Hellobee Boards

@JLC53: Is your LO awake that whole time from when you get home until he goes to sleep at 8:30? If so, that's a really long time for a 9 week old to be awake. I would move bed time up closer to 7:30. That will also give you more time to cook your dinner and relax between his bed time and your bed time.

@JLC53: My almost 5 month old goes to bed at 7:30ish and STILL takes a cat nap between then and when we get home from daycare at 5. Despite his big sister's attempts to keep him awake

I second that that is a really long time for a 9 week old to be up w/out a nap or earlier bedtime. Have you tried wearing him for his last nap? I found the last nap of the day was always the hardest but also kind of the most necessary because otherwise nighttime turned into a disaster, so it was kind of a by any means necessary thing to get my LO to sleep.

When is his last nap at daycare? Does he ever fall asleep in the car on the way home?

@JLC53: You could, but you don't have to black out their room. I was going to and then a friend suggested I don't because its better to "train" them to be able to sleep under lots of conditions. (i.e. it doesn't have to be a perfectly dark, dead quiet room, etc.) We live in the city so I wanted him to be okay with sleeping through fire trucks and people being loud and trucks, etc.

DS is 3 and DD is 14 months, though this schedule has been more or less the same since I went back to work when DS was 12 wks old. DD is in the 1 yr old room and only gets 1 nap. When she was napping 2x/day in the infant room we could push her bedtime back a bit. As she gets older we'll push her bedtime back, and when DS stops napping at school we'll probably move his up.

4:30 - leave work
4:45 - pick up, feed kids small snack in car
5pm - get home, kids play outside on patio or in the house (and by "play inside," DS will color or something and DD takes a dive into the Tupperware cupboard) so I can start on dinner. I try to change my clothes at this time. If they're crazy screaming i give them another snack (I try to make this healthy-ish - cheese or applesauce for DS, DD is super into frozen peas.) Either DH or I play with the kids while the other cooks. We try to squeeze in a family walk at this point.
6:30 - family dinner
7:00 - bath for DD (or as soon as DD starts screaming)
7:15 - DD nurses, and I put her to bed. She's usually asleep by 7:30
8:15 - bath (every other day) and/or start bedtime routine for DS
8:45 - 9pm - DS is asleep and we start prepping for the next day.

I've never used blackout shades -- I want my kids to be able to sleep even if it's not dark. So far it's worked for us.

@JLC53: my kids are early risers (baby has been getting up before 6 lately and both were up by then today) so they need their rest. I also need them in bed so I can take care of everything else!

@JLC53: also I definitely remember bedtime being later with my first until at least 12-15 weeks but she has never been a good sleeper. So it may be something to work up to.

@JLC53: crockpot meals are great! Chicken tortilla soup, chili, sesame chicken.

Now that it is warmer we make salads sometimes. I try to chop and wash the veggies before, then throw some chicken in a pan and sauté it, then put it all together.

Burgers are quick and easy and you could do the parties ahead.

We make this chicken and it is fast and easy:
http://www.food.com/recipe/sweet-sticky-and-spicy-chicken-507266
I put the rice on first and everything is usually done at the same time. Once you brown the chicken you can leave it on the stove without much attention.

We also make chicken pesto--strips of chicken in a ziploc with pesto, then coat in a mix of bred crumbs and grated Parm, then in a big casserole dish. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes. I can't remember where I got the recipe.

We meal plan every week and I try to do some advance prep--cut the chicken the way I need it for the recipe when I get it home, or chop the onion the night before I need it, and that helps a lot.

I also like to make a bigger meal on the weekend that can be leftovers. This weekend we are having this:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/speedy-baked-ziti
Or enchiladas are great to throw in and forget too!

When DD1 was 12 weeks (when I first put her in DC) her schedule was something like this:

5:15pm - pick up
5:30pm - home
playtime...whatnot (daycare always gave a bottle between 4-5pm so I did not have to give one at home...when I was still nursing I would try to nurse her at this time...but usually failed)
6pm - dinner
7/7:30pm - Bottle then DD put down in the swing (main floor)...this was really the start of her nightime
9pm - dream feed and put in crib

DD had a similar routine to this (i.e. put in swing for 2-3 hours before "bedtime" until she was like 7/8 mos and I was comfortable she could go from 7pm til 6am without getting hungry.

With regard to the blackout curtains - we never used them until we moved DD to the front of our house (faces West gets very bright afternoon/evening sun)...I always wanted her to be able to sleep in daylight...which she can.

DS is 5 months old and started daycare 2 months ago. Our routine has been about the same since starting.
4:35 -pick up - he falls asleep in the car about 90% of the time
5:15: arrive home, prep and wash bottles and pump parts, get daycare bag ready for the next day- I let him sleep until 5:30 if he doesn't wake up when the car stops. If he wakes up then I either put him in his swing or he plays on the floor in the kitchen. If those options are unsatisfactory for him, then I put him in the ring sling and do my chores. DH makes dinner during this time
6:30- eat dinner and play a little more
7:15- get him into his pjs and nurse. DH does dishes and gets our lunches ready for the next day while I'm in the nursery
7:30ish - he's asleep and we relax until 9 or 10 and we go to bed!