- A schedule has times, times that must be hit to make it successful. Times that cause stress when you miss it.
- A routine is a pattern of things that happen but don't have a specific time they must be done, it allows flexibility.
When you enter parenthood, you start to use these words 'schedule' 'routine' in your regular conversations. But they shouldn't be used interchangeable.
There are the parents that are stuck on a time schedule, baby must eat at these times, sleep at these times...blah, blah, blah. It leaves little flexibility for unplanned events, times when something is out of your control and it starts to raise anxiety in them. Which as a parent isn't good, let's be honest the babe probably can't tell until it senses something different in the parent. Ride it out.
With a routine, there is flexibility in the time. Babe knows rocking with a bottle and jammies is right before bed, doesn't matter the time. And so much less stress on the parent when they day has been hectic.
Okay, truth I was a little OCD on certain activities and times for the first part of my little guy's life. It took me a while to realize it didn't matter if bedtime was varied by 20 mins because something threw us off, or if we had to push bath time back a day. It happens life is hectic, babe doesn't realize it, they just want you to be there and love them. And if you are stressed you aren't full there for them.
Just a fresh perspective on your day - are you a schedule or a routine?
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