See a simple way to set up a schedule for your three children that will meet the needs of all three. Included are sample schedules actually used by Babywise kids.
Following a schedule with a baby can be tricky. It is hard to time things right and get things set up best for your little one.
Things get harder as you add more children to the picture. When you have two children, you can’t just do everything the baby needs. The older child has needs that need to be met, also.
Add in a third child, and you have two other children with needs and activities to work around.
Read: Managing Baby Plus Older Kid’s Activities
Post Contents
- Setting Up a Schedule for Three Kids
- Remember to Be Flexible and Adjust
- Sample Schedules for Multiple Kids
- Newborn (McKenna), Almost 2 Year Old (Kaitlyn), and Almost 4 Year Old (Brayden)
- 1 Month old (McKenna), 2 Year old (Kaitlyn), and almost 4 Year old (Brayden)
- 7 MONTH OLD (McKenna), 2.5 YEAR OLD (Kaitlyn), 4.5 YEAR OLD (Brayden)
- Newborn (McKenna), Almost 2 Year Old (Kaitlyn), and Almost 4 Year Old (Brayden)
- 1 Month old (McKenna), 2 Year old (Kaitlyn), and almost 4 Year old (Brayden)
- 7 MONTH OLD (McKenna), 2.5 YEAR OLD (Kaitlyn), 4.5 YEAR OLD (Brayden)
- Related Posts
Setting Up a Schedule for Three Kids
When you are creating a schedule for three children, start by writing down the needs of each individual child. Write down how often they need to eat and ideal times for that. Write down how often they need to sleep and ideal times for that. Write down any activities they participate in that cannot be moved.
Next, write down all of the things that you would like to have in the day but can be flexible with. Some examples of that are things like Independent Playtime and Learning Time.
See my step-by-step process for how I set up our schedule with three children here.
Write in your times you cannot change in the schedule. Then write in the next important into times. Finish up with things that can be flexible.
Remember to Be Flexible and Adjust
It is important to be flexible. Adjust your times and schedule if needed. If things aren’t working, change your strategy.
You might have a schedule that is working perfectly that one day stops working well because needs have changed. Change the schedule when you need to.
Wondering if you should even have a third child? Read up here.
Sample Schedules for Multiple Kids
You can see schedules for two children in Sample Schedules: Tandem Schedules. You can see Sample Babywise Schedules here for solo schedules 0-12 months and Sample Schedules: One Year and Up for solo schedules one year and older. Seeing sample schedules for individuals can give you ideas for what works best with babies or children that age so you can try to be successful with the schedule for each child.
Newborn (McKenna), Almost 2 Year Old (Kaitlyn), and Almost 4 Year Old (Brayden)
7:00 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I eat breakfast. We then clean up.
7:45 AM–Brayden and Kaitlyn start sibling playtime.
7:45-8:00 AM–I get McKenna up to eat. During this waketime, I wash McKenna’s hair when needed, do sponge baths/real baths, clean her face, and change her into her day clothes.
8:30 AM–McKenna down for nap. I get the older two from sibling playtime.
8:40 AM–Bath and get ready for the day for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
9:30 AM–TV time for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
10:00 AM–Independent play starts for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
10:30 AM–I get McKenna up to eat.
11:15 AM–McKenna down for nap by this time.
11:30 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I clean up after independent playtime. They then watch TV while I get lunch ready.
12:00 PM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I eat lunch. We then clean up. Following lunch, we play outside if weather is nice. If not, we color or do some other activity inside.
1:00 PM–Nap time for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
1:30 PM–I get McKenna up to eat.
2:15 PM–McKenna is down for her nap by this time.
3:00 PM–Brayden’s nap is over. We do formal learning activities/lessons.
3:30 PM–Brayden has time to play video games. Sometimes he wants to wait for Daddy to get home to play. In that case, he and I clean together.
4:00 PM–Kaitlyn is often up by this point. I get McKenna up to eat between 4:00 and 4:30.
4:30 PM–Daddy home.
5:00 PM–Dinner
After dinner, we have free play time and our day is not as structured. We do a variety of activities dependent on the day of the week and the weather.
7:00 PM–I get McKenna up. My husband gets the older two children ready for bed. I usually read stories to Brayden while I nurse McKenna.
7:30 PM–Kaitlyn in bed.
7:45 PM–McKenna in bed by this point.
8:00 PM–Brayden in bed by this point.
10:00 PM–I get McKenna up to eat. No waketime–straight back to bed.
McKenna then eats two other times in the night. The first is often around 2 AM. I wake her for the second.
>>>Looking for more newborn sample schedules? Check them out here.
