I cherish my morning time with Blakely. It took about 3-4 months to get out of that newborn fog and finally create a consistent (but flexible!) routine that works for the both of us. The best advice I can give to a new mama who is out of the newborn phase is to remember to create some “me time” within every day. For me, that is my mornings.
I’ve found that how you spend your morning sets the tone for how the rest of the day will be. If my morning is filled with some kind of movement, I feel energized and satisfied the rest of the day. If my morning is filled with devotionals and quiet time, I feel mindful and grounded the rest of the day. If my morning is filled with productivity, I feel efficient the rest of the day. You get the point!
Below I will be sharing my intentional morning routine that leaves me feeling motivated and productive.
BUT, before I get into the routine let me remind you, this routine does not happen everyday. In fact, there are more times than not the past 6 months where I have crawled back into bed during her first nap to catch up on sleep. But that’s real life and that’s mom life.
I’m sharing this to 1. provide inspiration to those struggling to find a morning routine that works for them and 2. to help new mamas with routine ideas for their 6 month olds.
I hope it gives you some ideas to add into your morning routine, and if you have a little one I hope this helps by showing what has worked for us!
6:45 A.M. WAKE UP
The first thing I do when I wake up is go straight to the bathroom. There I do all the things: wash my face, brush my teeth (I have to first thing in the morning or I feel gross), and put in my contacts. If Blakely’s still asleep, I do my simple skincare for the day. Toner, under eye cream, sunscreen, and lotion. I then go and make Blakely’s morning bottle.
7:00 A.M. WAKE & FEED BLAKELY
Blakely (thankfully) has been sleeping through the night for the most part since March. If you all are interested, I can share a night time routine with her as well! We put her down around 730 p.m.
I give Blakely a 6oz bottle right after I wake her because she’s very hungry from going a full night with no food!
7:20 A.M. PLAY TIME FOR B & COFFEE FOR MOM
Right after Blakely’s bottle I’ll burp her and then lay her on her play mat with toys to roll around, or I’ll let her play in her SkipHop Activity Center (exersaucer). Lately Casey has been calling the exersaucer the “circle of neglect”… major eye roll. How else am I going to get anything done around here??
I then go and make myself a cup of coffee and grab some kind of bar to eat with it. I’ve found that eating something when I drink my coffee has helped my stomach rather than just drinking coffee on an empty stomach.
7:30 A.M. DEVOTIONAL, JOURNALING, QUIET TIME
This is the game changer of my morning routine. I try to prioritize this step every morning because it’s what grounds me for my day. I read my devotional “New Morning Mercies,” I’ll journal about gratitude or do a brain dump, and I’ll do a 5-10 minute meditation. Like I said before, I don’t always hit all three of these. Some days it’s just enough to find time to say a prayer. But on the days I do all three are when I truly notice a positive shift for the rest of my day.
8:00 A.M. FEED B A PUREE
We started giving Blakely solids at 6 months. For breakfast I will usually do avocado or banana mixed with oatmeal or rice cereal!
8:30-9:00 A.M. PUT B DOWN FOR FIRST NAP
I’ve been trying to expand Blakely’s wake window to 2 hours in the mornings, but she usually shows signs of sleepiness after an hour and a half (rubbing her eyes, yawning, gets fussy and talkative).
8:45 A.M. WORKOUT
If I don’t workout in the morning, I’ve found that I just won’t do it. But even though I am a morning person, it’s still not easy to always find motivation. What helps me is putting on a cute workout fit, rolling out my mat, and just pressing play on whatever workout I’m doing.
I’ve loved doing online 30 minute Barre3 classes and Melissa Wood Health flows.
9:15 A.M. SHOWER & BREAKFAST
At this point I’m pretty hungry so I’ll (depending how sweaty I get lol) take a quick shower and then whip up some breakfasts. This usually looks like one of the following:
- yogurt bowl with berries, granola, & chia seeds
- some kind of protein smoothie
- eggs & avo toast
9:45 A.M. DISHES & LAUNDRY
Here I will put on a podcast or some Jesus tunes and empty the dishwasher from running overnight. If I need to start a load of laundry I’ll do that here too. I love to do these two tasks in the morning because it makes me feel productive the rest of the day, knowing I got them done in the AM.
10:00-10:30 A.M. B WAKES & FEED
At this point I have completed my morning routine and I’m feeling energized, productive, and ready for the rest of the day!!
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Again, this routine does not happen everyday. I have a 6 month old which means life doesn’t always go to plan. BUT, this is the ideal morning for myself and for Blakely and I always feel so much better when my day goes something like this! 🙂
Let me know in the comments something from your morning routine that is a nonnegotiable! For me, it’s my quiet time! … and coffee!
Stay Well,
Courtney
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