I personally love having a sense of what's coming next and routines can provide this!

• 6:20-7:00 Alarm goes off and I'm up! Bathroom, get dressed, kettle on, washing up away, toast or crumpets in the toaster and the radio on! Breakfast and tea while I Wordle and Connections. Brush teeth then set off!

• 7:30 Get in and welcome the toddler(1st awake!) to a new day. Mum joins us.

• 8:00 I change baby's nappy before mum breastfeeds her. Time for my second cup of tea of the morning and toddler play time!

• 8:30 Wash time for baby! Monday and Friday are bath day. Other days, a top and tail. Fresh clothes!

• 9:00 sometimes baby needs a bottle top-up before: first nap! On the sling goes.

Time to: empty and refill dishwasner, soak bottles etc. In warm, soapy water, tidy, wash and steralise bottles, laundry, check nappy bag and changing station are fully stocked and...finally sit down for a bit

• 11:00 time for a nappy change and feed of expressed milk (if she's had a bad night or is under the weather, mum and I would talk about what baby needs more - sleep or food!)

• 11:30(ish) Awake time: uninterrupted on her mat (play or changing) to look around and explore her own body sensations, tummy time, singing, chatting

• 12:00-12:30 baby is normally getting tired again so time to either pop in the sling, pass to mum for sleepy cuddles or pop in the bassinet to settle for another sleep!

Outside time is great for both baby and you, but it depends on how the morning pans out! If I can, I get out for her first nap!

NOTE: this is just an example of how the morning could go but we adapt to baby. Sometimes she's still sleeping at 9am so everything is pushed back. Sometimes, she is going through a growth spurt which throws sleep and feeds off a bit. As, we know, babies aren't robots and everyday is different!

This routine developed from observing and following baby's natural rhythms.