Daily Dad Routines For a 9, 16, 32 Week and 40 Week Old Baby

Okay so this post might look a bit different to the others—I wrote this in response to a few friends (some of whom were expecting!) who asked what my days looked like returning to the office. 

So expect far less prose than the usual post!

Instead, you’ll find below a table which lists my daily routines when our boy was 9 and 16 weeks. These routines were modelled on a typical work-from-office day. 

But, as a bonus, since I finished this post while I was on parental leave, I thought I’d also add what those routines looked like when our boy was 32 weeks old (8 months) and 40 weeks old (10 months)—and when I became a full-time caregiver.

9 weeks	16 weeks (4 months)	32 weeks (8 months)	40 weeks (10 months)
7.00am Alarm, wake up (in separate bedroom with ear plugs because my wife heroically said there’s no point both of us being sleep deprived), get myself ready. Note: if our boy woke up after 6.00am, I’d take him for the first wake window to give my wife a chance to catch up on sleep. Luckily for our dog, this also usually meant she got 2 walks that day.	6.45am Alarm, wake up, get myself ready. Note 1: around 16 weeks, we moved our boy to his own room, meaning the prodigal son (me) got to return to his bedroom. Note 2: not long after, we hit the 4-month sleep regression, so I migrated back to the separate bedroom at 5 months.	5.00am Alarm, wake up, get myself ready. Resettle baby if he wakes before 6.00am. Note: At around 6 months, we headed to sleep school (post about our experience coming soon) and shifted to their ‘feed, play, sleep’ schedule. This significantly improved our boy’s—and our own—sleep, and I returned to our bedroom.	6.00am Alarm, wake up, get myself ready.
7.15am Good morning kisses for mum and bubs.  Nappy change for baby.  Prepare breakfast for my wife and me.	7.00am Good morning kisses for mum and bubs. Mum sleeps in.  Nappy change for baby.  Baby plays and has tummy time and reads books.	6.00am Good morning kisses for bubs and nappy change. Mum sleeps in.  Unload the dishwasher and prepare breakfast for everyone while baby plays and has tummy time. Eat breakfast, feed baby solids, and clean up.	6.30am Good morning kisses for bubs and nappy change. Mum sleeps in.  Unload the dishwasher and prepare breakfast for everyone while baby plays and has tummy time. Eat breakfast, feed baby solids (e.g. berries, whole nectarines and peaches, your other Instagram influencer favs, and whatever I’m eating) and clean up.
7.30am Feed bottle while my wife readies herself and eats breakfast.	7.30am Time to walk the dog and baby in the carrier.	7.00am  Time to walk the dog and baby in the carrier. Feed baby bottle.	7.30am  Time to walk the dog and baby in the carrier.
8.00am Eat breakfast and clean up.	8.00am Prepare breakfast for my wife and me.  Eat breakfast and clean up.	8.00am Prepare breakfast for my wife.	8.15am Feed baby bottle.  Nappy change for baby, wind-down play in nursery to burn excess energy.
8.30am Leg it out the door to catch the train to work (action emails that came in overnight en route).	8.30am Leg it out the door to catch the train to work (action emails that came in overnight en route).	8.15am Nappy change for baby, wind-down play in nursery to burn excess energy.	9.00am Read a book to baby while playing his favourite songs.  Nap #1 starts.  20-minute home workout in the backyard. Do some writing if I’m not feeling lazy.
9.10am Arrive at work.	9.10am Arrive at work.	8.30am Read a book to baby while playing his favourite songs.  Nap #1 starts.  20-minute home workout in the backyard. Do some writing if I’m not feeling lazy.	10.45am Get baby up from nap #1.  Get ready for an outing.
12.00pm Visit grandparents who helpfully live near work or exercise (i.e. cramming things I used to do after work during lunchtime now).	12.00pm Visit grandparents who helpfully live near work or exercise (i.e. cramming things I used to do after work during lunchtime now).	10.15am Get baby up from nap #1. Get ready for an outing.	11.30am Feed baby solids—yoghurt (Tamar Valley is the only leftover kids’ yoghurt I’d happily eat) and whatever I’m eating (I gave up on making no-sugar, no-salt and generally no-fun foods, of which 90% would end up on the ground or smushed up on the plate).
12.45pm Back to work.	12.45pm Back to work.	11.00am Feed baby bottle (in a quiet area to reduce distracted feeding).	1.00pm Feed baby bottle.  Nappy change for baby, wind-down play in nursery to burn excess energy.
5.20pm Run or train home.	5.20pm Run or train home.	11.30am Feed baby solids.  Clean up and start heading home if out.	1.30pm Read a book to baby while playing my favourite chill piano songs.  Nap #2 starts.  20-minute meditation/nap (parenting is tiring!) in bed.  Prepare dinner. Do some writing if I’m not feeling lazy. Note: depending on my wife’s schedule (she’d returned to work full-time), she might take over this nap.
