Night Time Routine For Moms -Make Tomorrow a Good Day

Start the day off on the right foot every day with these quick and easy steps! A simple night time routine for stay at home moms that will set you up for a successful morning.

a girl standing on a porch in the evening

You know those days when you wake up to the kids “dying of starvation”, last night’s dirty dishes glaring at you from in the sink, a disaster every where you look and no idea where to start. Yeah, that’s called getting off on the wrong foot. Its almost impossible to turn the day around when it starts like that!

Have you checked out my free printable cleaning routine checklist?

Morning time sets the tone for the entire day when you’re a stay at home mom. So how do you make sure your morning will be a good one? (for the sake of your whole family) It starts with having a night time routine to set yourself up for success beforehand.

I know when I make sure I take some of these steps each night, I see a world of difference in the way the next day goes!

Are you ready to start being a morning person? Lets do this!!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Get my full disclosure here.

Why Its Helpful For Stay At Home Moms to Have a Night Time Routine

  • Mornings with little kids are unpredictable, so its best to be prepared to handle what’s going to be thrown on your plate in the morning.
  • Waking up to a fresh start is SO much easier than starting the day having to catch up on yesterday’s messes
  • Stay at home moms can feel like their days are just blending together. Its helpful to have a clear separation between each day and starting a night time routine will help with that!
  • Its easy to see how our kids benefit from having a bedtime routine. It makes sense that moms would see good affects from having a night time routine as well

Night Time Routine Ideas For Moms:

First off, this is NOT about being as productive as possible at night time! Moms really need that time to unwind after being with the kids all day.

Having a night time routine is more about looking out for yourself long term and investing that time into your own well being during that quiet time in the evening.

Since no two moms have the same work load and life situation, there isn’t going to be one night time routine that works perfectly for everyone. Instead I’m making a list of ideas the fall into 5 categories. That way you can make your own night time routine by choosing ideas from each of the categories.

Personal Hygiene

  • Epsom Salt Foot Bath – soaking your feet is a wonderful way to de-stress at the end of a long day with the kids. My husband got me a foot bath for Mother’s Day and I absolutely love it!
  • At Home Nail Care – even just clipping or filing your nails can sometimes make you feel like a whole new person
  • Washing Your Face – going to sleep with a clean face just feels so much better. You could massage your face, apply a mask or just get your make up cleaned off.
  • Applying Lotion – its not easy to hydrate your skin when the kids are around. Bedtime is the perfect time to get to it!
  • Using an Electric Massager – a good neck massage could be just what you need to unwind at the end of the day.
a mom washing dishes with her kids

Clean Up

  • Wash the Dishes – waking up to yesterday’s dirty dishes is a sure fire way to put you in a bad mood. Get those dishes done each night so that you truly start fresh in the mornings.
  • Sweep the Floors – leave not trace of yesterday’s meal time mayhem!
  • Wipe Down the Counters – just another good way to start the day with a clean slate.
  • Tidy Up the Toys – this is actually something you could do with the kids before they go to bed.
  • Surface Pick Up – again, making sure you aren’t starting the day with a mess your family made the day before is really important when you’re at home day in and day out.

Plan Out the Next Day

  • Figure Out Breakfast – since kids like to greet you in the morning with “what’s for breakfast” its a good idea to have an answer ready!
  • Decide What Tomorrow’s Dinner Will Be – that way you can make sure to thaw what you need to or get an early start the next day.
  • Make Out a Simple To Do List for Tomorrow – waking up with a plan for the day makes a world of difference! It saves you from spinning in circles wondering where to start or what you should be doing. Having a cleaning routine is a huge help with this.
  • Lay Out Your Family’s Clothes – I don’t know why this helps as much as it does but our mornings always seem to go much more smoothly when we lay out our clothes the night before!
  • Set the Table For Breakfast – it takes two minutes to do, but its nice to wake up to it already done

Prep For the Next Day

  • Pack School Lunches – much less hustle in the morning when lunches are already packed!
  • Gather Up the Laundry You Need to Wash Tomorrow – this is part of my tips for keeping up on your laundry pile.
  • Set Your Coffee Maker – most coffee makers have a self timer option, but if you don’t have that option, you could set out your coffee mug and make sure your coffee grounds are refilled.
  • Make Breakfast Ahead of Time – this is one of the best ways to help yourself out for the next morning! Here are some make ahead breakfast ideas.
  • Setting Your Alarm – give yourself a jump start on the day by getting up a bit before the morning rush starts
the bible and a cup of tea on a porch in the evening

Spiritual Care

  • Spiritual Reading
  • Evening Prayers
  • A Quiet Walk
  • Praying With Your Spouse
  • Studying Up On Your Faith

How to Set Yourself Up For a Great Morning

You might not feel like you’re naturally a morning person (trust me, I would much rather stay up late than get up early), but there are some things you can do to help yourself wake up inn a better mood!

Set Your Alarm For Bedtime and For the Morning

If you’re like me and really have a hard time cutting that “me time” in the evening short, try setting your alarm to get to bed at a set time each night. Our bodies need a consistent schedule to function as well as possible. I set my alarm for 9:45 PM each night and then for 5:30 each morning. I have a goal to move it back a bit earlier, but baby steps, right?

a coffee station

Make a Simple Wake Up Routine For Yourself

Keep it very simple, just a few steps that will be easy to stick to in all of the phases of motherhood. Having a little routine for myself immediately after I wake up really helps me to wake up feeling ready for anything.

Here’s what I do each day:

  • make the bed
  • get dressed
  • wash my face and brush my hair
  • open the blinds all around the house
  • plug in an essential oil diffuser
  • make my coffee
  • turn on happy music (when the kids are awake)

Don’t Look At Your Phone Until Your Bed is Made and You Are Dressed

Since I started making this rule for myself, I have found I have so much more time in the morning and my whole day is more productive! Its actually embarrassing how much time I was wasting laying in bed after my alarm went off!

Do Try and Get Up Before Your Kids

This one is hard. I know its the advice you’ve heard a million times, but I’ll just tell you it really does make a difference. I went for years and years of being a stay at home mom thinking that staying in bed for that extra 15-20 minutes was necessary to me getting enough sleep.

It sure feels that way when you’re snug in bed! But once I started aiming for getting up even just 10 minutes before my kids, I could already see the benefits of being able to adjust to being awake before my kids needed me.

Start small, maybe set yourself a goal of getting up an hour before the kids and work towards it in 5 minute increments a week. It might take 3 months to get there, but you won’t be killing yourself attempting that sudden switch all at once!

More Routine Ideas For You:

If you found these tips helpful, share this post with your mom friends who might need help too! What are your favorite night time routine ideas? Let me know in the comment section!

Pin these steps to try later. Tag @athomeontheprairie on Instagram to share what you’ve made with us!

Similar Posts

12 Comments

  1. Love this! Thank you for the inspiration. With a new baby in the house any kind of routine I had went out the window. It’s time to implement one again.

    1. All of this is SO true! I really like c the idea of not looking at the phone till I’m dressed and my bed is made! And yes! Coffee preset is a must- like a little treat in the morning already waiting for you! At night time I have the 15 minute tidy up- mainly the collection spots: kitchen, bathroom and main living area! Thank you for your thoughts and taking the time to type this up for us!! ❤️

  2. These are SUCH good ideas! Our family functions so much better with routines and this has given me some added ideas for putting into our routines.

  3. It is such a great idea to not look at your phone in the morning until a set time! Looking at your phone does take up so much time and can make your morning routine so much slower. I’m really going to try this! Great post!

  4. I always look forward to your posts. Encouraging while giving actionable advice for moms. Thank you for sharing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *