, good cuddle time!

1:30pm: Jacob goes down for his nap.

1:35pm: I make lunch for myself and do anything I need to do that can't be done while Jacob is awake (crafts, blog, etc.)

2:15pm: Jacob is usually up after 45-60 minutes, so I get him up, change his diaper and we come back out to the living room. I continue doing things I need to do (laundry, cleaning, etc.) and then make him a snack. 

3pm: Judd wakes up. I change his diaper and bring him out to the living room. 

3:05pm: feed Judd while we watch cartoons

3:30-4pm: playtime with big brother

4pm: Judd goes down for his afternoon nap

4:10-4:30pm: I am usually drained by this point, so I'll throw the iPad at Jacob or attempt to clean up all his toys.

4:30pm: dad gets home! Party! Jacob usually tags along with Josh for awhile and I sit on the couch and recover from the day. Haha!

5:30pm: I wake up Judd for his "supper" feed. Josh usually starts dinner. 

6-6:30pm: playtime with big brother and daddy while mom finishes dinner and plates it. Jacob starts eating dinner. 

6:30pm: Judd goes down for his last nap of the day, this is usually a catnap (unless he's slept bad all day).

6:30pm: we eat dinner 

7pm: start a Bubble Guppies episode with Jacob while he drinks a little smoothie (we've been doing this for over a year)
7:30pm: Judd wakes up
8pm: both boys start bathtime (I bathe Judd in the kitchen sink, while Josh bathes Jacob in the tub)
8:15pm: bedtime feeding in Judd's room
8:45pm: both boys are down, and Josh and I clean up the house
9pm: I take a shower and get in bed...e x h a u s t e d

I'm exhausted just reading this! Gah! This really puts things in perspective.