6.30pm Prepare dinner, catch up on the day and feed the dog.	6.30pm Prepare dinner, catch up on the day and feed the dog.	12.15pm Read a book to baby while playing his favourite songs.  Nap #2 starts.  20 minute meditation/nap (parenting is tiring!) in bed.  Prepare dinner. Do some writing if I’m not feeling lazy.	3.00pm Get baby up from nap #2.  Get ready for an outing. Note: we had to work really hard to get our boy to stay in the cot until 3.00pm, with resettles or because he’d try to skip the nap and go to bed super early (e.g. 5.00pm!)
6.50pm Feed bottle while taking turns to eat dinner.	6.50pm Entertain baby while taking turns to eat dinner.	1.45pm Get baby up from nap #2.  Get ready for an outing.	3.45pm Feed baby solids on a pram walk—a Subo bottle of beef and vegetable puree and a banana is key to a full night’s sleep!
7.20pm Clean up dinner, put on dishwasher.	7.20pm Clean up dinner, put on dishwasher.  Jump into the shower.	3.00pm Feed baby bottle.  Wind-down play to burn excess energy.  Nappy change for baby.	5.30pm Feed baby bottle.  Nappy change for baby, wind-down play in nursery to burn excess energy.  Read a book to baby while playing my favourite chill piano songs.  Put baby to sleep. Note: my wife (who’d returned to full-time work) would take over the bedtime routine if not lecturing.
7.30pm Take baby in carrier for final day nap and walk dog around the block while my wife readies for final feed and bed.	7.30pm Baby’s bedtime routine (change nappy, outfit, put in sleep sack, read book) and feed bottle.  Put baby to sleep. Note: bedtime would vary from 7pm to 7.45pm depending on how the day naps went.	4.15pm Put dinner in oven (timed cook).  Pop baby in cot for nap #3—if that doesn’t work then put in car for nap. Listen to podcasts, reply to messages. Note: at 8 months there’d be 1-2 days where our boy would transition to 2 naps where it’d be an antsy 3 hour wake window where we’d put him to bed around 6.00pm.	6.30pm  Prepare dinner or head out for date while grandparents babysit (lifesavers!)
8.15pm Arrive home, gradually wake baby and I shower and get ready for bed.	8pm Spend quality time with my wife (watch TV series, massage my wife’s body aches, catch up on day).	5.15pm Wake baby from nap #3 and return home if the nap was in car.  Assemble dinner.  Debrief on workday with my wife.	9.30pm Wife and I head to bed and stay vigilant for any baby wake-ups.  Note: My wife would shush-pat him if he woke, but fortunately this was uncommon by the time our boy was 10 months old.
8.30pm Spend quality time with my wife (watch TV series, massage my wife’s body aches, catch up on day).  Last feed for baby.	8.30pm Wife goes to bed.  Refill hydration stations, take out bins, tidy house for next day. Unload the dishwasher and prep bottles with formula for the next day.	6.00pm Feed baby solids (e.g. at this stage it was mostly very expensive organic beef pouches and fancy purees). Eat dinner, catch up on the day and feed the dog.	10.30pm Sleep.
9.00pm Baby’s bedtime routine (change nappy, outfit, put in sleep sack, read book).  Refill hydration stations, take out bins, tidy house for next day.	9.00pm Life admin and journaling.	7.00pm Feed baby bottle.  Wind-down play to burn excess energy.  Nappy change for baby.  Read a book to baby while playing his favourite songs.  Put baby to sleep. Take out bins, tidy house for next day.  Prep bottles with formula for the next day. Clean up dinner, put on dishwasher.  Jump into the shower. Note 1: my wife (who’d returned to full-time work) would take over the bedtime routine if not lecturing. Note 2: bedtime would vary from 7pm to 8.30pm (yep, you read that correctly!) depending on how the day naps went.
9.30pm Wife goes to bed.  I swaddle and soothe baby for night time sleep. Note: from 4 months/16 weeks my wife took over for about a fortnight because it started to become a cry and sweat battle whenever I soothed our boy—talk about picking favourites!	10.00pm Give baby a dreamfeed bottle.	8.30pm Spend quality time with my wife (watch TV series, catch up on day).
9.45pm Baby placed into bassinet drowsy but awake or asleep and cuddles with my wife.  Unload the dishwasher and prep bottles with formula for the next day.	10.20pm Head to bed, staying vigilant for any baby wake-ups.	9.30pm Wife and I head to bed staying vigilant for any baby wake-ups.
10pm Head to bed and journal progress, thoughts and reflections.	10.45pm Sleep.	10.30pm Sleep
10.45pm Sleep.		4.00am (next day) Baby wakes for bottle—try to resettle without bottle if possible because our boy had a habit of reverse cycling his bottle feeds. Note: my heroic wife would be in charge of dealing with any wakes from 11.00pm to 5.00am.

How do those routines stack up against your experiences or expectations? 

I’m always up for hearing how others juggle their home and work lives, so please leave a comment!

-Will

Where was I writing this?

20/10/25 Little Chloe Cafe ($5 with Skip voucher, large almond cappuccino—rounded, creamy, delightful)