Routines

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Having routines does not mean you have to be rigid or inflexible. Changes and last-minute diversions are part and parcel of life.

Tips for establishing routines

• Routines for young children are built around meals, snacks and sleep times. Making sure children have enough of these things is the first step to each day running more smoothly. Tired or hungry children are much harder to manage.
• Plan routines around particularly demanding times in the family day. Before and directly after work and school can be especially challenging times for families. Routines that give everybody something to do – or at least keep children out of trouble while adults prepare the evening meal – can definitely help things run more smoothly.
• If your children are old enough to participate, involve them in a discussion about routines. By the time children are school age, discussions about routines can be a great way of helping them learn important things like how to organise themselves and how to be punctual.
• Consider displaying an illustrated poster of your routine in a prominent place to remind both you and your child.
• Allow down time in your child’s day. Children need time to learn to entertain themselves.
• If you want to place time limits on some activities, you can incorporate limited TV and computer time and video-game playing into your daily routine.
• Provide reminders to your children to follow the routine, but also watch out for and praise your children when they follow the routine without help.
• Find ways to remind your child to follow a routine without your intervention. For example, put a radio alarm clock in her room. The music can be a signal that it’s time to wake up, and time to start getting ready for school, or that it’s now a time when she can come out of her bedroom in the morning.

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