This is an example of a typical day around our house. I wanted to keep track of things like this to help me remember how hard/fun/easy/etc. my life was like. It also really helped me when my good friend Ashley could tell me what her little girl was doing at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, etc. so I had a frame of reference with baby Violet. This is life as we know it - she is almost 12 weeks. We have a pretty routine 3 hour schedule and it's basically eat, play, sleep: rinse, repeat. Her naps get progressively shorter throughout the day and she naturally eats a little bit closer together at night to fill up her belly for the long night.
6:00: Nate is up and getting ready for work. Sometimes I'll get up around 6:30 so I can help him get out the door and have a few minutes before it's baby time because she is
starving when she wakes up so I need to be at the ready.
6:55: Baby is Awake! Sleeping since 11 PM the night before. She typically sleeps 7.5-8 hours with no interruptions - I know we are lucky!
7:00-7:30: Eat -she has always wanted to eat as soon as she wakes up. There's not even time to change her diaper!
7:30-8:15: Awake time. Change diaper, play on activity mat, I eat breakfast.
8:15-8:30: Back to bed. This is the time during the day I truly cherish. We both are still in our pajamas and we cuddle up in bed. She talks to me and usually easily falls back asleep for her longest nap of the day. I go back to sleep, too!
10:15: Awake! I usually slowly help her wake up a little bit because she could probably keep dozing off and on until 11. I've seen what happens when she sleeps that long and it's not good for the rest of the day.
10:15-10:45: Eat
10:45-11:45: Awake time. Get dressed for the day (her, not me).
11:45-12:00: Time for a nap. We have a pretty good system for getting her to sleep. It involves her "sleeping music" on the sound machine, a few minutes to cuddle, then down in the crib for her to fall asleep. Usually it takes a few minutes because she will just talk to herself, squirm around, roll to her belly and get frustrated, etc. Sometimes we help her calm down with a pacifier, and sometimes she doesn't need it. During this nap is when I can take a shower, get ready, have lunch, and do computer stuff. If we're going somewhere, I'll make sure everything is ready. I also usually clean up the house a little bit.
1:15: Awake!
1:15-1:45: Eat
1:45-2:50: Awake time. If I have to do any errands, this is when I typically do them. We're both dressed and ready and her belly is full.
2:50-3:00: Nap time.
4:00: Awake! This is another fun time of day because Nate gets home at 4 so usually he can tell me about his day and have a few minutes to transition from work to home while she is eating.
4:00-4:30: Eat
4:30-6:00: Awake time. We make and eat dinner. If we're going out to eat, this is when we go. She doesn't take very long naps in the evening anymore, so it's unlikely she'll sleep the whole time we're gone.
6:00-6:20: Try to go to sleep. She's tired and we know it. This is the time she fights going to sleep so it usually takes her a while and then she doesn't sleep for too long.
6:55: Awake!
6:55-7:25: Eat
7:25-9:00: Awake time. This is the most fun family time because we sometimes all three just lay on the floor and talk to each other. We're all usually home so we just hang out and enjoy each other.
9:00-9:25: Try to nap. Same situation. We all know she's tired and needs one more little snooze before bed time. I've tried to just have her stay up until her last feeding or just eat a little sooner, but either scenario has left us with an overtired baby who is not happy. Putting her to bed early means we're up at 5:30 or so and our day just doesn't go as smoothly so this is currently what works best.
9:55: Awake!
9:55-10:25: Eat
10:25-11:00: Bedtime routine. When she's done eating, we give her a few minutes to let her food settle while we prep the nightime stuff. Then it's bathtime, lotion/massage time, pajamas, a story, and then sleeping time. She usually is pretty tired since her last couple of naps have been short so she doesn't need as much awake time. Asleep by 11 is the goal and usually she's totally out by then.
Long story short:
-Eat at roughly 7,10,1,4,7,10
-Awake then nap after each feeding, sleeps 7-8 hours at night
