working mamas..what's your schedule like?

eacerna

I go back to work next week so I am trying to figure out the changes we need to make in our daily schedule.

Right now, E wakes up around 7:30 am, bath at 8 pm goes down for the night between 8:30-9:00p, wakes up once around 5 am to eat and goes back to sleep again until she wakes up for the next day. When I go back to work, we need to bring her to daycare in the morning and pick her up in the afternoon. I used to go to work around 9:00 am and leave at 6 pm but now that has to change. I'll have to come to work at 8 am and leave around 4:30 or 5 pm. We are thinking of leaving the house at 7:30 am, DH will drop me off the train station (so I'm at work by 8) and then he'll drop off E at the daycare (daycare is opposite direction from our work). In the afternoon, I'll pick up E and DH will take the train home. Since we need to leave the house by 7:30 am, do we wake up E before then to get eat and get changed? Should we change our schedule so that we put her down earlier and she wakes up earlier? My only concern with that DH does not come home until around 6:30-7:00 pm. We can put her down around that time but that means she won't have time to spend with DH :-(. Can you please share what the schedule is like in your household? Thanks!

inamra

We do what you guys do--MH doesn't come home until 7pm and we have dinner together as a family and do bathtime + bedtime story as a family, so B also doesn't start his bedtime routine until 8pm and he's down by 9pm.

But the difference is that B usually sleeps until 9-9:30am because that's when I usually wake up for work, so he's getting 12 hours at night.

If you'd like E to sleep more during the night (or get in more hours), then yeah, I would probably put her down earlier. Does YH do the bath/bedtime routine? If not, then maybe he can use that as time spent with her...or maybe just play with her for 30 min instead of 1 hr so you guys can start her bath around 7-7:30pm (adjusted in 15 min increments for a few days) and have her sleeping by 8pm so at least she's getting 11.5hrs?

MauiWedding08

well, everyone's is probably different.  you will find something that works for you.  Ours has changed a lot in the 9mo I have been back at work.  J's schedule changed and also DH's commute time changed.  Here is what we do now:

J BFs at 6:30 (inched up there from 4-5, although some days he does wake at 5 and I let him eat then).  We get him ready - no set procedure, just whoever has time or whoever J is drawn to.  I have his clothes set out by day for the week to help us both out.  He does not eat again at home, we write when he last ate and they planned accordingly when he was still on just BM.  Now that he eat the food they provide he gets breakfast at 8 or so.

DH takes J to daycare at 7:30 (leave the house at 7:20 ish)

I pick him up at 5.

We eat dinner at 6, usually something that I was able to pre-prep or cooked the night before since I can't cook and supervise Jack very well on my own, DH usually walks in as we are finishing (I miss that we can't all eat together now that DH works far away).  I clean up J while DH eats.  Then they play while I clean up then we all play together until a little before 8.  DH reads books and I get him in his PJs and BF (he doesn't get a bath every night, but on nights he does I usually do it unless DH is showering anyways then J just takes a shower with DH).  He's out by 8:15 - that use to be later if he was struggling with not wanting to sleep.  After he goes to bed I do as much cleaning and prep for the next as I can.  This has gotten better as he has gotten older and more predicable.

We go home

vanilla15

I am interested to hear everyone's responses...I don't know what we could change, but I also don't feel like our routine is even close to perfect. 

I set my alarm for 5:30 (but lately Adair is waking up around 4!! We try to go back to sleep but lately I am lucky if we can make it to 5).  I nurse her whenever we wake up (and pump right after finishing).  DH tries to get more sleep while she & I go into the bathroom.  I start to get ready and often times she falls back asleep in there with me (who can blame her...getting up at 4:00 leaves you sleepy!!)  DH or I get her dressed right before we leave (just in case she gives us any surprises I don't have to worry about changing her clothes).  I try to walk out the door by 7:30 and then walking out of daycare by 8:00 & hopefully walking into the office by 8:30 (I pump in the car on the way to work).  DH picks her up from daycare usually around 3 - 4:00.  I get home at 5:30 & spoon feed her some cereal and then nurse her.  We play for a little while.  Start her bath for 7, nurse her at 7:30 & she is in bed by 8.  Right before we go to bed, I wake her up for a quick dreamfeed, then we all go to sleep & start the party all over again.

She doesn't get 12 hours of sleep at night which I hate, but she would have to go to sleep at 5 to get that & that just isn't possible.  We get home too late to get her into bed that early .  Hopefully she makes up for it with naps during the day.

inamra

vanilla15:

(I pump in the car on the way to work).

Are you pumping while driving?

vanilla15:

 

Hopefully she makes up for it with naps during the day.

