Setting a Daily Routine for My 3Yr Old Son

One thing I found helpful was making a chart. I got a big piece of posterboard and had it laminated and then I got on the computer and typed and printed out various daily activites with little coordinating clip art pictures. Examples: brush teeth, eat breakfast, potty break, arts and crafts, reading time, outside play time, snack time, tv show, lunch, run errands with Mom, (I also have school subject ones where we try to do some little type of school project, not necessarily every day though - science, math, history etc), nap time, music time, dinner, bath, clean up, story time, bedtime. Basically the possiblities are endless, but once I got all the ones I wanted to do and typed them out (in BIG print and put picture next to it) I printed them all out, cut them and had them laminated them as well. Then I bought a roll of velcro and put 8 velcro squares up on the posterboard and the other side of the velcro squares on the precut activities. Once it was all done I hung the posterboard on the fridge and I had about 25 different activites to choose from. I would post the first 8 things for the day and this way he could see what the plan was and that there was some structure and we would rotate them throughout the day. It also allows for some flexibility day to day as different things may come up. It eliminated a lot of arguing and complaining about what we were going to do each day because he could just look up at the chart and be involved in it by helping to hang them, take them down, even check them off. We've been off of it for a while bc I'm 9 months pregnant w/ a complicated pregnancy but I'm definitely planning on starting it up again after baby arrives. It's been super helpful for us and if you have any questions just let me know. Good luck!

I think I would focus on the eating and sleeping first, as the major things to set the schedule by. So I would say to try to continue to be consistent with his wake-up and bedtimes, and his nap if possible, and then set a guideline for his meals and snacks.

Once those times are set, adding some general guidelines to fill in the other spaces in the schedule might work. Like: breakfast at 8 or 8:30, followed by outside play time; snack at 10, more outside time, lunch at noon, reading books after lunch (20-30) minutes, nap time, wake up from nap and have a small snack, then etc.

Its up to you how scheduled you want him to be, but I think that setting the basics of wake-up/sleep and meals first will help the rest fall into place a bit more for everyone.

I would also suggest talking with your step-dad and your boy's father and find out how much they want to help in scheduling/how much scheduling they will tolerate. They may or may not be helped by having a super-detailed schedule or not, depending on their personalities & other factors.

A friend of mine in a similar situation has struggled with the fact that her ex keeps no schedule whatsoever with their son when he has him, and also is very lax about rules/discipline and she constantly struggles with this. It takes a couple of days after a visit to his dad before the little boy (age 4) gets back into his mom's routine and stops with crying/poor sleeping.....

I think the big thing is to try enlist the other caregivers in helping, by explaining that this is all to benefit your son, rather than dictating to them how it should be done. If they feel its a partnership rather than a dictatorship hopefully everyone can get on the same page and the same schedule. :)

I have a 3 and a 4 year old..

up at 7 breakfast,, a tv show... play outside, or inside,, sanck at 930, go somewhere... home for lunch at 1130 learning activity craft ... nap 1pm.. up at 330 snack, outside play... dinner 530 bath 645 bedtime 730.

I have a son and daughter that are 17 months apart, so when I brought my daughter home I knew I had to revamp our schedule. I am a former school teacher so I went out and bought a lesson planbook and planned out our day like I would have done for one of my classes. Kids need and want structure, so it is a good idea to put a daily routine together. Here is what I did, just to give you an idea of what may or may not work for you. This was my plan when I first brought my daughter home 15 months ago:

6-9am first bottles, get dressed, daily clean up-load of laundry, make beds, etc., have breakfast.
9-10am walk/stroller ride
10-10:30 outside play (backyard or nearby park)
10:30-11:00 reading time
11:00-11:30 music time
11:30-12:30 tv time/play time w/ toys
12:30-1:00pm lunch
1:00-3:00pm nap
3:00-3:15 snack
3:15-3:45 games or easy craft activity ( I bought a bunch of infant/toddler books with ideas for age-appropriate activities)
3:45-4:15 outside play/indoor play time

This schedule was pretty flexible for me. I could move things around throughout the day pretty easily, but breakfast, lunch and naptime were pieces that I kept the same each day to provide consistency. Sometimes I scheduled the kids' baths right after lunch to encourage naptime!)Hope this helps!
A.

you probably have more of a routine than your realize, you just don't have it written down anywhere. All routine means is you do the same things in the same order most of the time. So you already have pretty standard times for wake time and bedtime, and that is very good - although when he starts school, he may be more tired, from more stimulation, and need earlier bedtime, or maybe need earlier wake time to get up and ready in time, so those could change, depending on how he adjusts to school.

I would say do things in a logical order, based on where you naturally are during certain times of day....wake up - go potty first ( always make toilet a priority when training - its a good habit) then get dressed, make bed, put dirty clothes in hamper/basket. Then go to the kitchen, eat breakfast, brush teeth, POTTY again, get ready to go to school or get ready to play. School, or play time,POTTY, then Lunch, then POTTY, then nap if he will still take one. POTTY right after nap, play more, dinner, POTTY, bathtime, brush teeth, stories, bedtime. Pretty simple - it doesn't have to have exact times to everything, just follow the basic order of things, so he can know what to expect coming up next. Try to keep bedtime standard, and if you need to move its time, move it by 15 minutes every couple days till you get it where you want it.

You could make a chart,if you want to. But make it very simplified - get dressed, make bed, brush teeth, POTTY - just the things you expect HIM to be responsible for, give him stickers when he accomplished each task.

Good Luck!
Jessie

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Make a fun chart/board that's colorful. Use pictures instead of words since he's only 3. This worked for my son. I started him on a 'routine' too around 3 I believe. We did simple things like we get up and brush our teeth, then "make the bed" which consisted of just pulling the blankets up and situating his favorite stuffed animal in front of the pillow. didn't have to be perfect since you just want him/her to get used to doing something :o) then breakfast, putting his clothes when he changed in the hamper, and not on the floor...just lil things at first. you don't want things TOO structured/scheduled, atleast that's my opinion. Spontaneous things are always fun for kids too, but I can understand why you want to start having some daily routines. It makes the child feel more comfortable :)

Good question! Hope all goes well for you and your son! Make it fun...