Our daily schedule with 2 kids (2.5yo and 1mo)
Friends have been asking me how I am coping with 2 young kids.
The honest answer is, even with a LOT of help, a month in and I still feel quite raw and overwhelmed from being pulled in many different directions all day long.
It is really the nights that do me in - I don't function very well with interrupted sleep. At least, I am not working now and can afford to wake up late and/or take afternoon naps. (I will worry about the going back to work part later.)
What amazes me is how even at such a young age, we have somehow fallen into some semblance of a routine with Ryan. I like that.
Anyway, for the record, this is our daily schedule with Sean at 2.5yo and Ryan at 1 month old.
0630-0700 Foops wakes up and gets ready to go to work.
I would have been up from Ryan's early morning feed since 5am thereabouts.
Sean wakes up around this time too and will howl if he realises he is alone in his room. He is quite whiny at this hour.
One of us will go to him and make a bottle of milk (6oz) for him. That's his breakfast. We usually have to sit next to him and cajole him to finish it, else he will go hungry in school.
As soon as he finishes the bottle, we peel off his diaper and escort him to the potty.
Once he is done pee/pooping, my helper (whom Sean calls Kakak) helps to shower him and change him to his school uniform.
0715-0730 Foops leaves for work.
Sean rolls around in bed for a bit more, sniffing and caressing his beloved bolster.
0740 With some help, Sean straps on his school bag and water bottle and puts on his shoes.
Then, either Kakak or I will walk with him to the lobby to wait for the school bus. We usually prepare a small container of biscuits for him and he will munch on this while waiting.
0745 The green school bus arrives. Sean is too short to climb up the steps himself so we have to hoist him up the bus and pass him over to the bus aunty.
He is one of the last kids to board the bus so he always sits up front next to this older boy who likes to greet Sean by ruffling his hair playfully :)
0800-0900 Sean reaches school and class starts at 0815.
My helper prepares a simple breakfast (fried noodles/bread + Milo) and leaves it on the table. She then goes on to do the laundry, tidy up the house, wash the two toilets and help my mum prepare for lunch.
I usually crawl back to bed to sleep for a bit more. Ryan usually sleeps like a log in the mornings so this is my only chance to catch up on sleep.
0845 My sister C drops my mum off on her way to work. My mum checks on me and the baby (usually both of us would be sleeping), then settles down for breakfast and reads the papers.
0930-1000 Baby wakes me up eventually. I pick him up and feed him. He usually does not go back to sleep after this.
Once fed, he is quite happy to just lie in bed to do some stretching and err, grunting. He usually poops around this time too.
1000-1100 I wash up and then, I get Ryan ready for his bath.
My mum takes over and gets him all scrubbed clean. (Actually, I have yet to bathe him on my own! Foops does it on the weekends.)
I dress him and wrap him up like a burrito. My mum likes to bring him out for a short walk for some sun and fresh air.
I gobble down my breakfast and read the papers.
1130-1200 Sean returns and yells at the door, 'Mummy, Ming-ming HOME!'.
He always comes home looking like a sweaty ragamuffin.
He is usually starving after school and would be munching on biscuits on the short bus ride home. (He has snacks in school around 10am but I think it is hardly enough.)
When he sees me, he likes to open his bag to show me what he has gotten from school that day. It could be a piece of candy, a birthday goody bag, a piece of artwork he worked on, etc.
I check his Communications Book to see if the teacher has written anything or attached any memos from the school.
We shoo him to the washroom for a quick shower after which he flops back to bed and caresses his bolster again.
Then, Kakak or my mum feeds Sean his porridge. He can finish a big plate very quickly.
He is usually extremely tired and cranky at this hour. We let him play for a bit and then usher him to his room.
1230-1430 Naptime for Sean. My mum naps with him.
Ryan is usually due for a nap around this time too. I feed him and put him down to sleep.
Finally, some peace and quiet in the house. I either take a short nap with Ryan or sneak off to check my mails, etc.
I usually don't get very much done because...
1430-1700 DING DING DING!!!! Little Firecracker Sean wakes up from his nap and the whole household has to wake up with him.
Potty time for Sean first. Then, he eats some cut fruits and biscuits.
He plays for a bit, reads his books, does some painting on the deck, disturbs his sleeping brother, bugs me to let him watch cartoons on my phone...
1700-1830 Sean has his porridge. (Yes, he is 2.5yo and all he wants to eat is slushy porridge for every meal and maybe a sunny-side egg on the side.)
If the weather is good, we all go out for a walk around the neighbourhood.
Our main objective is to tire Sean out so we like to trick him into racing us and running laps. Haha.