1 Month old (McKenna), 2 Year old (Kaitlyn), and almost 4 Year old (Brayden)
The schedule is pretty much the same:
7:00 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I eat breakfast. We then clean up.
7:30-7:45 AM–Brayden and Kaitlyn start sibling playtime.
7:45-8:00 AM–I get McKenna up to eat. During this waketime, I wash McKenna’s hair when needed, do sponge baths/real baths, clean her face, and change her into her day clothes.
8:30 AM–McKenna down for nap. I get the older two from sibling playtime.
8:40 AM–Bath and get ready for the day for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
9:30 AM–TV time for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
10:00 AM–Independent play starts for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
10:30 AM–I get McKenna up to eat. I often do tummy time during this waketime.
11:15 AM–McKenna down for nap by this time.
11:30 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I clean up after independent playtime. They then watch TV while I get lunch ready.
12:00 PM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I eat lunch. We then clean up. Following lunch, we play outside if weather is nice. If not, we color or do some other activity inside.
1:00 PM–Nap time for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
1:30 PM–I get McKenna up to eat. I have been working on her smiles during this waketime.
2:15 PM–McKenna is down for her nap by this time.
3:00 PM–Brayden’s nap is over. We do formal learning activities/lessons.
3:30 PM–Brayden has time to play video games. Sometimes he wants to wait for Daddy to get home to play. In that case, he and I clean together.
4:00 PM–Kaitlyn is often up by this point. I get McKenna up to eat between 4:00 and 4:30.
4:30 PM–Daddy home.
5-5:30 PM–McKenna down by this point.
5:00-6:00 PM–Dinner. The exact time depends on what time McKenna at and what I made for dinner. For example, a meal in the slow cooker is done by then while other meals will require some preparation.
After dinner, we have free play time and our day is not as structured. We do a variety of activities dependent on the day of the week and the weather.
7:00 PM–I get McKenna up. My husband gets the older two children ready for bed. I usually read stories to Brayden while I nurse McKenna.
7:30 PM–Kaitlyn in bed.
7:45 PM–McKenna in bed by this point.
8:00 PM–Brayden in bed by this point.
10:00 PM–I get McKenna up to eat. No waketime–straight back to bed.
Right now at one month old, she is waking twice in the night, but showing signs of being ready to go down to one. As I write this, she is having a growth spurt. My hunch is that she will drop to one feeding in the night once the growth spurt is over.
Read: Older Children While Baby Naps
7 MONTH OLD (McKenna), 2.5 YEAR OLD (Kaitlyn), 4.5 YEAR OLD (Brayden)
A notable change in our day is that Brayden started Preschool shortly before McKenna turned six months old. He only goes three days a week, so each day is a bit different.
PRESCHOOL DAYS
6:30 AM–Mommy gets up and showers before everyone else gets up.
7:00 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and Mommy eat breakfast. We then clean up breakfast. We then talk about our learning theme of the day.
7:40ish AM–Brayden and Kaitlyn take a fast bath and get all ready for the day.
8:00 AM–Brayden and Kaitlyn have Sibling Playtime.
8:05 AM–McKenna wakes up, nurses, then eats breakfast. I then dress her for the day and she has independent playtime. I do some cleaning around the house.
9:00 AM–We get Brayden’s shoes, jacket, and backpack on.
9:15 AM–The carpool comes to get Brayden. One day a week, I drive. My parents stay with Kaitlyn and McKenna and I drop the kids off, then go run errands, then pick the kids up. During that time, McKenna naps as usual and Kaitlyn just plays with the grandparents.
9:20 AM–Kaitlyn starts independent playtime.
9:30 AM–McKenna goes down for a nap.
10:45-11:00 AM–Kaitlyn gets out of independent play. She has TV time.
11:30 AM–Kaitlyn has learning time. We then get lunch ready.
12:00 PM–McKenna wakes and nurses
12:15 PM–Brayden gets home. We then have lunch. Brayden and Kaitlyn then have free playtime until nap.
1:00 PM–Brayden has rest time and Kaitlyn has nap time. McKenna has blanket time.
1:30 PM–McKenna nap time.
2:00 PM–Brayden gets up. He starts independent playtime.
3:00 PM–Brayden has some learning time. He then plays PBSkids.org games.
4:10 PM–McKenna nurses and eats dinner.
4:20 PM–Daddy gets home. We then have family time and do various things. We have dinner, work on chores, and do things together as a family. While I am working on dinner, the kids have table learning activities and McKenna practices eating finger foods.
4:30 PM–Wake Kaitlyn up. Sometimes she wakes up by 4, in which case I get her up. If not, we get her by 4:30.
