daily routine?

Just curious as I never seem to be able to get anything done! I'm lucky if I manage to wash up and do the kitchen counters every day! My house needs a total scrub but we're moving soon and dh is away most weekends so no time then either!
dh works 7-3 or 11-7
Our average day is like this

Nathan wakes up between 7.30 and 8
we have a muck around/crawl/climb on the bed for 20 mins or so after a
I put him in his cot while I shower quickly as within 10 mins he's usually crying
we go downstairs for breakfast and I do his nappy
both have breakfast about 9
Nathan sits playing in highchair while I wash up ( usually last night's dishes too )
get Nathan dressed
quick
10 ish take Nathan and dog out for 45 mins to an hour. N usually sleeps 30-40 mins
11.00 Nathan has a play in playpen for 20mins or so while I sort washing out/stuff nappies/wipe worktops and maybe do dinner for slow cooker/make lunch

then we have some playing/climbing/singing on the sofa
12 or 12.30 lunch then wash up

Nathan has a crawl around and practises standing /cruising for a bit
Between 1.45 -2.30 he usually has another and often falls asleep unfortuanately he usually wakes when I try and put him down so I try again a few times . If that doesn't work I take him and dog out for another hour
He'll sleep anything from 45 mins to 2 hours but we're out for an hour and by the time I've been to loo, sat down and had he's awake.
another
5ish Nathan has tea then then I try and tire him out between 5.30 and 6.30 then start winding down
7 has a bath every other day, otherwise just a top n tail
7.30 and try to get to sleep which can take hours
last night dh bought dinner upstairs to me at 8.30 and N just wanted to play and climb all over me
He went to sleep at 9.30ish
so anyone any suggestion for improvements? Dh has no idea how he'll cope being a SAHD from April

these things are all easier said than done lol and as i dont know your life and situation in full its hard to advise but these are some i would think about:
can you save all the washing up and do it all in one go, e.g we do all ours in the evening, rather than two lots in the day, could that save you some time?
also maybe try and take a little time to relax even for a few mins, that really helps me although im rubbish at stopping everything and cant get my head to realise that even though i could be doing this or that, time to relax will actually help me to get more done as i would be less tired and worked up so more functional, easier said than done i know
i dont know how you feel on this one and how mucky your little chap gets but could you try baths every third day rather than every other? it could even be better for his skin as it doesnt wash away the natural oils, if he loves baths though then dont change that, i know that would save me time though and when i was little i sometimes had a bath every week and that was it lol
the windin down time for bedtime is really good, we do that and it really helps our little girl and me lol the quiet time really helps me de stress lol
also try and deligate some jobs to your dh if that is possible, my husband was made redundant so he obviously has lots more time but he does his share of the housework, we have no issues with that although i get a little possesive (i think it is a mum/female thing to be honest, he tends to make 'mistakes' which drive me round the bend but really thinking about it they arent that big a deal)
can you get a family member or friend round to play with Nathan while you get something done, or just to chill out?

dont worry about not getting much done though, im on mat leave and as i said dh isnt working, yet we get very little done, we just end up faffing about, stopping and starting things and never getting anywhere lol
i wouldnt worry about your hubby being a stay at home dad, he will probably have it all sorted and be chilled out too...typical, and they do tend to worry about these things until they actually start doing them I've found

also why is he playing at bedtime? maybe bringing the dinner upstairs could be stopped so its just focusing on bedtime, keep it quiet and turn lights off, keep a small night light on while you put him to bed, discourage playtime at bedtime if you can, if he really isnt tired have you thought about the naps throughout the day, does he still need to be napping as much, could you make a nap shorter if he isnt that tired, how old is Nathan?

"Between 1.45 -2.30 he usually has another and often falls asleep unfortuanately he usually wakes when I try and put him down so I try again a few times . If that doesn't work I take him and dog out for another hour"

could you cut this sleep time down or remove it and put him to bed earlier? if he usually is easy to put down maybe he wakes this time because he isnt that tired? then you could cut the dog walking down (if you only walk the dog because you want Nathan to sleep, obviously you cant deprive the dog if he/she actually needs this walk lol) you could just have quiet time instead of this nap with Nathan, read some books, dim the lights, maybe try a nice baby massage if you havent before, this is great for lots of things and especially sleep.
and how about a bath before bed? and then massage, these could put him to sleep!

i suppose the main thing that stands out is this sleeping for nearly 2 hours and the fact that your 1.45 -2.30 time is a struggle, if he sleeps for nearly 2 hours and falls asleep at half 2 this could mean he wakes at half 5 which is quite soon before bedtime, this could explain why he then sleeps at half 9 instead of half 7,
"He'll sleep anything from 45 mins to 2 hours but we're out for an hour and by the time I've been to loo, sat down and had he's awake. "
if you could just have quiet time instead of going out walking then he may drop off to sleep if he needs it, or maybe not which means he doesnt need it and will sleep better at bedtime,also then you dont have to be walking and will have more time at home?
what do you think?