Oh yeah, we have a HUGE napping problem. I'm lucky if I can get B to nap for even 2 hours TOTAL during the day. So the fact that he sleeps about 12 hrs at night is more important to me than if he napped well/more.

lelekay

I wake up first at 5:15 or 5:30.  I try to get Henry to sleep until 6:00, but often he's up when I am .  I usually get ready first, then feed him and dress him.  Some mornings MH helps me get him ready (depends on his work schedule), and then I get to sleep in until 6:00.  Usually I bring him to daycare leaving either at 6:40 or 7:00 (I have Chorus before school two mornings a week), or if MH doesn't work until later (some days he doesn't work until noon), then he brings him.  So, really, our morning are quite varied, depending on if it's a Chorus day, and what hours MH works.

Evenings, I always pick up, unless there's a school event (like tonight) that I need to stay for.  I pick him up at about 4:30.  MH typically works until either 6:00 (in which case he does bath), 8:00, or 11:00pm.  So often I'm solo in the evenings.  Henry eats dinner at around 5:30.  Then, bath at about 6:30, bottle and bed afterwards.  He's usually asleep by 7:00.  He still usually wakes in the night once (though is starting to sttn once in a while) anywhere from midnight-3:00am.  He feeds and goes right back down.

vanilla15

inamra:

vanilla15:

(I pump in the car on the way to work).

Are you pumping while driving?

yep!  I've got to pump before work & I simply cannot get up any earlier.  as it is, I am lucky if i get 5 hours of sleep a night.  I have the hands-free bustier and my nursing cover.  I don't have any problems pumping while driving...though if I were to get into a wreck, I am sure I would have some explaining to do! 

redshoegirl

Let's see...

Boys wake up at 7am. Sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a bit later, but it averages out to 7am. We both get them ready, each changing and dressing one boy (I often lay out their outfits the night before). 

Breakfast is a bottle at about 7.20, followed by solids at around 7.45/8am. 

We leave the house at 8.30am (we start work at 9am, thank god for short commutes!) and drop them off at daycare or with MIL if it's her day of the week. 

Pick them up at about 5.15pm.

Short play time while we cook dinner or prepare leftovers, then we all have dinner together at 6pm. Then there's usually another short play/cuddle time until we head upstairs at 7pm.

Bath, book time with Daddy, then bottle usually takes about 20 min. They're pretty much out by 7.30pm. 

After that, we do clean up - dishes, wash bottles, laundry, etc, for about 30 min. I try to get all of their stuff ready for the next day (restocking their daycare backpack, figuring out what I'm going to send for lunch if they're going to MIL's, etc.).

mrspresley

I think that is one of the main reasons we could not do daycare... I never get off work before 6pm and MH rarely does.

usually when she gets up in the morning (around 7:30) I will nurse her and then if she is up early enough I will potty her and start her breakfast. if she wakes later than usual (around 8am) then I just nurse her and then the sitter takes over from there as I leave for work. I should note that she is usually happy whens he gets up and I don't take long to get ready in the AM so she wakes me up I just let her lay in the crib while I brush my teeth and get dressed and then I go up and nurse her.

when I get home from work, between 6:30-7pm I will start or finish her dinner (she eats from 6:30-7:30pm), then she goes potty, then I do her bath, read her bedtime book and she is in bed around 8:30pm.  if there is already food made I'll try to eat dinner w/her but often I don't eat dinner until after I have put her down for bed.  then I wash her dishes and prep her food for the next day (I still steam a lot of food for her).

if you wake E up earlier she may not give you a choice about bedtime...she may insist on going to bed earlier b/c she'll be tired...unless she can  make it up w/naps.... so i'd wake her earlier and then see how things go re: bedtime and play it by ear

myday1708

Like everyone said, your schedule will change and you will find what works for you. Don't be afraid to try different things until you find the best schedule. We certainly tried different drop-offs, different hours, etc., until we arrived at our current norm.

Like... I used to drive in with DH and Alexa each day, but now I only do that 1-2 times a week. Also, DH used to work 8:30-6. He now works 8-5:30 in order to get Alexa home earlier. And I used to need more time in the morning to get her ready when I was BFing and packing/labeling bottles... Now she downs her sippy in 30 secs and we no longer have to send bottles since she drinks milk.

Here's our current sked (17-mo old) 

6 am -- DH gets up to get ready

6:30/6:45 -- Alexa wakes up or if not, then I get her up. I give her a milk sippy, change her diaper, dress her for daycare. Now I also do her hair. :-)

7 am --  DH and Alexa depart for work/daycare. She usually sleeps in the car. Meanwhile, I take a quick nap, then jump in the shower, get ready and catch bus/metro to work.

8 am -- DH arrives at work and drops Alexa off at daycare before heading upstairs.

--------------

5:30 pm -- DH is off, so he picks Alexa up and they drive home. She usually sleeps during the drive. Or says "apple" over and over and over and over....

5:55 pm -- I leave the office and head to metro.

6:30 pm -- We both get home. Quick, dinnertime for us and Alexa!

7:30 pm -- Bathtime

8 pm -- Bedtime 

eacerna

Thanks for sharing your schedules! Yeah, I guess we would have to try out different things and see what works best. The leader in my mom's group said we just have to accept the fact that during weeknights, we won't be able to spend much time with our LO's as we like because of our work schedules.