How to Create a Daily Toddler Schedule
How to Create a Daily Toddler Schedule
Having a toddler means you’re constantly on the move. Between snacks, naps, meals, and trying to keep your house clean, it can be easy to miss out on playtime or bonding time with your toddler.
Today I’m breaking down my daily toddler schedule for my two year old. We will talk about what goes into his daily routine, as well as how much we get accomplished each week.
Why is a Daily Toddler Schedule Important?
It gives structure
Toddlers, and kids in general, thrive with structure. Think about it: their lives are utter chaos most of the time. They’re carted wherever mom and dad want to go, they don’t have say over their moods be wise they haven’t developed the capacity to regulate emotions. So much of their world is out of their hands, so giving them expectations to follow gives them some semblance of control.
They can learn what to expect from a daily routine. Knowing we always brush teeth after breakfast or we clean up toys after bath helps them find their place in the world in a small way.
It sets expectations
Like I mentioned above, your toddler will come to expect that you’re going to clean during a certain time of day. He will expect to take a nap after lunch. She will become accustomed to taking potty breaks throughout the day. This expectation lessens tantrums during transitions from one activity to the next. Be aware I said lessens not alleviates, you still have a toddler after all!
It helps you not feel overwhelmed
Moms benefit from a schedule as well! Knowing that I’ve set aside an hour each day to get my chores done keeps me from stressing about accomplishing everything on any given day. Scheduling appointments on Wednesdays alleviates the stress of disrupting my gym schedule. Knowing we will get outside each afternoon gives us both something to look forward to. Having down time during his nap keeps stressful days in check because I know I’ll get relief from tantrums.
How to Incorporate a Daily Toddler Schedule
Creating a schedule that works for your family shouldn’t be all or nothing to begin with. Start early and incorporate a little more structure each week. I started with my morning routine and built my son’s morning around it. I lessened the expectation of a five star breakfast each morning and now make easy, filling, generally healthy breakfasts that will get us to snack time.
Maybe your toddler’s routine will center around nap times or preschool hours. Or it could be based off of your husband’s swing shift schedule. Make sure you are creating a schedule that actually works for your family, and don’t base it off of some ideal in your head. Be sure to include down time for yourself (mine is during his nap) and fun time where you are focused on your child and not cleaning, running errands, paying bills, or chauffeuring your kiddos.
Daily Toddler Schedule
This is our regular daily schedule, but it does not account for traveling, having family visit, or other changes to our regular routine.
6-7 wake up
Sometimes my son wants to be up at 6am, and other days he is happy to lounge until closer to seven. I currently wake up at 6:45 but I am trying to slowly push it back earlier.
7-7:45 playtime with dad
Once he is changed and we’ve gone potty, we head back to our bedroom where I drink my coffee and he gets solo time with dad. This is important for their relationship and allows me to wake up slowly, which is my preference.
7:45-8 clean up toys/potty break
At 7:45 I get ready for the day while our toddler cleans up his toys and dad takes him on another potty break.
8-8:30 breakfast
Dad hands off our son so he can get ready for the day while we head downstairs for breakfast. I keep it simple with semi-healthy and easy meals like oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, protein muffins, or boiled eggs. I try to choose foods that will keep us full until snack time, but don’t take very long to make. Most days, I eat faster than my toddler so I take that extra time to empty the dishwasher and start a meal in the crockpot if need be.
8:30-9 brush teeth/get dressed/driving to activity
After breakfast, we head upstairs to brush teeth and go potty, and then head out the door for the gym or appointments.
9-10 free play/socializing
Our gym has childcare while you work out, so my son get an hour of playtime with his peers while I get some mommy time. On the days we don’t go to the gym, he may have a doctor’s appointment or we have a special (read: more prep time needed) playtime at home.
10-11:30 snack time/errands with mom/public activity/solo playtime
After the gym, we run errands. This could mean grocery shopping, running to the post office or a myriad of other things. Sometimes we will use this time to go to a local splash pad or pool, or do story time at our library.
Especially when the weather is nice, I try to be outside as much as possible. He has snacks in the car on the drive to whatever activity we are doing. I make sure to know where a bathroom is at all times because we are currently potty training. we take potty breaks as needed throughout the day. for us, that means I’m asking him every 30-45 minutes and we actually go every hour or so.
If we are at home that day, this is his solo play time. I give him the choice of playing in his room alone or playing while I clean. It is important to note that if he plays ‘with’ me, it means he is playing by himself in the same room I am cleaning.
11:30-12 clean up/drive home/prepare lunch
This time frame is just a continuation of his free play time, but I usually move him to either his playroom or the kitchen so he is nearby while I get lunch ready. We always have a potty break before lunch to ensure no accidents in his high chair.
12-12:45 lunch time/potty breaks
I give him a thirty minute window for lunch, otherwise my child would stay for over an hour, without really eating. This is our personal rule and your child may eat quickly, but that is not the norm for most toddlers in my experience. We do another potty break after lunch and change into a diaper for a nap.
