what do you do in a day?

[magpiedee]

I often worry that i'm not stimulating Cleo enough or playing with her enough, and I was wondering what your day usually looks like-- what you do, what you play, where you go, when your baby eats and sleeps. How do you strike a good balance between stimulation and chillin'?

[lenore80]

:

[blairinargentina]

i am of the belief that most infants are continuously overstimulated by all the lights-flashing, music-playing, constant-motion baby gimics on the market. so, for us, we are probably more mellow than most an any given day.

we get up and she kicks around on the floor during breakfast. then takes a nap. eats when she wakes up. we do errands if we have them. go for a walk. snuggle in the rocking chair. eat some more. take another nap. and snuggle and play in the afternoon before dinner. that's it in a nutshell.

our stimuation comes from daily walks and playing on the floor together... with a few hand toys. we have swing but she wont stay in it for longer than 15 minutes.

[veganf]

Well, around here Nate is mostly overstimulated to death by his two older brothers, and his dada when he's home. And when they're not home he acts bored to tears.

More specifically:
7am - wake up, Nate lays in bed and plays while I get his brothers dressed.
7:30am - nate gets dressed and then sits in the kitchen while I make his brothers breakfast, put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher, pump donor milk, and maybe get a little something to eat myself if he has any patience left.
8-9am - hang out while I do laundry, play with all the boys, get snacks and lunch ready for preschool if it's a school day, nurse once maybe, then wake up dada.
9:15-10:00 - nurse & 1st nap. (I meanwhile check email, change laundry, take out compost, pump more milk, make a snack for the boys if they're home, etc.)
10-11:30 - play with brothers if they're home, play on the floor or in the swing and listen to music while I fold laundry or clean (haha, clean...yeah, that happens often ) Mostly get carried around and playtime with mama, nurse once more maybe. Go shopping if needed.
11:30 - play in exersaucer or in bouncy seat while I make lunch.
11:45-noon - brothers eat lunch, dada goes to work (3-4 days a week, on weekends he's long gone).
12:15-1pm - nurse & 2nd nap. (I do pretty much the same thing each nap.)
1-3pm - play outside if we can in our yard or at a playground, etc. Play, snack, whatever.
3pm - snack for the boys.
3:15-4pm - nurse & 3rd nap.
4-5pm - tv, I make dinner.
5pm - boys eat dinner, Nate nurses.
5:30-6pm - dishes, wash diapers, etc.
6-7pm - video games, dada gets home on weeknights, dada eats dinner and boys have a snack.
7pm - bathttime, brush teeth, pjs, books. Nate gets a bath twice a week with dada.
7:30 - Nate's book and nurse in bed.
7:30-8pm - bedtime.
8-10pm - I clean up, have my own snack sitting down with both hands , watch tv, intend to scrapbook but fold diapers and scrub squashed raisins off the floor instead.
10pm or so - I go to bed.
1am or so - my husband goes to bed.

[blairinargentina]

Originally Posted by veganf

Well, around here Nate is mostly overstimulated to death by his two older brothers, and his dada when he's home. And when they're not home he acts bored to tears.

