When we talk about the word routine, we start by thinking about all the activities we do in our day, how they take place, what is supposed to happen and what their purpose is. Well, when you have a baby, the concept of routine can be different, in the sense that until you get to the ideal routine and it happens the way you expect it to, there's a whole process.
However, we've already spoken here a few times about the concept of routine and how important it is in children's daily lives and in the family dynamic itself. The routine will depend on the baby's needs, it depends on the parents' schedules, it depends on the activities established and it depends on a great deal of constant organisation.
It's something that parents assume is crucial for their little one's well-being. The birth of our first child is always something that brings us great anxiety and stress, because it's a new world and it's our first. So there are the first doubts, we start trying to understand how everything works, to realise what our baby needs and everything that this world of parenthood demands and brings into our lives.
From the birth of the second baby, we begin to understand the whole dynamic better and apply some of our experiences at this time. However, it should be noted that a certain routine that one of our children has may or may not work for their brothers or sisters. Above all, the routine should always be worked out according to the needs and well-being of each baby.
When we establish a routine, it's unlikely to be the same for all your children. A certain sequence of activities may work and suit the needs of one of your children. However, another child with a different day-to-day life and a different sequence of activities may need to have a different and adapted routine. The key word is to understand - to realise what your baby needs and what makes sense to include in their routine.
Our children's daily routines require a lot of organisation. We're considering our baby's entire day plus everything outside of it - the parents' routine and other events. We have schedules, we have tasks to fulfil, time is precious and used in detail so that everything works out and we arrive at the end of the day with our routines fulfilled, our children happy and ourselves having time not only for them but also for us. It's important for everyone to be well.
We believe it's a constant challenge, due to its organisation and the fact that we want the best for our children.
So we're bringing back one of our Wedoble Talks guests, Andreia Vasconcelos - author of the blog Tomás My Special Baby and the book Maternidade, Amor e Trissomia. Andreia is a mum of four (at the time we spoke to her she still had three children), two girls and two boys, and she accepted our invitation to talk to us to share her experience and all the madness that managing so many routines on a daily basis can be.
In her experience, Andreia confesses that it's necessary to organise her children's routines very carefully. Each one has their own particularities and therefore needs different things. What's more, all the dynamics she has created over time are constantly changing due to different factors - the time, the baby's growth, their health and well-being. Andreia considers every detail of her children's routines.
Andreia's main idea in this conversation was that we should manage routines according to family circumstances and dynamics. She thinks it's something that requires constant work and organisation and that, at first, it can be very stressful. But it's normal to have our doubts, difficulties and questions. Above all, do this process at your own pace, listen and read the baby's signals and understand their needs. From then on, it will be more intuitive and easier to create these routines that are essential for our children's growth and development.
Routines are as important for parents as they are for their children, and doing them together is even more rewarding.
We'd like to thank Andreia in advance for her willingness to talk to us again and answer some of the questions we asked.
Here is the video of her sharing her experience on this interesting subject in more detail.
The video is available on Wedoble's Facebook page - https://fb.watch/lqq4vnEyng/ (part 1) and https://fb.watch/lqq5RDY9OS/ (part 2).
What about you? What are your routines with your children? What are the main difficulties and tricks in your day-to-day life? We want to know your experience. We want to know your opinion.