12-45-2:30 nap time
My son’s nap time starts around 12:45, but that doesn’t mean he is asleep by then. I lay him down and it usually takes about 20 minutes for him to fall asleep.
I have a personal rule that I will not get him out of his crib before 2:30 unless we have to be somewhere or he wakes up crying. It is rare that this happens, so even if he wakes up before 2:30, I let him hang out having ‘quiet time’ until then. This is so that when he drops his afternoon nap and we switch over to quiet time instead, he has an idea of what to expect.
On the days where he sleeps past 2:30, I will let him sleep until 3pm, and then I’ll wake him so as to not mess up his sleep schedule at night.
2:30-3 snack time
If your toddler is anything like mine, they’re grumpy upon waking up. Unless we have somewhere we need to be, I give him a 30 minute snack window where we hang out in his room and eat while he usually snuggles with stuffed animals or plays quietly. On the rare occasion he is ready to run around, I take him downstairs to play with our dog in the backyard.
3-4 outside play time (longer if it’s nice)
After snack, I try to get outside no matter the weather. We go on walks, play in the backyard or visit a park. This is my favorite activity of the day because if we are outside, we cant make a mess inside. Which means less cleaning for me!
In the summer, this is usually the hottest part of the day so I try to do more outside activities in the morning, or find shade to play in.
4-5 creative play
During creative play, I try to provide toys or activities that help him create. This can be:
- A jam session (we have a set similar to this music set)
- Coloring
- Painting
- Blocks (building towers, etc…)
- Play Doh (he loves this set)
- Magnets
- Figures
Anything that allows him to be creative is fine with me. Playing pretend is a great way to interact together. I try to make sure I am solely focused on him during this time. That means no cleaning, organizing, prepping, etc…
As I mentioned above, we try to be outside as much as possible. So this might mean he is helping me in the garden, or we build a ramp for his toy cars in the backyard. Any creative activity that we can take outside is fair game.
5-5:30 solo play while mom cooks
My son gets the choice of continuing with the activity he was playing with or switching to something else while I cook dinner. He usually opts for something new. It took a while to get him used to me leaving, but now he expects it. I try to pop into the playroom in between cooking tasks if I can to check on him.
6-6:45 dinner as a family
We eat together as a family each night. This gives him uninterrupted time with both mom and dad. We talk, count, and sing songs together.
This is such an important aspect of a child’s life and I absolutely adore this time. When he gets a bit older, we will start talking about our days together, but right now its just fun family time.
6:45-7:15 bath/brush teeth/clean up toys
After dinner, my husband takes him upstairs to prepare for bed while I clean up from dinner. This gives them more time together and splitting up tasks makes it more efficient. I used to stress about cleaning and then getting enough time with him before bed but by dividing and conquering, we both get time with him.
Upstairs, my toddler sits on the potty and then brushes his teeth (we let him practice and then follow behind him to make sure they’re clean). After that is bath time.
I know this might shock some of you but bath time is SO easy in our house. I’ve heard other moms complain about bath time taking forever or being a struggle but that isn’t the case in our house. This is because I’ve never let it last longer than 20 minutes. It is usually closer to 15. My son gets the same toys every night and only 5-10 minutes to play with them. Then it’s a quick hair wash and scrub and then we drain the water. This keeps him excited to play with his bath toys and keeps the night flowing smoothly.
When he got old enough to throw tantrums about wanting to keep playing, we gently reminded him that bath time was over and stood firm. Now, he expects to get out when we drain the tub.
Once he is dressed after his bath, we pick up his toys. He gets 10-20 minutes to play with us before bed. I like to hang back a bit to give my husband more time with him, since he doesn’t get to see him all day long.
7:30 bedtime
Our bedtime routine is pretty simple. We put away any remaining toys and read a book if he is interested. He gets to turn on his sound machine and turn off the light. We give hugs and kisses and lay him down with his favorite stuffed animal. After we leave, it usually takes him anywhere from 10-30 minutes to settle down and fall asleep.
Weekends
On weekends, our schedule is only slightly different. We will watch Saturday morning cartoons and bring him a sippy cup of milk to drink while we watch. We push breakfast a little later and skip snacks occasionally. if there is not an event or activity we need to get to, we love going for family walks. I usually skip the gym on the weekends. His nap schedule stays roughly the same but he might be napping in the car if we have an activity planned.
Schedule
- 6-7 wake up
- 7-7:45 playtime with dad
- 7:45-8 clean up toys/potty break
- 8-8:30 breakfast
- 8:30-9 get ready
- 9-10 free play/socializing
- 10-11:30 snack time/errands with mom/public activity/solo playtime
- 11:30-12 clean up/drive home/potty breaks
- 12-12:45 lunch time/potty breaks
- 12-45-2:30 nap time
- 2:30-3 snack time
- 3-4 outside play time
- 4-5 creative play
- 5-5:30 solo play
- 6-6:45 dinner as a family
- 6:45-7:15 nighttime routine
- 7:30 bedtime
Creating a daily toddler schedule is important because it gives your kiddo structure while allowing you to accomplish the tasks on your to do list.
What does your daily toddler schedule look like? Let me know in the comments below.
