I am horrible at time management! I have been trying to improve on this, to help my 2 young daughters to be better at it than me & I know they do better with structure. I am looking for advice, or some examples of a toddler schedule. My girls, age 2 & 4 typically get up around 6:30-7am, the 4 year old goes to preschool Monday-Friday from 12:30-3:30pm. They go to bed around 7:30pm, even though they sometimes don't go right to sleep. The 4 year old gave up naps at around 2, and the 2 year old is trying to give them up now! I would prefer they both take a little nap at least, the 4 year old sometimes gets very grumpy! Right now I work evenings, I leave at 4:30pm, so I don't have much control over their nighttime schedule. I am just hoping to get ideas on daytime schedules. How do I fit in a nap/quiet time & lunch before school at 12:30? The school does serve a snack, but too often when she gets home she is hungry, & I don't want to ruin her appetite for dinner. Any examples or advise would help, thanks!
i don't think you can keep a 2 year old and a 4 year old on a beautifully synched schedule. that 2 years will be nothing when they're grown, but right now that's a big age gap.
khairete
S.
Truthfully they are both too old for a morning nap/quiet time... I'd do a light snack at 9, lunch at 11, get 4yo ready and off to school, nap-quiet time the 2yo while the big one is at school, non messy small snack in car on wY home from school. Use those few hours as time to get your stuff done.
The two year old needs to nap daily in the afternoon. She should go to sleep when you get home from dropping the older one at school (1:00ish) and sleep for 1-2 hours (depending on how it affects her nighttime sleep). Don't try to put her down earlier in the day - she is too old for such an early nap and won't be tired enough. The older one can have quiet time on the days that she is home in the afternoon, while the younger one sleeps. On school days, maybe she can do quiet time from 11-11:30, then eat lunch and then go to school.
Both girls can have a small snack around 4:00, or whenever you get home from picking up the older one from school. Make it healthy, like fruits or veggies and/or a cheese stick and it won't be terrible if they eat less at dinner if they eat something healthy as a snack.
Keep them active in the morning so they are ready for the downtime later in the day. Go to the park, try a gymnastics or dance class, swimming lessons, etc. Look for a local moms group (I love www.momsclub.org) and find some-age kids to meet at the park.
Good luck!
It sounds like they are sleeping 11 hours a day already, so it is likely they would not need a nap. A nap before noon doesn't sound necessary or reasonable! If anything I would have them nap after school and make bedtime later. My kids napped/had quiet time between 3:00 and 5:00pm and that's when I made dinner/cleaned house.
You may not be able to get the 4 yr old to take a short nap before school.
Too compact in time. However, you could keep the morning time low
key until she goes to school & you go to work.
One other idea, see if she will lay down w/you for 30 mins of quiet time
after she gets home from school or BEFORE you go to work. Just lay on
the sofa or bed together, talk quietly about her day & see if she can
just relax/lay with you for those 30 mins.
She needs to eat a light lunch when she comes home. School makes
them hungry & she'll be starving by dinner time.
Allow a light snack (small sandwich etc.) aft sch.
-Or let her snack be her dinner & give her as much as she wants to
eat then at dinner time let her have lighter fare. It'll be her before
bedtime snack as she goes to bed so early.
Remember go with her schedule as far as feeding so she isn't hungry.
Use your lunch hour to make lists/meal plans/shopping lists etc.
There will be plenty of time as the as the kids get older that you will be
able to have the traditional around the table dinner-time.
Work "with" what you have instead of against it.
Kids generally come home from school starving as they are "held hostage" from their normal at-home routine where they can grab snacks
at will.
At this stage, you want to get nutrition into them as opposed to having
traditional sit down dinner times. Just yet at least. The 4 year old is
getting close to that though. Just hang in there.
Can you change to morning preschool? I never understood how afternoon preschool could possibly work for families with children that napped.
It sounds like they are already on a schedule. While you cannot force them to nap, you could require a 1 hour quiet time on their beds at 10:30 each day.
Also, there's nothing wrong with an apple or half a sandwich and a small cup of milk right after school. Don't feed them a meal, just something to tide them over until dinner.
ALL kids need a small meal when they get home from school. Lots of protein and not many carbs. The carbs will spoil dinner and the protein will be used quickly.
I would not do a nap before pre-school. That's odd. She can have a quiet time of course but I would not want her to go to sleep. Once she's gone, right after lunch or even in the vehicle, let the little one go to her bed and sleep. Shut the curtains, close the blinds, turn off the lights. Stay there and pat her back or something. This time while the other one is at school is her nap time. It's normal to nap after lunch and then get up to go get school kids.
Updated
ALL kids need a small meal when they get home from school. Lots of protein and not many carbs. The carbs will spoil dinner and the protein will be used quickly.
I would not do a nap before pre-school. That's odd. She can have a quiet time of course but I would not want her to go to sleep. Once she's gone, right after lunch or even in the vehicle, let the little one go to her bed and sleep. Shut the curtains, close the blinds, turn off the lights. Stay there and pat her back or something. This time while the other one is at school is her nap time. It's normal to nap after lunch and then get up to go get school kids.