My routine is a bit different becuase Kieren has to fit in around Megans routine too...

He wakes 5.30-6am and has a bottle
then he plays, we get dressed etc and Breakfast is done at 8am
he then plays untill about 10am ish when he will go down for a nap for an hour or so
lunch is generally between 11.30-12.15 as thats when they both seem hungry
Megan has to be at pre-school for 12.45pm so we leave at about 12.15, back home for 12.45...
He plays, while I clear up from lunch/think about dinner etc
If he hasnt fallen asleep in the pushchair from the nursery run then i put him down about 1pm for a nap which would be an hour or he could sleep untill i have to wake him at 2.45pm to go and get Megan who needs picking up at 3.15pm.

we get home around 3.45pm and the children play untill dinner which is normally around 4.30-5pm...after dinner they play again untill bathtime which is around 6.15pm and then they both get in their jammies upstairs and come down for milk and stories...Kieren tends to pass out on his bottle, i go and put him down and then Megan goes up to bed...she sometimes falls asleep on the sofa so hubby or I carry her up or sometimes she will be awake and so she say who she would like to take her to bed and read her story...

Whilse megan is going to sleep the other one of us cooks tea...

TBH all my cleaning, ironing etc is fitted in dribs and drabs throughout the day...i rarely get 'an hour' to cleant the bathroom or anything like that...its more like after their bath i wipe round the bath and sink and chuck some cleaner down the loo etc...

We all get up at about 8am on weekdays,
Gracie has milk upstairs
Every one down stairs for breakfast
K and A off to school at 8:50
at about 9am I have my breakfast and pop on here to say
then I hoover up and tidy, I have always just let the kids potter about, as long as I know they are safe, even when they weren't walking I would just have then near me.
depending on what we are doing that day it is upstairs for a shower, if we aren't going out that is usually about 11am and again I just make sure the stair gate is closed and let Gracie potter about, when she was really wee she would be in the bouncy chair in our bathroom but as soon as she was mobile she was free to explore (made sure everything was tidy first obviously so she didn't come to harm)
Lunch at 12-12:30 and tidy up
nap from 1-3pm ish and then up for dinner.
TBH I have never had a problem getting things done, I just did it even with a new born and 16 month old

Why do you have dinner upstairs? Do you and DH not use that time as time together? I would imagine that it would be pretty disturbing to Nathan to know you are in the room with him, perhaps he cries so much when you are not there as he is so used to you being then iykwim!!

Routine has always really worked for us and even now we stick to it with all kids, not ridgedly, if some things breaks it then fair enough we just get back to things the next day. x

ETA like Tory though the bathroom and things tends to be done after bath time, I clean the loos every day of course with anti bac wipes etc but the scrubbing tends to be done in the evening, the main reason for that is I don't want the kids round cleaning fumes!

hey hun, just wanted to say my rountine goes like kirstys, where alesha(15mnths) is left to play in the same room i am whilst i get things done although she know likes to explore and often potters off to her own bedroom, but then she quite a independent little one.
she is up around 8am, gets nappy done and has milk and gets dressed and then milk by 9am (she also has a bath every couple days at this time she doesnt have a bath in the eveing as she likes to play around and i find it waked her up rather than settles her down), then i have a hoover and tidy and around 10.30 we always go out for a walk, one so alesha can have a good nap, two to get us both some fresh air and three so i can go to the shops or post office etc) by the time we get back she is just waking and getting ready for lunch, but our afternoon runs a bit clamer really (unless we are out for the day) lunch is around 12.30 and tea around 4.30pm,
over the afternoon its playtime(which is always quite active it could be dancing, singing, painting, other messy play, we get out her dollys and old babies clothes/newbron nappies etc etc (this was this what we did this afternoon) for us both here and there (normally only 20mins or so as alesha gets bored easily) and inbetween times she is occyupying herself whilst i do housework, have 10mins to myself on the internet etc etc.

