Maternity Leave How do you set yourself on a schedule
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Maternity Leave: How do you set yourself on a schedule?

I have a confession to make. I love to stay at home! I love to stay in my pyjamas all day, taking my time, watching some TV and listening to my favorite music. For me, my living room is the best place on earth. I wasn’t afraid of being bored during my maternity leave at all. For me, staying at home playing with my baby, and breastfeeding while watching Netflix sounds like a good plan.

schedule for maternity leave

However, staying active and being social with other people are also two very important aspects of my life.  So how do I create a schedule for your Maternity leave? It is so easy to just let the days pass by. First of all, as a mother, you are constantly busy even when you’re at home. You nurse, you feed, you cook, and you clean. You look over at the clock and it’s 7 pm already. That’s  it, your day is over.

What helped me the most when I was on maternity leave was the schedule I created for myself. Babies need a schedule for their daily routines: sleeping, eating, and bath time. So you should already have some kind of schedule by the time your baby is a few months old. Moms also need a schedule if we want to get things done and also get the most out of this precious time with our baby.   I didn’t follow the schedule every day. Some days I had to follow my LO’s schedule as things changed. Sometimes she didn’t sleep well or she was too fussy to go outside.


How to create a schedule for your Maternity leave?

  • First add your LO’s daily routines: napping time, eating times, and bedtime routine. Your LO’s schedule will probably change once in every few weeks.
  • Add your daily routines: breakfast, lunch, cooking, and other chores. You want to account for your exercise time and all the other stuff that you are doing on a daily basis.
  • Add to your schedule the weekly routines you have or you want to have such as:
  1. Meet-ups with other moms and babies.
  2. Any classes/activities you are taking.
  3. Sport/exercise time like a long walk outside or a sports class.
  4.  Meet-ups with your friends.
  5. Shopping/groceries.

If you need help with finding an activity that you would like to do, you can always visit my page: Best Mom and Baby Programs and activities in Toronto


So other than your daily routines, you will have one or two things you will do outside the house every day. Let’s say that every Monday you participate in a mom and baby class. On Tuesdays, you meet your friend for a coffee. On Wednesdays, you visit the local farmer’s market. On Thursdays, you take your LO to the pool and every Friday you go to a drop-in class.   Obviously, you won’t we able to follow the same schedule every week. A baby’s schedule constantly changes during his first year. Also, the weather in Toronto is not something that you can count on.

schedule for maternity leave

Even if you don’t do what you planned every day, having a schedule will help you make the most out of your week.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to leave a comment.

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Maternity Leave: How do you set yourself on a schedule?
Diel Gerber

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