What does your day at home look like?

amother

Cobalt

Tue, Jul 07 2015, 3:55 pm

I am home with my new baby (couple weeks old now) and I didn't stay home with my first.

I basically have no idea what my days should look like/how to gently guide baby towards good sleep (nap and nighttime) habits and a predictable daily routine. I personally go crazy without a schedule and can't wait for the new baby to settle into a routine (I know that's askingg a lot from a 2 week old, but I want to set the stage for good habits/routine). Older DC is in camp/daycare during the day so it's just me and baby at home.

I make sure to get dressed in the morning and I try to get out with the baby at least once a day.

In the mean time, any tips on how to structure the day?

How do you balance taking care of the newborn with household chores like laundry and cooking etc? Especially with unpredictable newborn nap times and nap lengths...

How long did it take for you and your baby to fall into a routine and how long until the baby fits into the existing morning and evening routine with older kids?

We don't have anyone making us meals so what do you make for your family when you're two weeks postpartum?

Thanks for the advice! Feeling more than a little bit overwhelmed, out of my comfort zone and yet strangely bored all day holding a sleepy baby...I want to enjoy this special time that I missed out on with older DC but I need a routine!

busydev

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 11:59 pm

my baby is 4 weeks old. I am home on maternity leave for a couple more weeks. my general days look something like this:

6-9:30am wake with other kids, get them ready for camp and out the door.
9:30 on- hang out in PJs and sleep when baby sleeps until I have at least 6 hours of sleep from whenever I got to bed the night before.
Once I had enough sleep get dressed. think about supper. eat lunch.
hold baby, talk to baby, sometimes go on my back porch for a bit. nurse on demand, change diapers, burp, put her to sleep. doze off some more. do some work (doing some work at home) or simple clean up
5pm other kids come home, play, supper, baths, bedtime etc
7pm older kids in bed, do more of same that I did in the afternoon.
10:30/11pm and on... once baby is sleeping, go to sleep. wake up to nurse, burp and change diapers throughtout the night on demand.
6am wake up from my older angels Wink

I have started bringing other kids to appointments/therapies but try to only go out once a day if possible. if the once a day is in the am, I get dressed before I need to go and then sleep more in the afternoon.

I have made a point of taking things very very easy. I have found a direct correlation with doing to much to fast and bleeding for a long time PP. I live 2 flights up otherwise I prob would go for a once around the block walk every day the past couple weeks. but till 2 weeks I avoided stairs. and now I try for no more then once a day to street level. next week I think I will loosen that up a bit more (once shes a month) and try to get out daily. now if I dont have something to get out for, I dont go out.

in terms of going into a schedule it will happen in two weeks when I go back to work. at this point I still feed on demand, but have already noticed some patterns in her scheduling. next week I plan on recording them to have a better picture before I go back to work. I find usually by 2-3mo my kids are on a more set schedule even tho I still do feeding on demand.

Ashrei

Thu, Jul 09 2015, 12:30 am

I just want to recommend Dr. Marc Weissbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child." It gives some info you're looking for like when babies fall into schedules. It takes about typical ranges for nap durations and schedules based on age. It's really helped me get my baby onto some schedule, and also helped me know what to do (and make peace with it) when he misses a nap or doesn't nap well etc. My baby is already 8 months, but early on I recall just doing what I had to while carrying him around, nursing, getting spit up on (he had some reflux) etc., similar to busydev.

Mazal tov Smile