Ali and Sammy are 15 months old now! Wow. I know, I know, every mom always says it. I always say it. But where is the time going? I can’t believe my little tiny babies are well on their way to becoming toddlers. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sad to see the baby days fading. They are hard days, but I love the sweetness of being able to hold and cuddle my babies. Now that they are turning in to toddlers they are all go, go, go!
Getting older means we are making some adjustments to the schedule. The biggest change is the slow march to dropping the morning nap. My kids seem to be on the higher end of sleep needs. Ben held on to his morning nap most days of the week until he was almost 18 months old. Ali and Sammy are still needing the morning rest time. The average age to transition to one nap is actually from 15-18 months, so this is normal. The length of that morning nap is slowly getting shorter. The exact timing of it can float a bit depending on what else is happening that day. But it is always within the same two hour chunk of time, and it’s working for us. That’s the goal after all, to find what works for your family.
We finished weaning this past week too! I am having all those feelings of elation at the freedom this brings and sadness at reaching the end of such a sweet period. Regardless of my feelings Ali and Sammy were ready to be done, and haven’t looked back. That is what is most important to me, that my babies feel ready to wean. Not having to chase down two babies to feed them has made our days run a bit more smoothly. As smoothly as it can go with a three and a half year old and two fifteen month olds anyway.
Here are the details of our average day. If you want just the basics keep scrolling and you will see it.
The detailed schedule:
7:15am: Ben is released from his room. He usually wakes up around 6:30, but he stays in bed until 7am. Then he is allowed to play quietly until I get him up.
7:20am: Ali and Sammy get up. They actually wake up a few minutes before then too. They talk to each other and play with their lovies in their cribs. It might make me sound mean that I let my kids hang out in their rooms when they first wake up, but I have found they are happier when they get a few moments to fully wake up. Plus it gives me a little more freedom from having to rush right in when they wake up. I do my best to be ready for them, but mornings can be hard for everyone.
7:30-8:30am: Breakfast. Yes, sometimes it does take an hour. This is making and eating breakfast. Ali and Sammy like to enjoy their food. Basically at least one of them takes forever at every meal. The ladies play while Ben and I prep breakfast, then we all eat. This is when we usually get to Facetime with Meo too. The kids love having breakfast with Meo. I love that she doesn’t mind that sometimes the conversations get a little crazy and disjointed. And by sometimes I mean every time.
8:30-9:00am: The kids all play together while I clean up and get us ready for whatever the rest of the day holds.
9:00-11:00am: This is our first block that varies in exact timing, but contains the same items. Ali and Sammy still need a morning nap. A few days a week we go to library programs that require the girls to get up at 10:30 to get ready, so on those days they go to nap right at 9. Other days if they are all playing and having fun they might not go until 9:15. Once the girls are in nap Ben and I clean up the toys, then do our daily one on one time. This is some sort of learning or creative activity we do together. I choose what we do and for how long we do it. I aim for at least 10 minutes, and it usually lasts from 15-30 minutes. Ben then goes to independent playtime and I get a chance to work and do chores I don’t always need little hands helping with.
11:00am: Everyone is released! Everyone has a little snack if we are going out right away. I know not everyone likes doing snacks, but when we have a late lunch my little ones need it. Then we head to our activity. Other days we do an earlier lunch and then head out.
11:00am-1:30pm: This is our big outing time of the day. We do library programs, go to parks, run errands, play outside. Basically it is the main activity of the day. We try to get out every day, but I do throw in a couple of home days every couple of weeks. I aim to be home by about 1:45pm so we can all unwind before nap times. Oh, and hydrate if we have been outside. If we did an early lunch and I think the kids need it, I will offer a light snack.
2:00-4:00pm: All three kids take a nap. Ben is getting older, and now at three and a half I don’t worry if he is a few minutes late for nap time. Ali and Sammy need to be put down on time, but Ben can be more flexible. I’ll let him finish his activity, or sometimes we steal a moment to read a book. Overall he is in nap by 2:15 latest. The girls nap until 4 or 4:30. Ben almost always still naps. If he doesn’t he still has to stay in his bed. He can look at books, but he still needs to use this time to rest. Everyone must stay in bed until 4, and the latest I let them sleep is 4:30pm.
4:00-5:00pm: Everyone wakes up (or I wake them) and the kids have sibling play time. I get dinner together.
5:00-6:00pm: Dinner time! Ali and Sammy need to eat pretty close to 5 still. We try to wait until Pat gets home, but if he has to work later I go ahead and feed the kids. Almost every night he is home and we have family dinner though. Ben helps clear the table after, and the kids play while we do the major cleaning.
6:00-7:00pm: Family play time and tv time. I admit we are not hard and fast on screen time amounts. I aim to keep it as low as possible, but in the evenings we usually watch a show. The tv doesn’t go on until everyone is done eating dinner though, so there is no incentive to rush through family dinner time to get to a show. We also play and just spend time as a group. Around 6:50pm Ali and Sammy get into jammies and get a cup of milk.
7:00pm: Sammy and Ali are off to bed. Our bedtime routine with them takes about 5 minutes. We snuggle a bit, pray, and sing songs. Then they are off to sleep! During this time Ben gets to watch a short show.
7:15pm: Ben’s bedtime routine starts. We keep our core bedtime routine pretty brief. It can be knocked out in less than 7 minutes. Generally we have a little more fun with it though, taking about 15 minutes to get it all done. Ben is in bed by 7:30pm.
And that is the day of a three year old and two one year olds! I love that as the kids get older we have a bit more flexibility. For young babies minutes matter. It makes things way easier when I can use my discretion on exact timing without changing the timing of the rest of the day. I like that I can carve out special time with Ben. As the girls get older I will add more one on one time with each of them. There is also enough time in the day that I have moments to get my own work done. Wins all around.
If you are just interested in the bare bones without all my commentary, here are the basics.
3.5 year old basics:
7:15am: Wake up
7:30am: Breakfast
9:00am: One on one time
10:00-11:00am: Independent Playtime
11:30am: Lunch
2:00-4:00pm: Nap
5:00pm: Dinner
7:15pm: Bedtime
15 month old twins basics:
7:20am: Wake up
7:30am: Breakfast
9:00-11:00am: Morning nap
11:30am: Lunch
2:00-4:00pm: Afternoon nap
5:00pm: Dinner
7:00pm: Bedtime
I’m predicting that by 18 months Ali and Sammy will have wrapped up their morning nap. My goal is to transition them to independent playtime during that time period. I am hoping to offer some educational activities to them while working one on one with Ben. We’ll see how it goes!
Don’t forget that the giveaway for the Groovy Twins Twin Feet necklace ends today! You can enter until midnight eastern time! This giveaway has ended. Thank you to all who entered!
