Evening schedule help!

Umm yea this is long but I dont know why haha.

Ok so I pick the baby up at either MIL or Mom's at around 4 and am home shortly after.

I usually run around like a loon when I first get home change baby, change me, empty/clean dishes from sink, feed fred, straighten up, start to get stuff out for dinner etc., check email, spend time with her etc etc etc

Sometimes the baby will nap for like 30 minutes to an hour at this time.

At around 5 DD gets a bottle (shes been skipping this a lot lately depending on when she ate last).

DH gets home at six and the problem starts here. This is the time DD wants to be held and is a bit fussy. Every night I find the two of us are rushing around like chikens with no heads. Dh need sto change and chill a bit. Im trying to cook and need him to take the babt. We are trying to balance cooking dinner with getting her in the bath and getting ready for bed at the same time. One of us usually is shoving food down out throats so we can get her bottle ready etc. I usually give her a bath by 7 and get her in her Pjs. By 730/8 she needs a bottle and is pretty exhausted. She is in her crib by 8.

I know the simple solution would be to eat after she goes to sleep....but I teach and eat lunch at 11am. I am STARVING for dinner by the time DH gets home even if I snack when I get home at 4.

What do you girls do if DC has an early-ish bedtime?

Re: Evening schedule help!

Jen it sounds like your DD could use an earlier bedtime. if she is fussy around 6pm she would probably do really well going to bed at 6:30 or 7 instead of 8. that way you can put her down and eat afterward.

so for now forget about the 5pm bottle - she is at the age that you can go down to 4 bottles a day. if your DH gets home at 6pm, he can wait 1/2 hour to wind down. when he gets home, hand him the baby, you get her bath ready, bathe her together, read her a book, give her a bottle (in whatever order works for you) and put her to bed.

i could never understand why DS always got so fussy at 6, because he always napped late... but as soon we started putting him to bed earlier all our problems were solved! plus he sleeps 12 hours a night so i must be doing something right

ETA: have a slightly bigger snack at 4pm and you should be fine until 6:30 or 7 when you can start dinner.

Message edited 5/19/2009 8:40:10 PM.

Re: Evening schedule help!

Message edited 6/29/2011 9:11:20 AM.

Re: Evening schedule help!

I get home about 6 with DS, so from 6-8 PM we are all about DS , playing, talking, feeding and bathing him. DH puts him to sleep around 8:15 , it takes DS a Long time to go to sleep bc he fights it (he is 8 months old) so we usually eat at 9 PM. we still didn't eat dinner yet tonight! It's a horrible schedule, but I would rather not take time away from DS to make dinner. I always have a snack when I get home bc we eat dinner so ridiculously late

I hesitate to put DS to bed earlier bc I already feel like we don't see him enough.

Re: Evening schedule help!

i think she needs an earlier bedtime too. If you give her a bathe and put her to bed around 630ish then eat after?

Do you bathe her every other day? Then you could at least leave out that chore every other day

Re: Evening schedule help!

Like the other girls said sounds like your DD definitely needs an earlier bedtime. We bumped up going to bed routine by a half hour and it's made a world of difference. I try to get him in the bath around 6:30 and he's sound asleep between 7:30-8. He sleeps 10-11 hours at night now (he's 6 months).

How about when you get home you play with DD a little bit and then start preparing dinner earlier. Skip all of the chores at this time and leave for later in the night (cleaning, email etc) until DD is asleep and you and DH have eaten dinner. This way when DH gets home dinner is pretty much all ready to eat, all you have left to do is get DD ready for bed. So while DH is settling in you can bathe DD. Then you can both try to eat dinner and have DD ready to go to sleep. Hope this helps!

Re: Evening schedule help!

ITA with LB-My kids go down anywhere from 6-6:45-they wake to eat but go right back down..

Re: Evening schedule help!

One other thing you could do - is forget the dishes in the sink and dishwasher and email that will give you more time to play with her or start dinner and you won't feel so pressured. Do the dishes after bedtime or in the am before you go to work.

Re: Evening schedule help!

Posted by headoverheels

Jen it sounds like your DD could use an earlier bedtime. if she is fussy around 6pm she would probably do really well going to bed at 6:30 or 7 instead of 8. that way you can put her down and eat afterward.

so for now forget about the 5pm bottle - she is at the age that you can go down to 4 bottles a day. if your DH gets home at 6pm, he can wait 1/2 hour to wind down. when he gets home, hand him the baby, you get her bath ready, bathe her together, read her a book, give her a bottle (in whatever order works for you) and put her to bed.

i could never understand why DS always got so fussy at 6, because he always napped late... but as soon we started putting him to bed earlier all our problems were solved! plus he sleeps 12 hours a night so i must be doing something right

ETA: have a slightly bigger snack at 4pm and you should be fine until 6:30 or 7 when you can start dinner.

Re: Evening schedule help!

A habit that I picked up a few months ago was making some meals during the weekend. I make 2-3 meals during the weekend.

I get home at 5:30 with DS and I just throw whatever I made into the oven to warm. We have always eaten our meals together at 6:15/6:30. DS goes down at 8pm.

The making meals in advance have given me a lot of flexibility in my schedule when I come home.

Re: Evening schedule help!

My schedule is somewhat the same. I like to put things away/start dinner b4 DD goes to bed b/c if I don't I am left with so much to do from 8pm on and I like to be in bed by 9:30 and don't get a chance to sit if I am running around!

So, I def. agree with the PP, if you put her to bed between 7 and 7:15 as I do with my DD, then you have from then on to eat dinner, finish dishes, relax, etc.

8 pm is usually too late for babies.