Day in the life with a 10 month old

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be a stay at home mom to a 10 month old, keep reading. I'm sharing what a typical day looks like for us. 

I'm a stay at home mom and my husband works 8-5 Monday through Friday. Lizzie is 10 months old. She's pretty good at entertaining herself, but she still needs lots of love and attention. When she's awake and I'm trying to get things done she loves to follow me around and cling on to my legs. A lot of times I have her on my hip while I'm getting stuff done around the house, and if I really need to get something done when she needs to be held, I use a baby carrier. 

I've never been super strict about staying on a schedule with Lizzie. I mostly let her lead when it comes to meal times and bed times, but we generally follow a loose structure from day to day. I pay attention to her signals and try to follow the general guidelines for age appropriate wake windows. But honestly, I've found it much less stressful to just go with the flow.  

Our day typically starts sometime between 6:30 and 8:30. It really depends on how well she slept the night before and what time she went to bed. I let her be my alarm clock. For a while I tried to wake up before her, but since she still wakes up a few times a night, I've found it works better for us if I sleep longer in the morning with her. She still sleeps in our room, which makes it easier to take care of her during the night, and allows our second bedroom to be a playroom/workout room/craft space/storage space. 

Kevin leaves for work around 7:45, so if we are still in bed he comes in and gives us both a kiss before leaving. 

Right when she wakes up I nurse her and we snuggle in the bed for a little bit while I wake up. Once we finally get out of bed I change her and let her explore the house and play while I get ready to workout. 

I like to start my day with lemon water and a workout. It's always been my favorite way to wake up my body. I use the Sweat app for my workouts. There are a ton of really great quick workouts that I can do from home while Lizzie plays (and clings to my legs). Sometimes during my workout I need to stop and nurse her or change a stinky diaper or give her some extra love. It means my workouts end up taking a little longer, but I still get them done. 

Once my workout is finished we eat breakfast. Lately she's been a lot more interested in eating I'm eating so I've been giving her small bites of whatever I'm having. 

After breakfast we play and I try to clean the kitchen until it's time for a nap. 

Nap time usually happens sometime around 10:00 and 11:00. We do the same routine for all bed times. I change her diaper and then we snuggle on the big bed and read a few books, sing a song, and I nurse her or rock her to sleep. 

Her first nap of the day is usually her longest, about 2 hours. This is when I shower, get ready for the day, and get most of my work done. I film a makeup or hair tutorial, do some editing, and post on Instagram. I try to get as much done as I can before she wakes up. 

When Lizzie wakes up, I nurse her, change her out of her PJs and then we play. Generally for playtime I let her decide what she wants to do and I interact with her. It's a very loosely Montessori based method. I keep all of her toys and books within her reach so she can decide what she wants to do. 

Around noon (or whenever we get hungry) we stop for lunch. 

After lunch comes more play and I attempt to clean the house. But mostly I'm making sure Lizzie doesn't get into something she shouldn't or climb something dangerous. I also do a lot of holding Lizzie. Sometimes in the afternoon we also go for a quick walk around the neighborhood just to get some fresh air. 

Around 3:00-3:30 I put her down for an afternoon nap. I've found if I put her down any later than this, she has a really hard time going down at bedtime. We follow the same routine as her morning nap, books, song, and nurse to sleep

During her afternoon nap, I finish any cleaning or work I didn't get done earlier. When she's ready, I rescue her from her nap when she wakes up

I like to have dinner ready when Kevin comes home from work, so typically around 4:30-5:00 I start cooking dinner.

By 5:30 Kevin comes home from work and we have dinner as a family. Right after dinner Lizzie gets a bath. Depending on how tired she is I let her play and then I put her to bed. 

I try to put her down for bed sometime between 7:00 and 8:00, but some nights she has a harder time falling asleep. I don't fight her about sleep. If she's not ready to fall asleep, I let her play a little longer and then try again later. At bedtime, we follow the same routine as nap time.

After she's in bed Kevin and I watch TV and I work on my blog or do any other tasks that didn't get done during the day. 

Around 10:00 Kevin and I get ready for bed. I do my skincare routine and read in bed until I'm sleepy enough to fall asleep around 11:00 

Throughout the night Lizzie will wake up and I take care of her. Usually she just needs a quick nurse and snuggle and then she falls right back to sleep. I don't do any sleep training with her, and I honestly don't want to. I love nursing her to sleep and having that extra snuggle time together. 

Our days are pretty simple, but after so many years of being ridiculously busy, I love my slower paced lifestyle. 

What does your typical day look like?

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