Naps
The best hack I have for naps is to get your kiddies to nap at roughly the same time as each other (if your child is too old to nap, he/she can have quiet time to relax in room with books). My toddler naps at 11:30am so I put baby down shortly after – this gives me at least an hour to do chores, blog, cook, whatever. This works well for now because the baby is taking 3 naps a day. As toddler gets older, his nap will become a bit later, let’s say 12:30pm. Around then, I can play around with baby’s nap as well – he can either stay at noon or move to 1pm, depending on what his morning nap is like.
Bedtime for Two by Yourself
When I was pregnant with C, I was so nervous about what I would do when alone and putting both kids to bed (J plays soccer once a week, teaches at certain times during the year, etc.) The first 2 months were simple because C didn’t have a bedtime and I could just put him in his swing and put A to sleep, and A’s bedtime routine is not super lengthy. Now C does have a bedtime routine AND he goes to bed first, so there is a little bit more involved but here is what has worked for me so far!
- Skip baths for the night to make things easier.
- Get baby in PJ’s and diaper and swaddle or whatever baby wears
- Get toddler situated either in crib with toys, in playpen with a video, whatever. You could also bring toddler to baby’s room with you with quiet toys or books while you put baby to sleep (but that wouldn’t work for my energy ninja).
- Take baby to room and give bottle and help put to sleep. Then, play with toddler until his/her bedtime.
Easy Bedtime Routine
I’ve used a variation of this bedtime routine since A was a little baby 🙂
- Bath
- Hygiene (this depends on how old your baby is – night diaper, brush teeth, comb hair, lotion, stuff like that)
- Pajamas (and swaddle or sleep sack if using)
- Sound machine on and lights low
- Snuggles and stories (and feeding here if baby is young, but once baby is a bit older I like to feed before bath)
- Kiss goodnight and put in crib/