More specifically:
7am - wake up, Nate lays in bed and plays while I get his brothers dressed.
7:30am - nate gets dressed and then sits in the kitchen while I make his brothers breakfast, put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher, pump donor milk, and maybe get a little something to eat myself if he has any patience left.
8-9am - hang out while I do laundry, play with all the boys, get snacks and lunch ready for preschool if it's a school day, nurse once maybe, then wake up dada.
9:15-10:00 - nurse & 1st nap. (I meanwhile check email, change laundry, take out compost, pump more milk, make a snack for the boys if they're home, etc.)
10-11:30 - play with brothers if they're home, play on the floor or in the swing and listen to music while I fold laundry or clean (haha, clean...yeah, that happens often ) Mostly get carried around and playtime with mama, nurse once more maybe. Go shopping if needed.
11:30 - play in exersaucer or in bouncy seat while I make lunch.
11:45-noon - brothers eat lunch, dada goes to work (3-4 days a week, on weekends he's long gone).
12:15-1pm - nurse & 2nd nap. (I do pretty much the same thing each nap.)
1-3pm - play outside if we can in our yard or at a playground, etc. Play, snack, whatever.
3pm - snack for the boys.
3:15-4pm - nurse & 3rd nap.
4-5pm - tv, I make dinner.
5pm - boys eat dinner, Nate nurses.
5:30-6pm - dishes, wash diapers, etc.
6-7pm - video games, dada gets home on weeknights, dada eats dinner and boys have a snack.
7pm - bathttime, brush teeth, pjs, books. Nate gets a bath twice a week with dada.
7:30 - Nate's book and nurse in bed.
7:30-8pm - bedtime.
8-10pm - I clean up, have my own snack sitting down with both hands , watch tv, intend to scrapbook but fold diapers and scrub squashed raisins off the floor instead.
10pm or so - I go to bed.
1am or so - my husband goes to bed.

my goodness, you are one BUSY lady! I am in awe on your super powers... I can hardly find the energy to take care of one! Go mama go!

[veganf]

Originally Posted by blairinargentina

my goodness, you are one BUSY lady! I am in awe on your super powers... I can hardly find the energy to take care of one! Go mama go!

It just happens. I do what I have to do with 3 kids/boys : .

[KarmaChameleon]

My day looks a lot like veganf's! Plus I work one afternoon and one morning teaching preschool yoga so there is a lot of extra shuffling of 3 kids on those days (one to my mom's, one with me, one needs someone to come get her off th bus, hubby gets baby and then picks up oldest, it's exhausting really...)

But as far as "playing" with baby -- Patience spends a ton of time in the backpack just watching whatever iti s i am doing

[taradt]

We don't have a schedule. The last 2 weeks have also been super fussy and we just realized he had the chicken pox during that time.

We get up, diaper change/naked butt time while I get things organized for the day.
DD and I have breakfast, then she plays in her room while I have my coffee/computer time and nurse Kienan who then naps.

After that the day is a mix of chores with Kienan in the carrier, nursing, homeschooling, playing with DD, reading books and our outdoor time. Another nap which is usually in the bed.

Then it is finishing up any chores that didn't get done, doing a workout dvd and dinner making.
DH gets home and it is dinner. DD then has a shower with DH while I nurse Kienan, who naps. Then story for DD and bed (it is about 7pm now) and DS joins me at the computer and falls asleep in my arms until I go to bed at 9-10.
Once chickenpox are done I plan to work on getting Kienan sleeping in the bed and have time in the evenings

tara

[veganf]

Originally Posted by KarmaChameleon

My day looks a lot like veganf's! Plus I work one afternoon and one morning teaching preschool yoga so there is a lot of extra shuffling of 3 kids on those days (one to my mom's, one with me, one needs someone to come get her off th bus, hubby gets baby and then picks up oldest, it's exhausting really...)

But as far as "playing" with baby -- Patience spends a ton of time in the backpack just watching whatever iti s i am doing

How could I forget the twice a week visits to grandma's house in the afternoon (the boys take turns), or aerobics twice a week (actually the instructor is on leave right now for foot surgery and I don't care for the substitute), or the friday craziness when Ryan has preschool but A.J. doesn't.

That reminds me...there's no "baby in a backpack" smilie!?!

[JenMidwife]

what kind of baby backpacks do you guys use?

[blairinargentina]

we have a sherpani rhumba superlight. we have just started using it and we LOVE it!

it's really light to begin with. has a chest harness thingy to prevent slumping. lots of other nice features. highly recommended.

[veganf]

Originally Posted by JenMidwife

what kind of baby backpacks do you guys use?

I just have the hand-me-down Kelty that I used as a nanny.

