Our Daily/Nightly Routine

So far - we're not the type of parents who have really tried to enforce a routine with Ethan.  To be honest, I just had no idea what to expect when I was pregnant in regards to a routine. Would we have one? Or would we be okay without one? The answer is that Ethan, probably like a lot of other babies, got himself into his own routine and that's the way it's always stayed. We just work around it. It works for him and it works for us.  I'm always interested to hear about other babies and parents routines so I thought I would post ours for anyone who might be interested in what my days at home look like with a 10 month old.  Around 8am - Ethan wakes up for the day. We might lay in bed for a little while. Sometimes I put the TV on and he watches Nick JR whilst I read/respond to emails on my phone.  Around 9am - We head downstairs, where I make Ethans breakfast and give him a drink. I'll also get some breakfast and a cup of tea. Around 10am - We head back upstairs to get dressed. I might bath Ethan at this point or if not at the end of the day. Once he's dressed, I usually put him in to his jumperoo and drag it in to the bathroom whilst I shower and get dressed.  Around 11am - We're both dressed so we'll have some playtime and I'll hoover and do a few house jobs if they need doing.  Around midday - Ethan usually naps. He'll have a bottle at this point usually and then falls asleep with his dummy. I use this time to catch up with any blogging.  Around 2pm - This does vary! He doesn't always sleep until 2pm, if he wakes before then he'll play with his toys with me. 2pm is lunchtime -  I'll give him his lunch/change his nappy and then have something to eat myself, unless I already ate at 12. Around 2:30pm - Lunch is finished so I clear up and wash up. We will spend the next hour or so playing together, unless we go out. This is probably the best time for us to go out if we need to as Ethan has just napped, been fed and had a nappy change. Our other best time is around 10am - which can sometimes be a little early, haha! Around 4pm - Ethan sometimes begins to feel a little tired around 4pm and may lay on his beanbag, with his dummy in whilst watching Peppa Pig, I usually start his/our dinner during this time. 5pm - Is Ethans usual dinner time! And when Daddy comes home usually! Adam will feed Ethan a sachet of food unless Ethan eats with us. We usually try and give him some of what we have for dinner everyday.  Around 5:45pm - Dinners finished! Unless Ethan's had a bath that day, he'll have a bath around this time just before bed. He loves the bath and it means he uses up all of his energy splashing about ready to go to bed clean and fresh. It also means that he can get as messy as he likes at dinner! Around 6:30pm - All fresh from the bath, Ethan usually feels very tired and lays on his beanbag again  whilst we heat his bottle ready to take him upstairs to bed.  Around 7pm/7:30pm - We take Ethan upstairs to settle him for bed with his bottle.  And the rest of the evening is (usually) ours to have some time together! 

Ethan lately has been waking up every single night to come into our bed. Which we let him do. Perhaps we are setting ourselves up for a fall, but we believe that if we're happy for him to come in (which we are) and it means we all get more sleep then why not? Sometimes he wakes around 5am when Adam gets up to go to work, for a bottle of milk and then settles back down for more sleep with me until 8am. If he doesn't have his bottle at 5am, I tend to give it to him around 8am instead. I hope this is of some interest to anyone interested in a 10 months old routine. Obviously every single day of our life doesn't go like this, but this does tend to be the usual pattern.  We have pretty much let Ethan get himself into it by himself as I feel that babies are very good at finding their own routine. :)