Ryan LOVES our walks coz he likes being carried and lulled to sleep by the slow, rocking motion.
1830-1900 We head home and wash up. My mum and helper cook dinner.
1900-2000 Foops gets home.
We have dinner together and we play with Sean till bedtime.
I try to keep Ryan awake during this time too. (This is very important if I want him to sleep at a decent hour later!)
2030-2100 Sean goes to bed.
For now, Foops still sleeps with him on a mattress next to his bed. (If he is traveling for work, then my mum stays over.)
It takes Sean a while to settle down and go to sleep.
Most nights, he will ask for a bottle of milk before sleeping. We brush his teeth, then lights out.
(He doesn't wake up asking for milk anymore - hurray! - but sometimes still wakes up crying from nightmares.)
Ryan goes to bed around this time too. I wipe him down, change him to his pajamas, cluster-feed him, dim the lights in the room and put him to bed.
I am trying to do a bit of sleep training with him now based on what I remember from Sean's time. I make sure he is comfortable and full and then I swaddle him tight and pat his bum to sleep. As far as possible, I try not to let him suckle to sleep and fall asleep myself. If he still fusses, I feed him some more and pat him to sleep agiain.
Like his brother, he takes quite a while (up to an hour, sometimes two) to finally fall asleep.
2200-2300 We finally get some time to ourselves. That is, if we ourselves haven't passed out from exhaustion too!
We hang out and catch up with each other. I try to go to bed by 11pm. Zzz.
0200-0300 Ryan usually wakes up for a feed around this time. I feed him and pop him right back to bed.
If he doesn't have a poopy diaper, I don't change him because I don't want to risk having him wide awake in the middle of the night. I value my sleep very much.
0500-0600 Ryan wakes up for another feed and I change his diaper if I didn't do it earlier.
I really hate waking up at this hour because I always feel like a zombie afterwards.
Ryan just lies in his cot wide awake and groans and grunts till the cows come home. He puts in a lot of effort in grunting and does not stop till he poops :)
He makes so much noise it is impossible to go back to sleep. Anyway, Foops and Sean wake up very soon as well.
0630-0700 Rise and shine! Foops wakes up, Sean wakes up.
Ryan finally falls back to sleep and I have a stonking headache.
Rinse/repeat.
PS. Our schedule with Sean at 1, 2, 5, 8, 16 and 28 months.
The honest answer is, even with a LOT of help, a month in and I still feel quite raw and overwhelmed from being pulled in many different directions all day long.
It is really the nights that do me in - I don't function very well with interrupted sleep. At least, I am not working now and can afford to wake up late and/or take afternoon naps. (I will worry about the going back to work part later.)
What amazes me is how even at such a young age, we have somehow fallen into some semblance of a routine with Ryan. I like that.
Anyway, for the record, this is our daily schedule with Sean at 2.5yo and Ryan at 1 month old.
0630-0700 Foops wakes up and gets ready to go to work.
I would have been up from Ryan's early morning feed since 5am thereabouts.
Sean wakes up around this time too and will howl if he realises he is alone in his room. He is quite whiny at this hour.
One of us will go to him and make a bottle of milk (6oz) for him. That's his breakfast. We usually have to sit next to him and cajole him to finish it, else he will go hungry in school.
As soon as he finishes the bottle, we peel off his diaper and escort him to the potty.
Once he is done pee/pooping, my helper (whom Sean calls Kakak) helps to shower him and change him to his school uniform.
0715-0730 Foops leaves for work.
Sean rolls around in bed for a bit more, sniffing and caressing his beloved bolster.
0740 With some help, Sean straps on his school bag and water bottle and puts on his shoes.
Then, either Kakak or I will walk with him to the lobby to wait for the school bus. We usually prepare a small container of biscuits for him and he will munch on this while waiting.
0745 The green school bus arrives. Sean is too short to climb up the steps himself so we have to hoist him up the bus and pass him over to the bus aunty.
He is one of the last kids to board the bus so he always sits up front next to this older boy who likes to greet Sean by ruffling his hair playfully :)
0800-0900 Sean reaches school and class starts at 0815.
My helper prepares a simple breakfast (fried noodles/bread + Milo) and leaves it on the table. She then goes on to do the laundry, tidy up the house, wash the two toilets and help my mum prepare for lunch.
I usually crawl back to bed to sleep for a bit more. Ryan usually sleeps like a log in the mornings so this is my only chance to catch up on sleep.
0845 My sister C drops my mum off on her way to work. My mum checks on me and the baby (usually both of us would be sleeping), then settles down for breakfast and reads the papers.