6:00 PM–McKenna nap
7:30 PM-Start bedtime routine (if not already started)
7:45 PM–Get McKenna up for final feeding
8:00 PM–Brayden and Kaitlyn in bed.
8:15 PM–McKenna in bed.
If my husband is not around for bedtime, then I start Brayden and Kaitlyn getting ready for bed by 7:00 so I can have them in bed in time to get McKenna up by 8:00.
Non-PRESCHOOL DAYS
Only the morning is different on non-preschool days:
6:30 AM–Mommy gets up and showers.
7:00-7:30 AM–Mommy, Brayden, and Kaitlyn have breakfast. We then clean up and discuss our learning activities of the day. Brayden and Kaitlyn then have sibling playtime.
8:00 AM–McKenna gets up and nurses and eats breakfast. She then has a bath and I get her ready for the day. She then has independent playtime.
Then it varies. I sometimes will start bath before McKenna goes down for a nap, but I usually wait until she is down for a nap. Then they take a long bath and play. After bath, Brayden has TV time and Kaitlyn has independent playtime. Then things are pretty much the same as other days.
This is a post for me to put our daily schedule with the three children as they grow. You can see Sample Schedules: Tandem Schedules for sample schedules of two children together, Sample Schedules for solo schedules 0-12 months, and Sample Schedules: One Year and Up for solo schedules one year and older. I will add to this as time passes:
Newborn (McKenna), Almost 2 Year Old (Kaitlyn), and Almost 4 Year Old (Brayden)
7:00 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I eat breakfast. We then clean up.
7:45 AM–Brayden and Kaitlyn start sibling playtime.
7:45-8:00 AM–I get McKenna up to eat. During this waketime, I wash McKenna’s hair when needed, do sponge baths/real baths, clean her face, and change her into her day clothes.
8:30 AM–McKenna down for nap. I get the older two from sibling playtime.
8:40 AM–Bath and get ready for the day for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
9:30 AM–TV time for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
10:00 AM–Independent play starts for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
10:30 AM–I get McKenna up to eat.
11:15 AM–McKenna down for nap by this time.
11:30 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I clean up after independent playtime. They then watch TV while I get lunch ready.
12:00 PM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I eat lunch. We then clean up. Following lunch, we play outside if weather is nice. If not, we color or do some other activity inside.
1:00 PM–Nap time for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
1:30 PM–I get McKenna up to eat.
2:15 PM–McKenna is down for her nap by this time.
3:00 PM–Brayden’s nap is over. We do formal learning activities/lessons.
3:30 PM–Brayden has time to play video games. Sometimes he wants to wait for Daddy to get home to play. In that case, he and I clean together.
4:00 PM–Kaitlyn is often up by this point. I get McKenna up to eat between 4:00 and 4:30.
4:30 PM–Daddy home.
5:00 PM–Dinner
After dinner, we have free play time and our day is not as structured. We do a variety of activities dependent on the day of the week and the weather.
7:00 PM–I get McKenna up. My husband gets the older two children ready for bed. I usually read stories to Brayden while I nurse McKenna.
7:30 PM–Kaitlyn in bed.
7:45 PM–McKenna in bed by this point.
8:00 PM–Brayden in bed by this point.
10:00 PM–I get McKenna up to eat. No waketime–straight back to bed.
McKenna then eats two other times in the night. The first is often around 2 AM. I wake her for the second.
1 Month old (McKenna), 2 Year old (Kaitlyn), and almost 4 Year old (Brayden)
The schedule is pretty much the same:
7:00 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I eat breakfast. We then clean up.
7:30-7:45 AM–Brayden and Kaitlyn start sibling playtime.
7:45-8:00 AM–I get McKenna up to eat. During this waketime, I wash McKenna’s hair when needed, do sponge baths/real baths, clean her face, and change her into her day clothes.
8:30 AM–McKenna down for nap. I get the older two from sibling playtime.
8:40 AM–Bath and get ready for the day for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
9:30 AM–TV time for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
10:00 AM–Independent play starts for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
10:30 AM–I get McKenna up to eat. I often do tummy time during this waketime.
11:15 AM–McKenna down for nap by this time.
11:30 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I clean up after independent playtime. They then watch TV while I get lunch ready.
12:00 PM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I eat lunch. We then clean up. Following lunch, we play outside if weather is nice. If not, we color or do some other activity inside.
1:00 PM–Nap time for Brayden and Kaitlyn.
1:30 PM–I get McKenna up to eat. I have been working on her smiles during this waketime.
2:15 PM–McKenna is down for her nap by this time.