[taradt]

I have a MEC one for bigger hikes and an Ergo for house/yard

[JenMidwife]

MEC? is that a brand or an abreviation?

[taradt]

Sorry it is a brand

tara

[2 in August]

Ian usually wakes up sometime between 5-8 am to eat (depending on what time he fell asleep the night before, he sleeps 5-6hrs at night). He was starting to sleep in his amby or bed but lately he's been needing me to sleep with him again.

After he eats, he falls back to sleep for another hour or so, lots of mornings I do too.

If I don't fall asleep, I try to get something done (dishes, precook dinner, etc) or start getting dd and myself ready for whatever activity we have that day. 4 days a week we go somewhere scheduled, each day a different time. He always stays with me, I won't put him in any sort of nursery care this young. So he sees what I see and interacts with everyone around us. If we are home he plays on the floor with his sister or sits in the bouncy seat and watches her play while he chews on his toys. If he's not in the mood for that, I hold him, the 3 of us read stories or tell jokes, sis watches some tv (sometimes too much).

When we get home we have lunch (if it was an a.m. thing). Try to get Ian to take a nap so I can get more chores done/start supper. He's not been napping great lately either. Listens while dd and I do school.

He usually takes another nap in the evening. Wakes up to do story/bath/bedtime ritual with big sis. Sometimes goes back to sleep right away, sometimes stays up for awhile.

Some nights he's out at 11pm others he is still up at 2am. Luckily, I'm a night owl and I just make up by catching a nap sometime during the day, usually while nursing him. I'm fortunate that dd is pretty independent and plays on her own a lot. So I can keep up this crazy deal.

I usually hold/carry him about 18-22 hours a day. Depends on where he sleeps. Right now I'm holding him. Dh calls him my appendage. I don't have a sling yet either, luckily he's only 13lbs.

Daddy works different days and hours each week so Ian sees him whenever he's home, usually when I have to go pee!

[magpiedee]

Okay, i'm feeling much better now. Whenever I worry about what i'm doing with Cleo at the time, I think about what cavemen did with their children, and it makes me feel better-- as in, they carried them everywhere, didn't put them in front of the TV, etc. I worry that I don't spend enough time talking directly to her, that I just sort of drag her around everywhere like Sonic drags Tails, but she really does like to get out and see things and people.

Our day:
- wake up around 9am, Cleo has breakfast in bed
- lay her in pack n'play while I have breakfast, check email, do dishes, etc.
- I take a shower while she sits in bouncy
- nurse and play and first nap (11am, about)
- outing of some sort - shopping, walking, visiting, gallery
- come home, nurse and nap (3pm, about)
- play, hang around, sit on the floor, try to do work
- 5pm I have dinner, she's in swing
- nurse, nap (6pm, about)
- play, hang around, try to do work
- 8:30 bedtime, nurse to sleep

We need more floortime... but we also need more floor.

[JenMidwife]

Originally Posted by magpiedee

We need more floortime... but we also need more floor.

hehe, i totally hear you!!! our floor is just LITTERED w/ baby crap!

[veganf]

Originally Posted by JenMidwife

hehe, i totally hear you!!! our floor is just LITTERED w/ baby crap!

Ugh, I hear you. Our house isn't very big for a family of 5. And I don't know what I'm going to do when Nate starts crawling around, because the boys toys are all over and now that they're older the pieces are smaller, and my husband is no help with that, in fact he adds to the problem with rubber bands, staples, dirty tissues : , etc.

[Bay Area Babe]

Hmm...not a whole lot. I try to get out the house at least once a day. Three naps, lots of holdies and lovies and nursies. I like to get out since I can wear him (we don't have a lot of floor space and are in a 1BR apt w/two cats...) and like to sleep with him for his afternoon nap since he'll sleep more than 45 minutes if I do.

I'm a high functioning introvert so he doesn't really get talked to directly if we're alone together so I hope he's getting enough language pick-up from when we're out and about or when daddy is home.