0930-1000 Baby wakes me up eventually. I pick him up and feed him. He usually does not go back to sleep after this.
Once fed, he is quite happy to just lie in bed to do some stretching and err, grunting. He usually poops around this time too.
1000-1100 I wash up and then, I get Ryan ready for his bath.
My mum takes over and gets him all scrubbed clean. (Actually, I have yet to bathe him on my own! Foops does it on the weekends.)
I dress him and wrap him up like a burrito. My mum likes to bring him out for a short walk for some sun and fresh air.
I gobble down my breakfast and read the papers.
1130-1200 Sean returns and yells at the door, 'Mummy, Ming-ming HOME!'.
He always comes home looking like a sweaty ragamuffin.
He is usually starving after school and would be munching on biscuits on the short bus ride home. (He has snacks in school around 10am but I think it is hardly enough.)
When he sees me, he likes to open his bag to show me what he has gotten from school that day. It could be a piece of candy, a birthday goody bag, a piece of artwork he worked on, etc.
I check his Communications Book to see if the teacher has written anything or attached any memos from the school.
We shoo him to the washroom for a quick shower after which he flops back to bed and caresses his bolster again.
Then, Kakak or my mum feeds Sean his porridge. He can finish a big plate very quickly.
He is usually extremely tired and cranky at this hour. We let him play for a bit and then usher him to his room.
1230-1430 Naptime for Sean. My mum naps with him.
Ryan is usually due for a nap around this time too. I feed him and put him down to sleep.
Finally, some peace and quiet in the house. I either take a short nap with Ryan or sneak off to check my mails, etc.
I usually don't get very much done because...
1430-1700 DING DING DING!!!! Little Firecracker Sean wakes up from his nap and the whole household has to wake up with him.
Potty time for Sean first. Then, he eats some cut fruits and biscuits.
He plays for a bit, reads his books, does some painting on the deck, disturbs his sleeping brother, bugs me to let him watch cartoons on my phone...
1700-1830 Sean has his porridge. (Yes, he is 2.5yo and all he wants to eat is slushy porridge for every meal and maybe a sunny-side egg on the side.)
If the weather is good, we all go out for a walk around the neighbourhood.
Our main objective is to tire Sean out so we like to trick him into racing us and running laps. Haha.
Ryan LOVES our walks coz he likes being carried and lulled to sleep by the slow, rocking motion.
1830-1900 We head home and wash up. My mum and helper cook dinner.
1900-2000 Foops gets home.
We have dinner together and we play with Sean till bedtime.
I try to keep Ryan awake during this time too. (This is very important if I want him to sleep at a decent hour later!)
2030-2100 Sean goes to bed.
For now, Foops still sleeps with him on a mattress next to his bed. (If he is traveling for work, then my mum stays over.)
It takes Sean a while to settle down and go to sleep.
Most nights, he will ask for a bottle of milk before sleeping. We brush his teeth, then lights out.
(He doesn't wake up asking for milk anymore - hurray! - but sometimes still wakes up crying from nightmares.)
Ryan goes to bed around this time too. I wipe him down, change him to his pajamas, cluster-feed him, dim the lights in the room and put him to bed.
I am trying to do a bit of sleep training with him now based on what I remember from Sean's time. I make sure he is comfortable and full and then I swaddle him tight and pat his bum to sleep. As far as possible, I try not to let him suckle to sleep and fall asleep myself. If he still fusses, I feed him some more and pat him to sleep agiain.
Like his brother, he takes quite a while (up to an hour, sometimes two) to finally fall asleep.
2200-2300 We finally get some time to ourselves. That is, if we ourselves haven't passed out from exhaustion too!
We hang out and catch up with each other. I try to go to bed by 11pm. Zzz.
0200-0300 Ryan usually wakes up for a feed around this time. I feed him and pop him right back to bed.
If he doesn't have a poopy diaper, I don't change him because I don't want to risk having him wide awake in the middle of the night. I value my sleep very much.
0500-0600 Ryan wakes up for another feed and I change his diaper if I didn't do it earlier.
I really hate waking up at this hour because I always feel like a zombie afterwards.
Ryan just lies in his cot wide awake and groans and grunts till the cows come home. He puts in a lot of effort in grunting and does not stop till he poops :)
He makes so much noise it is impossible to go back to sleep. Anyway, Foops and Sean wake up very soon as well.
0630-0700 Rise and shine! Foops wakes up, Sean wakes up.
Ryan finally falls back to sleep and I have a stonking headache.
Rinse/repeat.
PS. Our schedule with Sean at 1, 2, 5, 8, 16 and 28 months.