Juggling the dinner/bath/bed routine

[ss_storm]

Particularly interested to hear from those that do the routine by themselves...unfortunately DF doesn't help or offer much assistance so it's all up to me most nights

I spend all afternoon thinking/planning how to juggle getting DD bathed, dressed, dinnered, bottled and bedded, as well as getting our dinner ready and cleaning up afterwards so I can have a bit of me time before bed.
I'm never sure how to do it...give DD a bath first then she can have dinner while I cook our dinner, prepare our dinner (chop vegies etc) while she is eating hers then give her a bath and cook our dinner after or something completely different....

She normally eats dinner around 5.30 and goes to bed at 7.30/7.45, and DF & I usually have dinner between 6.30 and 7 (I don't like eating too late because then I spend the rest of the night cleaning up). And if I had two children or toddler & baby to deal with, I think my head would explode...lol

what's your nightly routine?

[shellbell3]

We all eat together about 5:45. We do baths before dinner. But Df does often help out with it all which is handy.

Nights I am alone I will often do a slow cooker meal, bath them at 5. Eat dinner at 5:45. Or if I need to cook I'll move the bath earlier to 4:30 that way I can do dinner, eat and afterwards only have to worry bout night nappies, bottles and bed.

[feeb]

Depending on what dinner is it varys a bit, if in slow cooker its put on at between 12 and 1pm and then rice or pasta on at 1730. If spag bol i will make sauce if I get a time with both boys asleep or 1 in bed and re heat later and cook pasta fresh. Other times dinner put on between 1700 and 1800 depending on when DH will be home and what is dinner.

Ds1 will have dinner with us or earlier, I then strip him off and to the bath he goes, DS2 gets bathed every 2nd night as doesnt get dirty being 6 months old! Some nights DH will shower with them.

Dinner
Bath
Pj's
BF
Bed

Then i clean up and fold washing etc, depending on when DS2 settles.

[JordieC]

I do nights 4 times in a row by myself because DH is a shift worker. Pretty much got it down pat now! When DH is working we mostly eat food that can be reaheated eg. casseroles, risotto, oven food etc. I usually cook in the morning so Dh can take some to work then we have it for tea. Or a really simple pasta is another option. We have the fancier meals when DH is home! Here's what usually happens without being too strict.

4.30ish DS goes down for nap for about 30-45 mins. If he doesn't have this he just playes or has snack in high chair. DD has quiet play or movie/TV at this time! I prepare or heat dinner in this time. I also do whatever quick tidy ups I can do.

5.30ish - dinner for both kids.

6.00ish - bath for both kids only every second night unless particularly dirty

6.30ish stories, DS last feed and 7 pm bed. DD sometimes goes down a bit later

I get their PJ's ready while they are eating - this take about 1 minute and start bath running too. I alsways get DS out of the bath first and pull plug on DD while he is getting dried.

I eat dinner by myself when they are in bed unless I am hungry earlier and we eat together. This means we rarely have family dinners - about 1 or 2 times a week but that's what works for us. Some nights this does not happen in this order and we just do whatever!!! I usually do folding of washing during Master Chef and other chores on ad breaks. By 8.30 I give myself permission to stop if I haven't already!

[Nettie]

Luckily we've got a team thing going on here, but there have been nights where one of us has to do the lot ourselves..

Our routine (when running solo) is :

Everyone eats together - usually around 6-6.30pm.
While DS is still in his highchair finishing off dinner, i go & run the bath and get jammies ready.
I turn on the heater, turn off the lights and set the iPod going with sleepytime music.
Then I come back in and make very warm bottles which sit on the lounge until he's finished in the bath.
Then after bath, get him dressed and give bottles.
Then it's straight into bed.

He's usually ok in the bath by himself now for short periods, so nowadays I can get the jammies and bottles ready while he's in the bath.

HTH a bit!

[mumof2darlings]

I'm new and dont know where to start lol. Feel bad posting anywhere like im intruding...but i'll start here i guess.

bath/shower 5.30 ,Dinner by 6pm, books read clean up by 7.30pm. watch some tv then my daughter goes to bed at 8pm. follower by my son around 8.45-9pm (his older)
I also dont get much help from my DH.

[Nettie]

I'm new and dont know where to start lol. Feel bad posting anywhere like im intruding...but i'll start here i guess.

Sorry to hijack, but I just wanted to say 'Welcome!' . Don't feel bad posting... that's what we're all here for! Just dive right in!

[~Kaz~]

Our routine is the same whether it's me and DP (most of the time) or just me (rarely).

Start cooking dinner about 5pm, depending on how long it will take. We aim to have it on the table by 6pm. DS has a snack about now usually.
Often the TV goes on just before 5:30 (In the Night Garden) to occupy DS while dinner is getting organised.
Dinner at 6pm - we all try to eat together but occasionally DP and I eat later.
Bath somewhere around 6:20-6:30pm. One of us usually gets into the bath with DS, the other one gets pj's ready and cleans up after dinner.
Out of bath somewhere around 6:45pm, dried and pretty much straight into bed.

We have tried reading books but this seemed to hype him up. Tried offering sippy of milk but he usually refused so now we give it with dinner. Most of the time he is down by 7pm and the kitchen is reasonably tidy but this is with both of us. If I'm by myself then cleaning up happens last.

HTH. Every family is different in terms of what works for them. If your night routine is not working for you (and I suspect from your 'juggling' comments that it's not) could you discuss it with your DF? Tell him it's not working for you, is stressful, whatever and see what he thinks? He may not realise you need/want a hand? He may be happy to do one part of it (like the bath, or the clean up after dinner) which would ease things for you.

I hope I haven't overstepped the mark here. The night routine can be stressful.

[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

[~Kim~]

I'm often on my own - DH is a shift worker with lots of OT.
Usually while i'm making lunches I start dinner - whether that be just the prep or actually making dinner in the SC like today.
We do a tidy up as the start of the routine at about 4.45.
5.00pm bath for both.They're pretty quick. Start/finish dinner.
5.30ish dinner for all of us (sometimes i eat mine when they're in bed but generally not)
6.00pm DS has a feed and goes to sleep, DD is allowed to watch a DVD/kids channel until 7 - I usually tidy up then (or eat if I haven't already)
7pm DD has a story and goes to bed.
then timeout for me

as a general rule I unstack the dishwasher in the morning so all I have to do is put dishes in as they're used and then there's hardly anything left to do at the end and I put it on overnight.

[kungfubecca]

sorry I have a helper here, so not often do I do things solo, could If I have to.
with an almost 3yo, we can only bath after tea, otherwise he would need another bath before bed I aim for tea between 5.30 and 6 and frankly don't care If that's the time i have to eat. If DH isn't happy with that he can eat later, but I try to time it with him being home from work so we can be a family.
Right now i'm on mat leave #2 is 3 months, so I try to do as much prep earlier in the day as possible.
Bath is as soon after tea as possible, then bed at a similar time to what you said.

Until i went on mat leave DS used to always have his tea and bath after 6pm, because of work. he would normally be given a late arvo snack at creche between 5-5.30 (eg dry biscuit / fruit)

Now that your DD is getting older you can start to let her feed herself a bit and she can eat more of what you are eating etc, so it will get easier and you won't need to seperate tea times.