Blog — toddlers

As the parent of a toddler, you know how challenging these years can feel - simply getting through a full day can be tough at times, am I right? Toddlers are notoriously known for their strong-willed personalities, big emotional swings, and testing of boundaries. They can also be SO sweet and so fun to be around, as they truly come into their own in these early years. As usual in parenting, multiple conflicting emotions can be felt at once! 

Physiologically-speaking, a toddler’s brain, particularly the areas that control executive functioning (things like planning, decision-making, impulse control, and focus) are still under major development in the early years. This means that toddlers will struggle with all of these types of skills - and that’s normal! However, it also means that they can show up with big feelings, long tantrums, and overall difficulty getting through parts of their day, which can in turn, make our job as parents/caregivers, feel very difficult. 

One of the BEST things you can provide as a parent or caregiver for a toddler is a consistent daily routine. Why? Because predictability helps your child’s brain feel safe and secure, therefore leading to easier transitions, a better mood, and an overall happier child…. And who wouldn’t want that?! 

Let’s take a look at what an example of a daily routine for a toddler (2-4 years old) may look like for a day at HOME: 

• Wake up 
• Eat breakfast 
• Get dressed, brush teeth, use potty 
• Independent play time 
• Morning outing or activity (park, errands, play group, craft, etc) 
• Eat lunch 
• Nap or quiet time 
• Afternoon snack 
• Afternoon activity (structured play, outdoor time, errands, etc) 
• Independent play and/or screen time 
• Eat dinner 
• Play time 
• Start bedtime routine (bath, potty, brush teeth, pajamas, etc) 
• Goodnight! 

Next, let’s look at an example of what a daily routine may look like for a toddler who attends DAYCARE/SCHOOL: 

• Wake up 
• Eat breakfast 
• Get dressed, brush teeth, use potty 
• Go to daycare/school 
• Come home from daycare/school 
• Afternoon snack (Optional, depending on what time your child arrives home) 
• Structured play, if time allots 
• Independent play and/or screen time 
• Eat dinner 
• Play time 
• Start bedtime routine (bath, potty, brush teeth, pajamas, etc) 
• Goodnight! 

The most important thing to note for both routines is that the exact time that each activity takes place is less important than the overall flow of the day. Every family is going to be on a different “schedule”, but we can always create a daily rhythm for the day. And remember -  some days your routine will be off, and that’s okay! 

If your toddler is having trouble transitioning between parts of their day (for example, from independent play to the potty, or from screen time to dinner time), a visual timer can work wonders in the toddler years. This lets your child “see” how much time is left before they are expected to go from one thing to the next. You can let them help you set it, then give them advance warning about what exactly is going to happen when the timer goes off. For example, you can say “When the timer beeps, we are going to say good-bye to our trucks and go into the bathroom”. 

My favorite visual timer to use with children is the Time Timer - the MOD and the PLUS 20-Minute are two favorites to use at home. Use code ‘ROOTED23’ for 10% off your order! Code valid through 5/19/23. 

Looking for more guidance on how to structure your toddler’s daily routine? Struggling with specific parts of the day like bedtime, picky eating during meals, or tantrums? Check out my COMPREHENSIVE DAILY ROUTINE GUIDES. These multi-page digital download guides will teach you exactly how to structure your child’s routine and troubleshoot common toddler issues with simple and realistic tips and strategies that work! Grab the 2-3 Year Guide or the 3-5 Year Guide to match your child’s age. 

About our Guest Author

Jessica Rapp Irwin, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist, childhood routine expert, and lover of all things child development. She is the founder of Rooted in Routine, an online parenting education community and platform,, to help parents learn simple, easy to implement routines for optimal child development for babies and young kids. She is passionate about educating parents on NORMAL, HEALTHY development, which is often simpler than we think. Jessica’s approach is largely rooted in going back to the basics to help you establish solid, age-appropriate routines for your child for things like eating, play, and sleep. She believes this is the most important foundation you can provide for your child - and she wants to help you do just that! 

Learn more about Jessica here and follow her on Instagram to connect. 

Today we are sharing a potty training bundle that makes the perfect duo for any child new to potty training! 

