How strict is your child's routine?

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bedtimes, mealtimes, storytimes, playtimes, etc?

How strict are you? Are there designated times for the above? Are you more easy-going about it? What sorts of activities would you allow to disrupt the child’s schedule? How does the child’s schedule coincide with your own?

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Re: How strict is your child's routine?

On schooldays, of course waking up time is consistent and now, bedtimes are becoming more regular. We could do better though. Starting August, I'm going to work on getting them to bed by 8 pm.

Mealtimes are strict. Again that took serious management. We all have dinner together. That's a must. Breakfast...dad and the older one have together, then choti and I. But starting September, the girls will both go to school at the same time so I can see that changing.

I have to say that I'm not as strict as I should be...I've seen some extremely disciplined children. But it's worked for us this far. Now some things have to change.

Their schedule doesn't bother us, neither do their activities come in the way. I've been careful in not making them do too many things at the same time just so they have enough time to play, sit with us, and read.

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Re: How strict is your child's routine?

I try to be consistent but I am not extremely strict.
May be because my son is only 2 and he goes to the daycare and I work so we have to finish things by certain time and it just happens that way so I never thought of being strict.

As my son got older his sleep time changed by itself. I used to put him to bed at 7:30 and he would be asleep by 8 which changed to 8:30 and now it is 9:00 PM.
I tried to get back to 8 PM but no matter what he just would not sleep until 9 so I was wasting all of my time from 7:30 to 9 PM and getting upset and frustrated and eventually scolding him to go to sleep. So I stopped pushing him to go to bed early.
If he does not get enough sleep during night he sleeps longer at the daycare in the afternoon. I never asked them to wake him up if he needs to sleep longer.

I am bit strict about breakfast and dinner time as we eat breakfast together in the morning (have to leave by certain time) and at dinner time, I give him his dinner first (otherwise he says he is going to eat from my plate and then he does not eat so well ) so I have to wait until he finishes and since I am very hungry in the evening, I have him finish his dinner on time.

There is no strict playtime or storytime.

I am a bit leniant on weekends but he still has to sleep by 9:30 or if it gets too late then 10 (this is very rare) but no later than that.
Dinner time again rarely changes. Even if we go to someone's place I give him his dinner at the sametime. (I usually take his dinner with me so I am not asking the host for food but I tell them that he eats at this time and so I am giving it to him)
We have had episodes when he was hungry and evetually he got frustrated and then I was very upset and the whole situation was not very nice so to avoid that this is what I do.

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Re: How strict is your child's routine?

mm we have one parent (me) trying to enforce a fairly strict food-time and bedtime routine. and we have another parent who doesnt care much about exact times as long as kid eats well and sleeps well. its hard for my mechanical brain to comprehend things that don't have a schedule or order, so this is a common item we argue over these days.

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Re: How strict is your child’s routine?

**
Dare I Ask ?:khums:**

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Re: How strict is your child's routine?

we are not very strict at all.......though I wish we were in things like bedtime.
I tend to look at the bigger picture and make sure that a healthy child with a well-rounded personality exists....the rest I am easy-going about.....

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Re: How strict is your child’s routine?

Thank you for sharing, all.

Growing up, we didn’t have a particularly strict routine. I don’t remember hearing my parents ever use the term “bedtime.” We would eat and sleep with the rest of the family, but if we were tired or hungry at other times, nothing stopped us from addressing that need. There were constantly people in the house, so we grew up pretty flexible.

I do wonder sometimes about whether I am too lenient or too strict about Bunny’s routine. She is 18months old and doesn’t sleep until 9pm, most days. And that’s mostly because we have mashAllah so much family around, that there are constantly visitors or places to go. She does nap twice a day most days. As for meal times, lunch is pretty consistent, around 12:30, when she wakes up from her first nap of the day. Tho dinner is usually around 6, it changes depending on her nap schedule, visitors, our location, whether she’s having her fruit right after she wakes up or after dinner, etc.

Should I be keeping her home from things in order to maintain a routine? My instinct is to keep her part of as many family events as possible, because that’s how we were raised. Of course, Ammi says, “But she’s different; she’s special.” Unlike me. :teary1:

:smiley:

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Re: How strict is your child's routine?


I think your schedule sounds good. It's stable so it gives the kids a sense of what to expect when, but it's not rigid, so it allows for growth and surprises.


LOL I would never wake up a sleeping child either. That time is too precious (for both of us :@: ). How do you manage social events with bedtimes? Do you leave the kids at home? Don't go?


The thing is that a child is not a machine. Same input doesn't always equal the same output. And often a little flexibility and spontaneity yields big results (good and bad :D ).


That makes sense to me. That's how my parents were.

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Re: How strict is your child's routine?

I have an almost 15 month old and most of the times I think that I am following her routine...:(
Her usual bedtime is around 9:30-10 pm.Her nap time during the day is about 1.5 hours(she takes one nap in the day).We have a bedtime routine but there are days when she refuses to sleep till midnight or not even till 1 am.These are not the days when she takes longer naps during the day but they still happen,for reasons unknown.This then messes up her next day routine.She wakes up late,has a late breakfast...is sleepy when it is lunch time so misses that...
I try that she does not nap after 4 pm...and I have been guilty of actually waking her up although I absolutely love it when she is asleep and can get sth done.
We have dinner together when the husband gets home.Initially it was with her in the high chair but after a while it stopped working and she just fussed to get out.So now we both sit on the sofa and eat together(something I never thought I would encourage)...but I know she enjoys it.
I am actually not strict about her meals....breakfast and dinner are a sure deal but lunch gets messed up if she wakes up late in the morning.
We do go out some nights and try our best to be back by her bed time.Sometimes it is totally not possible,and that again messes up her bedtime.Just last week we were attending a grad party and we got back home at 12 am....she had taken an hour long nap in the car and was up till 2 am...I don't like it but it was inevitable...
All in all,I would say I am not strict.My parents and sisters think that I am cruel if I try to keep tabs on her day time naps....:(
They say that it is her age to do what she wants to and once she starts school she will be running after the clock for years to come.
Yeah....it was not the same when my parents were dealing with me...the grand daughter is the 'ladlee'....:D

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Re: How strict is your child's routine?


Seriously. She is lucky as all four grandparents live here mashAllah mashAllah.

And they are completely different as grandparents.

MIL feeds her sweets and gave her her first taste of ice cream, when she is known in the family for being so strict about diet and fatty foods and all that. She's also the one that had the hardest time when we moved Bunny into her own room. She felt it was cruel. I was so surprised!

Ammi brags all the time about how all of us were out of diapers and bottles before the age of 2, but if I mention training Bunny she is horrified and says to let her be a baby!

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Re: How strict is your child's routine?

We have a pretty consistent schedule. That's just how things work out the best for us. She sleeps b/w 8 and 9 pm. Will let me know herself when she's ready for bed (her energy level goes down and she starts rubbing her eyes and 'crying'). She then has her last milk feed and I put her in bed and she sleeps by herself. She never really wakes up after that mash'allah, untill the next morning 8 am.
For mealtimes I am pretty strict cuz her sleep/wake up times are mostly accurate.
When we're away I mostly keep to her schedule, I know when it's her sleeptime and mA when she's tired she'll sleep anywhere.

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Re: How strict is your child's routine?

^ Yeah, madam is so aware of the order of things, that she immediately tells me what she wants and what is expected, before I tell her what is supposed to happen next. She won't go and do things completely on her own, but she is happy to make the first move :D