Advice please about evening routine.

[gingercat2]

I have a partner who is usually home in the evening, a six year old who is still a fussy eater, and a newborn who is unsettled in the late afternoon/ evening. What is the best dinner/bath/bed routine? An early family dinner, followed by bath and bed for six year old, or get dinner for six year old and have adult dinner when she is in bed. What works in other's homes?

We (DS7) do tea at 5/5.15pm (starving after school - otherwise would end up with too many snacks). Bath (a long relaxed chatty bath!) about 6.20pm. School reading and some play 7.10-7.30pm. Ideally it's lights out 7.40pm. He does need his sleep though. We eat later as 5.15pm too early for us, and often DH not actually home til much later. It works for us. But don't have a newborn. Actually we've been doing this routine, albeit slightly earlier timings, since he tiny!

I feed the kids sometime between 5 and 6pm and then eat later with dh

After DS2 was born, DS1 would have dinner around 5pm then he watches tv while I feed the baby.
Then it's bedtime! After a quick bath n story.

You will settle into a routine that works for u.

Congrats on your new baby!

I have a 2yo and a 3montg old we do food for everyone at 6pm then bath, bed for both children. DS2 is still doing 2hrs of feeding before finally settling so we would be waiting forever to eat if we waited until after I'd got both to sleep! Also my husband works late in the week so its just me so I find it much easier to cook just one meal.

Not sure if 6pm would be far to late for a 6 year old though?

Also in the really newborn stages I just fed downstairs and took DS2 up to bed when we slept, it only in the last week or sobi've been trying to get his bedtime earlier

Thanks for your responses. I have also been finding that getting everything started early helps too.