the evenings are chilled out from the time all the tea things are cleared up, we have lots of stories and singing but no real loud, rough and tumble etc so not to het her too excitable before bed, then at 6pm cbeebies goes on (this is normally the first time the tv gets switched on, throught out the day i just play music as background noise), she watches her programmes (waybuloo and in the night garden which are both quite chilled out) and at somepoint during in the night garden i go and get her milk and comfort blanket and we snuggle up to watch the end of the programme and then i take her into her beroom snuggle her down and switch the light off, leaving the hallway light on so there is only a little light seeping through, then a couple of stories, i leave the room and normally withing 5mins she is sound asleep and i dont hear from her untill 8am when it all starts again xxxxxxx

Thanks for replies. I'll try and answer some of the qs/suggestions
Nathan's 9 months.
The dog really needs 2 walks a day but hasn't been getting them as often as she should
Nathan is tired in the afternoons and I think needs at least an hour's nap. If I let him sleep on me he'll sleep for about 60-90mins before waking. I usually try to put him down in his cot or if that fails, the buggy but lately he's just waking up crying straight away when put down. If i'm at my parents and put him in the buggy he'll usually sleep 90 mins to 2 hours.
Before Christmas I was putting him in the buggy in the living room while I did 20 mins of housework before taking the dog out and he would whinge intermittently for 10 mins then drop off but now it escalates into proper hysterical screaming but I think I'll work on that again.
Yesterday he only had a half an hour nap in the afternoon in the end and was tired by 7. I took him up and tried to feed him to sleep and he was asleep on the bed by 8 but when I tried to put him in the cot he woke up screaming and I was trying to settle him which was why dinner was brought upstairs, then he decided he wanted to play. I think dh and I have eaten dinner together about twice in the last 9 months. We've tried keeping nathan awake and putting him in his playpen whille we eat but he's tired and whingy by then.
Nathan will only feed to sleep atm too so I do it on the bed upstairs and then attempt to get him in his cot but this past week I've been so tired and not well that we've co slept for the less stressful option so I've been going to bed when Nathan does. His cot is still in our room as a nursery for him won't be an option until we move in March and finish the house up there so probably not until at least May.
Dh and I spend so little time together it's no wonder all we do is argue and snap. Especially with him going away at weekends. At least one of us catches up on sleep tho!
I feel like I get no time to myself. This afternoon a friend has taken Nathan out and I've cleaned the bathroom, done 2 washes, stuffed nappies, done dinner, had lunch and made pancakes for later. I'm about to go and get him now so at least I've achieved something today!

sound slike you do more than me! I do the washing with izzy and wash the dishes while she has water after her porridge. THATS IT! Im thinking of getting a cleaner I don't have a playpen and she is stuck to me like glue ATM so i have a messy house it bugs me but not enough to try and figure it out our day goes like this

izzy wakes for through the night but then sometime between 6-7 then straight back to sleep so has a lie in with dad til 8-9 so i get up for and express at same time. sometimes i do some cleaning if she has a long sleep. When she wakes i do her bum , we have breakfast and i wash up. Then we do washing together

11 usually go out to a group or meet up with mummy friends she will nap in the car

1-2 come home she will nap in the car

at home we play, read, go up and down the stairs a million times, empty all the cupboards and toy boxes, then i get ready for work about half 3

come home between 7 and 8 just in time for bedtime which sometimes goes on til 10pm at which point i give in and go to bed so sometimes a have a tidy and sometimes not.

sounds like you need some me time rather than worrying bout housework easier said than done though eh?

it sounds tough. I do think it gets easier though, Nathan is still so young and difficult to keep entertained, as they get older it is easier to get them involved in things so that you can get on - so Ben will help with the washing or play with the pans while I get dinner ready. Or sometimes he will happily sit and play with his cars. Not much consolation but I really do think it gets easier.

When Charlotte and Ben were little I used to put them in the sling if I needed to get anything done like vacuuming and that worked well, they would usually end up falling asleep!

The other thing, I could never leave mine in their cot on their own while I tried to shower for example, they would just cry, so I would sit them in a bouncy chair facing the shower so I could wave at them and entertain them a bit

I do think it sounds like he isn't getting enough sleep and it can be a viscious cycle when they get overtired. For me the breakthrough with Ben came when I was able to recognise a bit of a pattern and could get him to bed before he was too tired. So I think at 9 months he could go maybe 3 hours from waking up before needing a nap. He was definately having 3 naps and going to bed at 7pm. We started to follow the Baby Whisperer EASY routine - Eat, Activity, Sleep, You. It isn't a strict routine but gave us the structure that we needed to get Ben sleeping better.

Hope you manage to get some more time to yourself, it is a killer when you seem to spend 24 hours a day looking after a little one without a break