If you are a stay-at-home mom and you have a toddler, you might feel like you are running out of things to keep your toddler happy, stimulated, and active. I know that I started to feel this way. My son is now 13 months old. Around 12 months he dropped his second nap and we are down to only one nap a day. This leaves a huge chuck of time in the morning and afternoon to fill and keep my son active and stimulated.
I had not been so good at following the advise outlined in the books Baby Wise II and Pre-Toddlerwise. I started to implement the books’ recommendations to fill the day and things have been running a lot smoother ever since then. His behavior has also improve a ton since I have more structure to his day now. If you click on each of the items listed below form the daily schedule, it will give your a description of what that activity is, how to implement it, and the benefits of including this activity into your day. (I will slowly add links to each activity as I wrote posts about them.) Here is a run down of our daily schedule:
6:30-7:00 am wake-up and play in crib
8:00am get out of bed, diaper change, and clothed for the day
8:10 breakfast
8:30 potty (my son usually will use the potty after he eats)
8:45-9:30 Independent play time (in his play yard)
9:30-10:00 Free Play
10:00-10:15 Snack
10:15- 10:45 Stroller Walk
10:45-11:00 Structured Play/ Learning Activity
11:00- 12:00 Unstructured Time (I use this to get errands done if I need to)
12:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30 Potty (my son usually will use the potty after he eats)
12:35-12:45 Quite time before nap- usually rock in rocking chair, reading books, and sing
12:45-3:30 Nap, usually asleep by 1:00pm
3:30-3:45 Snack
3:45- 4:00 Blanket Time
4:00-4:15 Story Time
4:15-4:45 Independent Play Time (in play yard)
4:45-5:00 Table Time (in highchair)
5:00-6:00 Free Play (Daddy usually comes home during this time and plays with my son)
6:00-6:30/6:45 Dinner
6:30/6:45-7:00 Family Play Time
7:00-7:30 Bath
7:30-7:45 Quiet Time & Getting Ready for Bed
7:45 Last milk for the day
8:00 Bedtime
*** On Mondays and Fridays we are usually gone in the mornings from about 9:30-11:30/12. One those days I move the structured learning activity to the afternoon during Free Play.***
Hello. Thank you for your blog. Your info is so helpful. My daughter is 12 months old and I am just now starting babywise. It is wonderful. However I have a few questions about free play. Should I be present in the room with her during free play? Also, do I place her in one room so she cannot move to other rooms? Our home is open and the living room is open to the kitchen but can be blocked by a baby gate. I have been putting the gate up so she can only be in the living room but where I can see her from all parts of the home. She is then allowed to play in the living room. Is this correct for free play?
Thank you for all your wisdom!! It is much appreciated!