Bedtime and Daily Routine Activities for Babies, Toddlers and Young Children
Consistency helps maintain a happy toddler as well as parent. When their routine misses a beat, we find ourselves dealing with the repercussions...



KC's Bedtime and Daily Routines make it easy for parents, teachers, educators and caregivers to introduce routines to their children.

Read more about our Routine Kits to find out which one is right for you...
The Milestone Parenting Story

How I got my daughter to stop saying "No"

My story is quite similar to every other mom's story. We are all masters at multitasking, but we often find that there is never enough time in our day to do everything. We want the time we spend with our children to be special, filled with love and not confrontation.

In the summer of 2003, I had a job with a crazy schedule – traveling out of town for days and even a week at a time. My daughter, Rosana, was in daycare at the time. Her schedule would change daily, with her father taking her to daycare early in the morning when I was out of town and me taking her to daycare late and sometimes not at all when I was in town.

Rosana was getting ready to enter pre-kindergarten, and our lives were about to become very hectic. She would need to be at school by 8:30AM every weekday, regardless of my schedule. I knew that the best way to avoid confrontation at bedtime and before school was to get Rosana on a consistent daily routine that summer. Not surprisingly, the more we tried to enforce a schedule, the harder Rosana fought us. "No" quickly became one of her favorite words. We needed help.

As luck would have it, help was on its way. A series of fortunate events would soon lead me to develop a solution that has had a tremendous impact on our lives. Years later that solution continues to be one of the most important things I could have done for my daughter and for our family.

An Enlightening Conversation and a Timely Visit

My sister Rebeca, a Ph.D. in Education, came to stay with us that summer before Rosana started pre-kindergarten. She silently observed our routine, or lack there-of. Rebeca's genuine concern prompted her to ask questions about my lack of structure. With my college education in Psychology, these questions led to a very enlightening conversation about the benefits of introducing routines and schedules early in a child's life.

Shortly after my conversation with Rebeca, I visited a cousin who had posted a written schedule behind her daughter's closet door. Her schedule was a basic list of activities such as brushing teeth, going to bed and taking a bath, each with a time written next to them. "This is great," I thought, "but how do I use it with Rosana, who is too young to read and too young to tell time?"

A Difficult Start

Her father and I attempted to implement a verbal schedule with Rosana. We started by saying, "It's bedtime; it's bath time," at the same time every day. After two weeks, the response remained the same - "No!"

How could I make Rosana understand the need for a schedule? She had so much energy and so many things to do and learn. When it came time for breakfast, school, dinner and bedtime – especially bedtime – she just wanted to keep going.

The missing piece was that the schedule had to belong to Rosana – she had to see this list of activities as hers.

I looked in stores and online for help with setting a schedule or routine. There were mountains of research and books that highlighted how children crave structure and how important it is to set routines for them, but there were no products on the market that had everything I was looking for – something that a young child would understand and own.

The Breakthrough

I decided to create my own tool for her using stock images of her daily activities – things like bath time, story time, brushing teeth, bedtime and even a reminder to take her asthma treatment. I cut out these images and combined them with pictures of digital and analog clocks showing the time that each activity was to be performed. I then placed all of the pictures in her room alongside real analog and digital clocks. Her first routine was born, and just as important as being easy for her to understand, it was something that her father and I could follow as well.

I introduced the routine to her one day after school. I told her that I had a surprise for her in her room, giving it special meaning. She ran to her room, looked at all of the pictures and asked, "What is it?" I explained that this would help her remind Mom and Dad of what "we" had to do. We looked at each picture and agreed on what each activity represented. I then showed her how we could compare the real clock to the picture on the wall. When the clocks matched, it was time to do that activity.

It Was Like Magic!

Rosana not only understood the collection of images, but she was also eager to do what they depicted with no argument. She would even tell me when it was time for dinner, reading and even bed! Her dad could also easily keep the routine while I was traveling. Rosana now had the structure she was craving, and our family had the routine that we needed.

This tool proved easy to adjust as Rosana grew older and her schedule changed. I simply moved the images around and showed her that there was a change. Rosana would immediately adapt to the new routine.

Parents that visited my house would ask me where I purchased this fabulous system. I would tell them that I had made it, and they would all ask "Can you make one for me?"

In February of 2007, I was watching Oprah while recovering from surgery. She had a program where mothers were showing projects that had started as a need to solve regular life problems. It made me think of Rosana's routine kit, and how wonderful it would be to make these for other moms and dads.

As I watched the program, I kept thinking of how this tool would make a wonderful difference in other peoples' lives. I mentioned it to my friend Dale, and we set off on our journey to bring this product to life as the Milestone Parenting It's Time To... Bedtime and Daily Routine Kits.

I sincerely hope, and honestly believe, that our Routine Kits will help parents, teachers and caregivers create an environment where every child learns and grows without the need for confrontation and conflict.

- Raquel
2008 © Milestone Parenting, LLC | Home | About Us | Our Products | Community Features | Customer Service