Juggling the dinner/bath/bed routine

[MummaSue]

Our routine has only just been established in the last couple of weeks and we are now realising that little one needs an early bedtime, so I'm going to have to do the routine by myself too as DH gets in from work 15 minutes before lights out for little one.

So the past week I have been making dinner in the daytime - slow cookers are THE best invention yet.
I also get all of the stuff I need for little one organised and where it needs to be for when I need it. I do her whole routine in our bedroom with the lights dim, and the heater on (cold just now), so get all of that organised in the day time.

6.15pm - bath (on the nights that she gets one)
6.30pm - massage, jammies on, story book, cuddles, boobie
7pm - gets put down in cot

DH gets in at 6.45pm and comes in and gives her a kiss and some cuddles.
We then go and have dinner - either heated up, from the slow cooker or some nights we just have soup and a sandwich.

Being more organised in the day helps me a lot.
Sue xx

[OceanPrincess]

My #2 is still very little so we are yet to figure out our routine involving a second baby... but routine with first baby goes:

DH home sometime between 3pm and 5pm... works for himself so changes daily... Generally he's home by 5pm which is when our routine starts...
5pm - snack for DD, play with DH while I start dinner
5.30pm - bath, I'm doing dinner and getting PJs ready
6pm - dinner for DD and us too, if it is ready and we are hungry
6.30pm - quiet play for DD
6.45pm - ready for bed (night nappy and drink of milk)
7pm - bed

Hopefully when DS is older he will just slot into the routine.

[westy]

My DH doesn't get home from work until approx 6.45pm so i pretty much do the whole afternoon/night routine myself.... i have three children who are aged 7yrs, 4yrs and a 12 week old.

I always prepared and cook tea throughout the day so i don't have to worry about getting tea sorted out during the afternoon rush, then we just re-heat it when DH gets home.

The older boys have baths usually by 6.15pm while im feeding bubby, by then DH is home so we will eat tea as soon as he gets in after tea i tidy the kitchen and make lunches for the next day. Once all the above is done it's time to bath bubby so i get all of that ready - by this time its about 7.20pm bubby has a feed straight after his bath then goes to bed at approx 8pm. The older kids go to bed at 8.30pm , i'm really happy with our rountine it works really well for us....everyone goes to bed happy and refreshed to do it all again the next day

[~me~]

My DH doesn't get home from work until usually 7ish so I am very strict with routine.
I quite often plan our meals in advance and do the chopping and get ingredients ready or have our dinner sitting in the oven to turn on when he lets me know he is leaving work.
The kids eat 5pm (DD included now) then it's usually 30min giggle and hoot time.
6pm is bath for all of them together. I get the two boys out first and dress DS2 and DS1 can dress himself and then it's DD's turn.
DD feed and bed at 6:30pm while boys play quietly or noisily
Then I get a move on with dinner after DD is in bed and the boys play.
Most of the time dinner is ready to go and will only take 10mins or so to throw together and cook or if it's an oven dish it will be ready at 7:15pm. Sometimes I actually leave dinner up to DH altogether and we eat around 8ish.
DH usually does stories for DS2 at 7pm when he gets home and then bed for DS2. If he doesn't get home in time or DS2 is particularly tired I put DS2 to bed at 6:45-7pm.
Then DS1 has stories and bed at 7:30pm on a school night.
From 4:30pm for me it's go time (I cook kids dinner at around that time).
While the boys eat dinner and DD chews on some bread I do the dishes and then they all sit down and watch a little bit of giggle and hoot night time before bath. As thegoodnight song plays I am running the bath and getting DD undressed. Boys can undress themselves.
I love 4:30pm as it's busy, in a very good way. Kids are always happy after dinner and love bath time and a little play after.

[~Hestia~]

I'm flying solo for at least 4 nights out of every 9 days. I rely heavily on my chest freezer full of home cooked meals for DH & I! This way I can eat alone if DH is going to be late. Either way it's just a quick zap in the microwave when he gets home, which is usually around 8:00pm.
But nightly routine is dinner for DS at 5:30pm.
Always leave the bath for after dinner as he just gets it all over him, so this is usually around 6:00pm. He sometimes gets a little play between dinner & bath if he didn't get too messy!
I pack his toys away while the bath is running. This is so when he gets out he doesn't start playing with them & get all hyped up!
Usually by 6:30pm I'm getting his pjs on, if not earlier. Depends on how tired he is & how much he is enjoying his bath (or not!).
After this he gets a booby feed, then we read books until he starts yawning.
Bed is somewhere between 6:45 and 7:00pm.
As I said if DH is working, dinner is usually something out of the freezer that I just have to reheat.
Or if I am cooking from scratch I start when DS goes to bed.

If DH is home we kinda do tag team. But I'll usually start preparing dinner while DS is having his or is in the bath. Depends on what it is I'm making.

But I am probably going to change all this now DS is getting older. I want to start eating together as a family, on DH's work days I'll just reheat DH's later on. So I will have to work out how to cook with DS around so we can all eat around 6:00pmish!

[rhyb]

Well my routine is different. I found with 4 babies (well DS is 2 so I may have to give in and *gulp* admit he's a toddler )
I bath my DDs in the morning. I get nappies and clothes ready after they feed then like a crazy production line I bath one after another stopping to dress everyone then put them down to play.
At dinner time DS waits for us to eat dinner which could be as late as 8 (I know, I know but some nights it cant be helped). DS showers with me (if its morning or night I pick). For bedtime I change everyone at once (again like a whacky production line), everyone gets a night time bottle and then door gets closed and lights off and Im out of there!!!

Madness with no 'real' structure I know but best I can do at the moment

[Taurean]

Well my routine is different. I found with 4 babies (well DS is 2 so I may have to give in and *gulp* admit he's a toddler )
I bath my DDs in the morning. I get nappies and clothes ready after they feed then like a crazy production line I bath one after another stopping to dress everyone then put them down to play.
At dinner time DS waits for us to eat dinner which could be as late as 8 (I know, I know but some nights it cant be helped). DS showers with me (if its morning or night I pick). For bedtime I change everyone at once (again like a whacky production line), everyone gets a night time bottle and then door gets closed and lights off and Im out of there!!!

Madness with no 'real' structure I know but best I can do at the moment

Rhyb, hats off to you hon!!! What an awesome effort! I would love to hear a day in the life of 'Rhyb'.

My DH helps out quite a bit by cooking dinner and if he's home early enough, he feeds and baths DD (in which case I cook dinner).

On a good day we aim to have DD fed around 5.30, she's in the bath around 6ish and then having her last breastfeed at 6.30ish. We often eat around 8ish as we prefer to have DD in bed and settled so we can both enjoy our dinner. I'd like to eat earlier but DD's routine seems to go for about 2 hours so instead of keeping her up, we deal with her first then we eat dinner. It works for us.

We have a dishwasher so one of us packs that at some stage (usually the one that didn't cook) and wipes down the kitchen benches. We both chill out in the evenings so I tackle the laundry, if need be, during the day. As long as the kitchen is clean and the dishwasher on before I go to bed, I'm happy.