Inside: Want some sample routines for babies and toddlers? Here’s are all my sample routines and schedules.
I’ve always been a creature of habit. Growing up, I liked to try 234 ways to do things and – when I found something that worked – stuck with it religiously. In college, every day for nearly 3 years, I ate the same lunch.
Diet Coke and a small pack of combos.
What can I say? I’m a health nut. ????
When it came time to parent my little babies, I knew routine was the way to go. After all, there is no research that says routine is bad for kids, and all research says it is.
Read: The Common 2 Year Old Sleep Regression: How To Overcome
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What's in this post...
This worked for babies
With babies, well, this was fine. They ate and slept predictably and life was easy. I’ve had 5 easy babies – mainly due to a good routine. We used the same newborn routine and it helped me survive the newborn phase. The baby didn’t put up a fight so all was golden.
Then the babies grew up.
The babies became toddlers.
The toddlers wanted their own way.
Go figure.
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Learn MoreThe Dreaded Bedtime Battles
Even though it routine was good for my toddlers, they started fighting it. Fighting all the elements of bedtime.
“No brush teef!”
“Not 1 book, 5 books!”
“Mo wata!”
With a few kids to look after, this bedtime struggle was exhausting. It was discouraging, and it made the atmosphere at bedtime tense, stressful, and negative instead of a nice time of bonding. Sure, we did the normal wind-down routines, but something was missing. What was missing?
The toddlers being able to own the routine themselves.
The goal, for me, was to get buy in from my little ones so they cooperated with me on our daily routines instead of fighting them. How did I do that?
Read: The Crucial Elements of a Rock-Solid Toddler Schedule
Get my cheat sheets and find your family’s groove. Chore, independent play, meal, nap, bedtime, and MORE routine ideas!
A Set of Printable Routine Cards
I had these cards made, printed them onto cardstock, laminated them using this inexpensive laminator, and put them in the order we wanted for our morning routine and bedtime routine.
They’re are exactly what I needed—brightly-colored, fun and functional.
And since they are printable, I can re-print a new set any time I want. I can also use the same printable pack to create a unique, separate routine for all my kids.
Want your kids to learn to independently follow their routines? These visual routine cards do the trick.
Learn MoreGetting started with printable routine cards.
You can introduce these a number of ways. You can print them, let them help cut (with toddler scissors), and choose the order and hang them up together. This will help increase Buy In. However, you don’t have to do this, you can just bring the cards out on the day you’re ready to stop the power battles.
On the day you get started simply mention,
“You are going to learn how to get yourself ready for bed this evening!”
Or if there is another routine you are working on, exchange “in the morning” with “at dinner time” or “at playtime” or “at naptime.”
Then focus on the routine for a while as you help teach your child to recognize the symbols, understand the order, and learn to direct themselves through the routine.
You’ll be surprised how much your child enjoys the independence of recognizing and following through the routine on their own.
Get my cheat sheets and find your family’s groove. Chore, independent play, meal, nap, bedtime, and MORE routine ideas!
Putting the routine into practice.
When I first printed of the cards, my daughter was excited to help with the project. She chose where to hang them in her room, and said she was excited to use them the next day.
I went into more detail saying, “These are the cards you will use to help you through your morning routine.”
We talked about what each card meant and where it fit into the routines. The order isn’t all that important, but if you choose an order be willing to keep it because my daughter was serious about following them to a tee.
When it came time to use the cards…
How It Went
After I printed the cards, the next morning I went into my daughter’s room. Where was she?
Sitting up on the bed staring at the cards…
She said, “I’ve done the first two, now let’s get dressed!”
One-by-one, we went through each card on the routine until we were finished with the morning routine. This was day one and there was a lot of coaching, but this was expected.
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Learn MoreWe Carried On
Each day we tried again and again, going through the routine. When she stalled or didn’t want to do what the cards said, I Encouraged Encouraged Encouraged.
I praised her independence, her cooperation, and whatever else I could think of to praise. She began to go to the routine cards on her own and follow them fairly independently. Of course, some mornings she didn’t want to get ready at all.
I can relate!
On the whole, she followed the cards until she had memorized what to do without much coaching. If she needed reminding, of course, I did that too.
Get my cheat sheets and find your family’s groove. Chore, independent play, meal, nap, bedtime, and MORE routine ideas!
But seriously…
It meant that I didn’t have to babysit her throughout her entire morning routine when the tasks were ones she could do on her own.
Sure, she needed assistance and reminding from time to time, but this was a way to teach her independence without the constant nagging. When I was tempted to nag, I referred to the cards, not to constant verbal reminders.
The printable routine cards are an amazing tool that any parent can use. Now, getting all 5 kids to follow the cards without any reminders… that’d be a miracle. One I can pray for!
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FAQs
Walk through the routine with your child until they show signs that they are ready to be more independent in the routine without you. Then, just oversee the routine as they practice the routine more independently until they can confidently complete it without any help.
By getting them to take ownership of the routine, it will feel rewarding to them because they will be excited and proud of themselves that they know what to do and can do it all by themselves.
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Learn More::
I just bought your chore pack. How did you hang them on the wall?
So with our routine cards (similar) we laminated them and I just used tape. I’ve seen others use velcro on the walls and even hanging one of those plastic things with pouches and you can move the chore cards around to different sots. Imagine a shoe organizer, but not for shoes!
Hi Rachel! I really want to start using routine cards. I think my 3 year old would really benefit. However, what I’m struggling with is how to put routines together when our days are different from day to day. I have a 7 month old who’s naps are still unpredictable, my husband and I own two businesses and I have to be out and about some days and other days I have phone calls/ I need to food prep etc etc etc- she used to be much more independent and agreeable but since brother arrived she’s turned into more of a strong willed boundary pusher which I get but something needs to change. We used to have a routine where we’d go to the gym most days of the week and I’d use it as my daycare but cant with the little ones nap schedule and I think my daughter needs to be out of the house a lot more. So, can I change the routine daily? What if at night, part of bedtime routine was looking at what we had planned the following day? Or does it not need to be that detailed? Im more of an organized chaos person rather than very organized so I need some help. Thank you!
I love the idea to educate your toddlers at an early age to follow a daily routine. I want my kids to have a successful future and I can imagine that it begins with an early start. I definitely think that I should find a way to educate my son while he is still young.
What age would you say is the earliest to implement cards like this? My daughter is 15mo, so I think they’d be more helpful to me than anything else right now. Still, I’d like to start as early as possible!
Thanks
Kayleigh, ti’s a great question! They’d probably be more helpful to you right now absolutely, but you can always point out what you’re doing to your little one and eventually they’ll get it. It’s actually better to get them started visualizing what they’re doing even if they aren’t independent enough yet to do it.
these cards are so great
Thanks for sharing this information and it’s helpful to us. Keep sharing.
The idea of educating toddlers with the card is too good, and even this will help the toddlers to build independent decision-making skills. The set of cards hanged on the walls of the room as per kids’ requirements and the order is followed very seriously by my kid.
I obviously have full on pregnancy brain and cannot think straight (poured my coffee into a mug full of water used for priming, so.. I’m really winning today), but I cannot figure out how to use these cards. I’ve had them for a while now and I’d like to stick them in a way that is just on the back of the card but so far nothing has worked. I also can’t keep my rebellious 3 year old from ripping them down and ruining them but that’s a whole other story.