As you begin to potty train your child, it is important to have a schedule. Starting out you will want to have your child try to use the potty every 30 minutes. After a few days of the 30 minute schedule without any accidents, bump it up to 1 hour. After a few days of an hour, you can push it to 2 hours. After 2 hours you can try to go without the time increments.  

The Time Timer PLUS 120 Minute is the perfect tool for establishing this schedule. The PLUS 120 Minute can help keep you and your child accountable for this time. If you set the Time Timer, you are less likely to start folding laundry, get sucked into a work project, or get distracted in doing a task around the house while you’re in the depths of potty training. The high contrast colored disk helps you continue to do what you need to do while quickly and easily seeing how much time you have in your peripheral before you will need to help your child make their way to the bathroom. Losing track of time and breaking the schedule may result in your child having more accidents.  

In addition, young children can easily understand the colored disk. Your child can know that once the “purple disappears,” it’s time to go to the toilet. They don’t need to understand what time it is or how long a half hour is. This gives your child control and a sense of independence. In fact, you may find your child going to the bathroom on their own once the purple disk is gone, or reminding you while you are working on something else! 

Once you remove the potty training schedule, there may be a period of regression where your child starts having a couple of accidents. With the Time Timer PLUS 120 Minute, there is no need to fret. You can easily go back to your 2 hour time schedule, just as a reminder for your child to head to the bathroom and try to potty. By keeping a schedule, you can reduce the stress of potty training for you and your child. Also, you can make it a fun independent task, where after your child potties, they get to set the Time Timer PLUS 120 Minute again.  

According to the CDC: “Good handwashing early in life may help improve child development in some settings*” And what better time to start enforcing good handwashing habits than when you are potty training? Kids have shown that they can understand handwashing as early as 18 months, and understanding the importance of handwashing after using the potty is an essential part of toilet training. 

The Time Timer WASH is the perfect tool for teaching proper handwashing. This visual handwashing timer can help children of any age or ability understand the handwashing process.   

The WASH breaks handwashing in a simple 3 step process:  

1. Soap
2. Scrub
3. Rinse

Depending on the age of your child and if they have been exposed to proper handwashing yet, your child may not get the full 20-seconds of scrubbing that is recommended by the CDC at first. However, the Time Timer WASH will help them understand the steps and work up to the proper duration. It gives them a tool that is understandable and is easily used independently. And if you have a child that likes to dance, the Time Timer WASH includes an option to play a song. The music can remind your child that handwashing (and using the toilet!) is fun! 

Keeping a routine is very important while potty training and using the Time Timer WASH as part of the routine can further help them grasp potty training while staying accident-free and safe.  

During this time, it is especially important to keep your children and their fellow classmates safe and healthy. The CDC cites a study that found that “Handwashing education reduces absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness in schoolchildren by 29-57%**” As your child gets potty-trained and into the daycare or classroom, these skills will not only keep them and their classmates healthier, but it also will give them a more consistent routine and schedule, furthering a healthy development.   

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*Bowen A, Agboatwalla M, Luby S, Tobery T, Ayers T, Hoekstra RM. Association between intensive handwashing promotion and child development in Karachi, Pakistan: a cluster randomized controlled trial.external icon Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012 Nov;166(11):1037-44. 

** Wang Z, Lapinski M, Quilliam E, Jaykus LA, Fraser A. The effect of hand-hygiene interventions on infectious disease-associated absenteeism in elementary schools: A systematic literature review.external icon Am J Infect Control 2017; 45: 682–689. 

We recently returned from MOMCON in Milwaukee, where we shared the Time Timer ® with moms from the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International.

Jan Rogers struggled to help her daughter, Loran, keep track of time. She wasn’t old enough to read clocks and often missed the bus. So, mom Jan invented Time Timer, which features a patented red disk that shows elapsed time.

If you already have an awesome bedtime routine for your preschooler, congrats!  You can skip this article, and just share your tips with us.

For the rest of us, whether it was the start of school for our older kids or a change in sleep habits for our infant, it never hurts to consider a bedtime routine that works to get our preschoolers to sleep on time, and maybe even get time for ourselves.