Scheduled

Ever since I had a baby, my type-A personality has been craving a schedule for baby P. I knew it was going to take time (2 months in fact!) and work to make it happen. Just thought I would share how we got the little guy on a schedule and what a typical day and night for him is like (plus, I use this as my scrapbook and I just want to look back and remember what our time was like when I was on maternity leave).

A few weeks ago, I began tracking a normal day for Preston using a super cool baby app on my iPhone. I wanted to see what his body naturally did, and much to my surprise, he kind of had his own little flow of the day. So I worked with that, and added real big boy naps into the picture around times when he would naturally doze off in my arms. He adapted to it pretty well. The only time we still struggle a little is during the afternoon nap - he still isn't the biggest fan of that, but it makes him so much easier to be around at night :)

First, he normally wakes up around 7 a.m. I feed him, Brian changes his diaper, then gets ready for work. I get up and get Preston changed into his clothes for the day, then I change into my clothes for the day. (For all you moms-to-be, it's amazing how quickly you are put LAST on the list when baby comes!)

After this, we go on a little walk around the neighborhood. We have been walking every single day, and Preston really loves it. He stays awake for the entire walk. When I see him starting to nod off (which is usually about an hour into the walk) I walk back home, put him in his swing and he sleeps for a while. This is also when I run any errands I need to, because he is kind of used to napping during this time on-the-go... either in the swing, the car, the grocery cart... you name it.

Usually around 10:30 or 11, he wakes up and wants to eat again. I feed him, then hold him, walk around the house with him, or play with him.

Brian comes home for lunch everyday around noon. We eat lunch together, Brian holds Preston for a little while, then has to go back to work. Brian kind of stopped changing diapers on his lunch break because we had one bad experience and Brian had to change clothes again before going to back.. haha! Welcome to my life, Brian :)

Around 1:30 or so, he eats again, then it's work out time for Preston! We go upstairs to his room, and play on the playmat, sit in the Bumbo seat, and have tummy time. After about an hour an playing, Preston usually starts yawning and I swaddle him and lay him in his crib for a nap.

His morning naps are usually longer than his afternoon ones. In the afternoon, he usually sleeps about 45 minutes to an hour. When he sleeps, I'll shower, do laundry, etc.) When he wakes up, we watch Oprah while I am feeding and burping him.

Brian gets home from work around 5:30 and takes Preston for some Daddy/Son time while I get dinner ready, unload the dishwasher (one of those loud chores I don't do when he is napping) and have a little alone time.

Really, Brian spends a lot of time with him at night. We just have family time, I feed him one more time around 6:30 or so, then we start getting ready for bedtime. I'll do a post dedicated to that soon. We try to get him in bed and asleep by 9. Then he sleeps until 4:30 a.m., he wakes up, I go get him out of his crib and feed him, then he sleeps until 7.

After figuring out a schedule for him, he is such a happier baby... see?

His great-grandmother was holding him in this picture! So neat that Preston has a great-grandmother (Nannie) and great-grandfather (Gramps). Anyway, the schedule makes it a million times easier to plan the day. I know we will have to tweak it some when I go back to work, but at least this makes it manageable for another few weeks.