Stay at Home Mom Schedule

A Real-Life Stay at Home Mom Schedule with an Infant and PPD

I searched high and low for a stay at home mom schedule that seemed reasonable for me to follow when I took a leave of absence from medical school to focus on my health and a new baby. After doing it for a while now, I found that it doesn’t matter what anybody else’s schedule is. Everyone’s life is different. You have to come up with one that fits your unique needs and priorities.

For example, in this season of my life, I am trying to heal from my Postpartum Depression (PPD), get my blog off the ground and figure out next steps for my career. I am also fortunate that my husband gets to work remotely so that he can jump in and help if need be. However, I want him to focus on being his best at work, so I rarely bother him during the day unless he is on a break. What works for our situation, broadly, is that my husband has a set start and end time for work (8am – 5pm). Sometimes he will work late or after hours, but we make sure that we communicate about that so that I know when I can expect to have a break. 

I also take all of the night wakings and feedings and my husband helps with Noah after he is off from work (we do it together), and then in the mornings before work while I catch up on sleep. As you’ll see, we also make accommodations for my therapy sessions. I do them online with Better Help, so I don’t have to worry about needing to leave the house or anything.

In terms of PPD, I am on my way to getting back to normal. I had no schedule when it was really bad, and it was so hard to do the bare minimum. If that’s where you’re at, have some grace for yourself, the end is coming soon. I just thought I would share what one of my Wednesdays looked like so that you can see how we manage our time. Here is my stay at home mom schedule recovering from PPD with an 8 month old infant:

8:30am

I was expecting a 5am wakeup, but Noah let both Mark and I sleep in a little bit. If he does wake up around 5 or 6am, my husband will take him until around 8am so that I can get some rest. Rest is absolutely essential when trying to heal from PPD.

8:35am

I get Noah, bring him to our bedroom so I can watch him while I brush my teeth. I get him a new diaper and change him out of his PJs into his play clothes.

8:45am

I put Noah in the pack and play downstairs, while I get some coffee and get started on my day. I’m checking emails to see if I heard back from any of the jobs I applied for, starting a load of laundry and going through my to-do list for the day.

9:00am

Noah is ready to move on to something else. I give him a bottle and I put him in his play gym so that he can get some tummy time. He rolls around and has a blast, while I finish outlining my blog post for the day.

9:30am

Noah gets his baby food. He ate it all up today!

10:00am

Noah goes down for a nap and stays asleep for 1.5 hours. He has been sleeping really well lately. I think he’s growing.

10am-11:30am

I finally have some quiet time. I re-warm my coffee, read my devotional and do some bible studying. Afterwards I have some toast for breakfast and get cracking on that blog post. I start writing and get in a few paragraphs before he wakes up.

11:30am

Noah wakes up, and I put him in his pack and play. I make him a bottle, change his diaper and continue to chip away at the blog post

12:00pm – 1:00pm

I take a break from working and play with the baby. We do some tummy time, I sit with him as he bangs on the kick n’ play piano and I read him a story. My therapist was out of town this week, but I usually take half an hour to do my therapy session while Mark comes up to eat lunch and be with Noah until I’m done. I use Better Help for therapy, and I really like it.

1:30pm

Noah is starting to lose steam, so I put him down for a nap. 

1:30pm – 2:30pm

I eat some lunch, which is leftover pizza from our anniversary dinner last night. Then I check my emails again, talk to my mom on the phone, check in with my husband, and continue to chug away at the blog post.

2:30pm – 5:30pm

Noah wakes up again. We play together, and I sit with him as I work on the blog post. I don’t usually spend this much time on a blog post, but this was a long post that I had to get knocked out. Noah gets cranky around 4pm and my husband gets off work around 5pm. He comes upstairs, plays with Noah a little bit and takes him out for a walk while I continue to work.

5:30pm

My blog post is complete! I cranked out over 3000 words in one day while caring for Noah on my own for most of it. Mark comes back with Noah, he is asleep. He takes a 15 minute catnap, and is then wide awake. I brush his teeth.

5:30pm – 8:00pm

We have family time together, which might include us working on dinner while Noah keeps watch in his high chair. This time, we take turns eating leftovers for dinner and watching the baby. I talk to my dad on the phone, Mark works on the dishes and makes some baby bottles to put in the fridge. I put the finishing touches on my work for the day while Mark takes the baby upstairs. Bedtime is aborted and Noah hangs out with us for a little while. I finally put the baby’s clothes in the dryer and take the load from the weekend out to fold. If I had a particularly rough night and didn’t get to sleep much, or my mood is off, I will usually take a nap or a break during this time block.

8:30pm

I take Noah upstairs, change him into his PJs and he finally falls asleep

8:30pm – 10:30pm

Mark goes downstairs to do some after-hours work. I get another blog post started and research some more jobs to apply to. We both work on cleaning up the kitchen, doing the dishes and straightening up. I wind down and get ready for bed. On less work-heavy nights, we might curl up on the couch and watch a couple of episodes of Schitt’s Creek or Manifest and sip on a glass of wine.

10:30pm – Midnight

I know this is a long time period to get ready for bed, but it’s my only “me” time. I turn on a podcast, put a face mask on, take a shower and do my night time skin care regimen. I’m really loving the ELEMIS products I reviewed on this blog post. I have found that taking just 10 minutes and putting effort into caring for my skin makes me feel like I have had an entire spa day, and I feel refreshed. I also scroll through LinkedIn to see if there are any new jobs that I can save to apply for the next day. LinkedIn is the new Instagram, my friends.

Midnight – 5am

I’m on night duty and take care of whatever baby needs so Mark can sleep and be rested for work in the morning. Noah does not sleep through the night yet! I am waking up right now around 1-2am and 3-4am. My night shift ends at 5am, and I can take a nap!

Thanks for reading! I hope this stay at home mom schedule gives you some ideas on how to share childcare and home care with your partner, while also building in personal time and rest time. We like to work on things together as a team, and I think that is what makes the day-to-day enjoyable around here. I couldn’t get through any of this without the love and help of my husband.