Daily Schedule With a One Year Old

One of the biggest things we mamas struggle with is trying to find a daily routine and/or schedule that works for us and our kids.

Routines help us keep our sanity. They help babies, toddlers, and even older kids know what to expect from their day.

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Right now while we’re all isolated, things can be kind of hectic at home. Kids get bored and routines are all out of place. Children may not really understand what’s going on and just know there’s a new normal.

It’s okay for everything to be out of wack right now.

But, it can also be good and helpful for there to be at least somewhat of a routine happening at home, both to keep kids busy and to schedule in some things you may want to get done as well.

Not that it’s not okay for kids to be a little bored sometimes and for nothing to get done. We have had more than a few of those days.

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D had been going to daycare twice a week before quarantine. On those days he only took one nap and got an early bedtime. At home, he would usually still take two naps.

Lately, he’s been in a weird nap transition phase. He sometimes takes one long nap, particularly if he wakes up a bit later and his nap is pushed.

Usually he takes a long-ish morning nap and then a shorter afternoon one to get to bedtime, but his mornings have been getting kind of early.

He’s almost 14 months now, so I think we’re getting pretty close to dropping that last one all together. I’ll put our usual two nap routine below and update in another post once we transition fully to one nap!

I also try my best to incorporate activities in our day that interest him.

My husband built him a sensory table for his first birthday, and D has been obsessed with it. I put lots of different things in it so he’s always interested, but his favorite is definitely water.

You can get a similar one from IKEA here!

He LOVES these bath crayons, and not only do we use them in the bath, but we use them on our kitchen tile. They come off super easy – just take a dry cloth and wipe!

We have been doing lots of outside time as the weather gets nicer, going on long walks and exploring the area around our house. Sometimes we bring his sensory table outside if it’s really nice. D has loved helping me garden too.

He has loved ‘helping’ me do anything, especially cleaning.

We bought him his own little mop from the dollar store that he loves, but since he’s been so interested in it I’ve had my eye on this Melissa and Doug Play Cleaning Set.

As he gets older, I think it will become more important for me to foster those interests and his independence.

If he wants to help mom clean I’m definitely okay with that!

Grab a super cute copy of our daily schedule here! You can give it to grandparents or babysitters to reference, or hang it on your refrigerator!

Here is our daily routine:

6:30am Wake up, breakfast

7:00am Play time

9:00am Snack 1

9:30am Nap 1

11:00am Wake up and outdoor time or errands

12:00pm Lunch time

12:30pm Play time while I clean up

2:30pm Nap 2

3:30pm Snack 2

4:00pm Play time

6:00pm Dinner

6:45pm: Bath if it’s bath night

7:00pm Start bedtime routine (books downstairs, then upstairs for pajamas, diaper change, lotion, another book or two in the rocking chair, lights off and sound machine on, rocking for a bit before putting in crib to fall asleep)

7:30pm Asleep in crib

This is super rough right now because like I said, we’re in the middle of the 2-to-1 nap transition.

Ideally when he has 1 nap it would be closer to 12, but usually it’s around 11:00am.

I’ll update as we become more consistent with the routine.

D has always done better with an earlier bedtime, but sometimes it’s as early as 6:00pm if he only had one nap.

This gives hubs and I some extra time to ourselves anyway.

Usually he sleeps through the night, we’ve been blessed with a great sleeper (with some hiccups here and there of course).

Having a young toddler has definitely come with its challenges, as any stage of childhood does, but I love the stage he’s at right now!

He’s exploring and learning so much, and it’s easy to see his little brain taking everything in.

It’s been hard for me to let go of his routine some days and be more flexible, mostly because he just does better on a bit more of a strict schedule.

But, I am slowly learning that sometimes, as long as he’s fed and healthy, that’s really all that matters.

Everything else will work itself out.

So, I hope that I could help you with setting a routine for your one year old, but also with reminding you that you are doing your very best mama! That’s more than enough.