Daily routine at home with toddler?

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

Do you have a routine of what you do at home ie chores, play with toddler etc each day? Today DS was so naughty and after he went to sleep I realised part of it was probably because we were both so bored. He engages in an activity for 5 mins so it is hard to keep him occupied with something but I do need to try more. It is counter productive to have him hitting, biting, scratching me, me telling him off etc etc. It gets quite upsetting and exhausting! I need a formal day plan for us for when I'm at home...please let me know yours so i can come up with mine, any suggestions would be great!

[Patooties]

hi there,
my routine starts with us taking older sisters to school.
When we get home, i usually clean up the breakfast mess while she watches the Teletubbies.
After this, we usually go for a walk to the letterbox and have a look around the garden.
We go out to the back yard, play on the slide, trampoline bikes etc or play with some playdough, do a painting.
We have some morning tea - usually i bring her into the study and we catch up on BB
Then we might hang out some washing (she usually plays with the pebbles near the line), fold some towels (that's fun) and then read some books and do some puzzles and things.
It's usually then time for some lunch, some warm milk and a sleep.
When she wakes up we go and get her big sisters from school and she plays outside with them.
Have you got park or a playcentre nearby that you could go to?
I'm probably going to start going to playgroup , as she is going to get so bored of just spending time with me all day i think.

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

Thanks for replying It is miserable weather here today, raining and gusty winds. So we haven't been outside. I think I should have taken him somewhere just to change his environment for a little while as that seems to help. Your routine sounds lovely DS will not let me do the breakfast dishes some days which annoys me!

[LucaJack'sMum]

There is a similar thread... just trying to work out how to link it here???

[RoyaUK]

Hi there,

Here's mine:

6.30 - 7am - wake up & get breakfast
7.30am tidy away breakfast stuff and put on morning music for DD1 & DD2 - normally The Best of Playschool or similar (all the songs have actions so gets them moving). I do the washing/tidying up
8.30am all get washed, brushed teet by this time.
get out some playdough or drawing or craft type activity or the train set.

once they're settled i will try to stick on laundry or vacuum or clean up or cook for about 30 mins.

9.30am generally watch Playschool for 30 mins if i haven't had a chance to shower yet and need them to sit still for 10 mins!

by 10am generally we try to get out to the park or shops if we need something. or playgroup. swimming class, play dates

i find if we get out in the morning and the girls have had a run about, they will eat lunch and sleep much better.

11.30am lunch
12pm daily naptime

I have a couple of hours to cook dinner, hang the washing, eat my lunch, check emails, make phone calls etc

2.30 - 3pm when they wake, have afternoon tea (fruit/crumpet etc)

4pm get out of the house to the park or shops if we didn't in the morning & we need something. If we don't get out, we'll do bouncing on old mattresses, puzzles, reading, craft things, singing. If i need to tidy up or clean something, they love to copy me - i give them a small spray bottle with water and they help 'wash' the windows etc!

5pm start assembling dinner. They 'help' with plastic spoons, knifes and bowls. I often put on music again - perhaps nursery rhymes and we'll sing along as I'm in the kitchen.
5.30pm dinner
6pm pack up dinner things
6.15 bath
6.30 supper (porridge for the girls - they love it!)
7pm story in bedroom....until lights out at about 7.30pm

Although i think it's sometimes boring, i know my DD1 loves knowing what's going to happen next. Like she'll often say when she's eating lunch, 'naptime soon' that sort of thing.

I find the more energy i can get them to expend early in the day, the better they concentrate on crafty type activities that they have to sit still for.

[DoubleK]

i somethimes feel like we have a routine.. but really, we dont lol

we're up at 8, have brekkie and watch the morning channel 2 shows (play school is the favourite, we always sing and dance along with what they're doing) after that i do a quick tidy up of the house (clean up brekkie dishes, chuck some washing on, clean out the cat litter tray...)

then we'll do an activity like painting, pasting or something else (i try to have stuff prepared to just pull out and start ie cut up coloured paper for her to paste, or have something interesting for her to paint- i have some huge beautiful autumn leaves to do next week!)

then it just depends if we need to go out or not... sometimes we do our activities in the afternoon. if i can i prepare dinner while Krystal has her lunch or after, if its somethign she can help with.

the rest of the night just depends again! some nights im so buggered, other nights i have the house spick and span by bed time!

[rarmalb]

I have a 21 month old DS, and am getting to this point also- his attention span is teeny tiny, and it is getting more difficult to entertain him, particularly in the cooler weather. When it is warmer we try and spend a lot of time outside.

DS tends to wake up about 8:30am, and has breakfast straight away. I find that the mornings are best for him, so that's when I try and do activities that need some concentration like drawing, or playdough. 3 days a week I go to the gym for an hour in the morning so he gets an hour of interaction with other kids, and 1 morning a week we have playgroup- the most fantastic thing ever invented!

Playtime on his own and cleaning up time for me generally happens before lunch (so around 11-12), then then has lunch, and a sleep, and wakes up late afternoon. I find this is the most difficult part of the day- so generally try and go outside for a walk, or let him have extended playtime in the bath.

I don't know your situation, but would something like playgroup or occasional child care give him something a bit different?

[shellbell3]

We have a few activities during the week, we go to gymbaroo, library story time (which is free), indoor play centres, mothers group, I find it really helps to get out of the house for both our sanities!
At home I bought some cheap art and craft things from Art Riot shop and we do those on days we are spending at home.

[shellbell3]

Just want to add if you look at the sticky threads there is a "fun with toddlers", you can check out ideas there.