3:00 PM–Brayden’s nap is over. We do formal learning activities/lessons.
3:30 PM–Brayden has time to play video games. Sometimes he wants to wait for Daddy to get home to play. In that case, he and I clean together.
4:00 PM–Kaitlyn is often up by this point. I get McKenna up to eat between 4:00 and 4:30.
4:30 PM–Daddy home.
5-5:30 PM–McKenna down by this point.
5:00-6:00 PM–Dinner. The exact time depends on what time McKenna at and what I made for dinner. For example, a meal in the slow cooker is done by then while other meals will require some preparation.
After dinner, we have free play time and our day is not as structured. We do a variety of activities dependent on the day of the week and the weather.
7:00 PM–I get McKenna up. My husband gets the older two children ready for bed. I usually read stories to Brayden while I nurse McKenna.
7:30 PM–Kaitlyn in bed.
7:45 PM–McKenna in bed by this point.
8:00 PM–Brayden in bed by this point.
10:00 PM–I get McKenna up to eat. No waketime–straight back to bed.
Right now at one month old, she is waking twice in the night, but showing signs of being ready to go down to one. As I write this, she is having a growth spurt. My hunch is that she will drop to one feeding in the night once the growth spurt is over.
7 MONTH OLD (McKenna), 2.5 YEAR OLD (Kaitlyn), 4.5 YEAR OLD (Brayden)
A notable change in our day is that Brayden started Preschool shortly before McKenna turned six months old. He only goes three days a week, so each day is a bit different.
PRESCHOOL DAYS
6:30 AM–Mommy gets up and showers before everyone else gets up.
7:00 AM–Brayden, Kaitlyn, and Mommy eat breakfast. We then clean up breakfast. We then talk about our learning theme of the day.
7:40ish AM–Brayden and Kaitlyn take a fast bath and get all ready for the day.
8:00 AM–Brayden and Kaitlyn have Sibling Playtime.
8:05 AM–McKenna wakes up, nurses, then eats breakfast. I then dress her for the day and she has independent playtime. I do some cleaning around the house.
9:00 AM–We get Brayden’s shoes, jacket, and backpack on.
9:15 AM–The carpool comes to get Brayden. One day a week, I drive. My parents stay with Kaitlyn and McKenna and I drop the kids off, then go run errands, then pick the kids up. During that time, McKenna naps as usual and Kaitlyn just plays with the grandparents.
9:20 AM–Kaitlyn starts independent playtime.
9:30 AM–McKenna goes down for a nap.
10:45-11:00 AM–Kaitlyn gets out of independent play. She has TV time.
11:30 AM–Kaitlyn has learning time. We then get lunch ready.
12:00 PM–McKenna wakes and nurses
12:15 PM–Brayden gets home. We then have lunch. Brayden and Kaitlyn then have free playtime until nap.
1:00 PM–Brayden has rest time and Kaitlyn has nap time. McKenna has blanket time.
1:30 PM–McKenna nap time.
2:00 PM–Brayden gets up. He starts independent playtime.
3:00 PM–Brayden has some learning time. He then plays PBSkids.org games.
4:10 PM–McKenna nurses and eats dinner.
4:20 PM–Daddy gets home. We then have family time and do various things. We have dinner, work on chores, and do things together as a family. While I am working on dinner, the kids have table learning activities and McKenna practices eating finger foods.
4:30 PM–Wake Kaitlyn up. Sometimes she wakes up by 4, in which case I get her up. If not, we get her by 4:30.
6:00 PM–McKenna nap
7:30 PM-Start bedtime routine (if not already started)
7:45 PM–Get McKenna up for final feeding
8:00 PM–Brayden and Kaitlyn in bed.
8:15 PM–McKenna in bed.
If my husband is not around for bedtime, then I start Brayden and Kaitlyn getting ready for bed by 7:00 so I can have them in bed in time to get McKenna up by 8:00.
Non-PRESCHOOL DAYS
Only the morning is different on non-preschool days:
6:30 AM–Mommy gets up and showers.
7:00-7:30 AM–Mommy, Brayden, and Kaitlyn have breakfast. We then clean up and discuss our learning activities of the day. Brayden and Kaitlyn then have sibling playtime.
8:00 AM–McKenna gets up and nurses and eats breakfast. She then has a bath and I get her ready for the day. She then has independent playtime.
Then it varies. I sometimes will start bath before McKenna goes down for a nap, but I usually wait until she is down for a nap. Then they take a long bath and play. After bath, Brayden has TV time and Kaitlyn has independent playtime. Then things are pretty much the same as other days.
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