How Do You Live the Waldorf Way With a Baby or Toddler?

With a baby or a toddler, Waldorf at home has no lessons in it at all. You keep a steady rhythm and a calm house with room for quiet. You sing a lot and say nursery rhymes. You keep a few simple toys, go outside every day and let a toddler watch and copy your own real work. There's no curriculum to buy for these years. Your home is the curriculum.

If you're also homeschooling an older child, the same rhythm holds everyone. The last part of this article is about that.

What is Waldorf parenting for a baby or toddler?

In The Education of the Child (1907), Steiner called imitation and example the "two magic words" of early childhood. A young child, he wrote, learns not by instruction or telling off but by copying what goes on around them. That includes what they see you do and how you do it.

For a baby, that means the home itself. The sounds, the light, the pace of the day and the way you pick them up all count. For a toddler, it means your work: a toddler who watches you knead bread will want to knead too.

So Waldorf parenting in these years asks less of the child and more of the house. There are three things to get right:

1. A rhythm the child can feel.
2. A home that isn't too loud or busy for a small child.
3. Real work and simple play for a toddler to join.

How do I do Waldorf at home with a baby?

Bring in rhythm slowly. Donna Simmons of Christopherus, who ran Waldorf-inspired early parenting classes, describes the first year as a gradual move into rhythm, without scheduled feeds. You learn your baby's day and give it a shape: now we sleep, now we're awake, now we eat, now we bathe.

Talk less, sing more. Simmons suggests singing, humming and nursery rhymes over a running commentary. Say the same rhymes again and again. Do finger plays and peekaboo. The World Health Organization's 2019 guidelines also encourage reading, storytelling and singing with a caregiver. Here the old habit and the health advice agree.

Leave room for quiet. Simmons suggests not keeping music on all the time, even gentle music, and letting a baby lie and watch while you work around the house. Busy family noise is fine. What she'd limit is the extra: the TV in the background, the shopping center every afternoon, the long day out.

Floor time and freedom to move. The WHO guidelines ask that babies be active several times a day, especially through play on the floor. They suggest at least 30 minutes of tummy time a day, spread out, for babies not yet moving on their own. They also say a baby shouldn't be strapped into a pram, high chair or carrier for more than an hour at a time. A blanket on the floor, a wool ball just out of reach and you nearby make a good Waldorf morning.

A few simple things to hold. A wooden ring, a soft cloth doll, a small basket. Our Waldorf toys and play guide lists toys by age, with a size check for anything a baby might put in their mouth.

How do I do Waldorf at home with a toddler?

Give them real work. Toddlers want to do what you do. Give them a small broom, a cloth for the table, a bowl to stir, a basket of pegs to carry to the washing line. It'll take longer. That's the point: the work is the play at this age.

Keep the toys few and simple. A few wooden blocks, a cloth doll, a wooden animal to push, a basket to fill and tip out. Our toys and play guide has a short study on why fewer toys can mean longer play.

Go outside every day. The WHO recommends at least 3 hours a day of physical activity of any kind for 1 and 2 year olds, spread through the day. Most of that can happen outside: puddles, a sandpit, a walk to see the ducks.

Sing the transitions. A made-up song for shoes on, one for washing hands, one for tidying. Toddlers often follow a song more willingly than an instruction. Our singing guide has more on this.

Tell tiny stories. A toddler doesn't need fairy tales yet. Short, repeating stories about the day work well: the little brown hen who looked for her eggs, the boy who put on his red boots. Tell the same one for days.

What is a Waldorf rhythm for toddlers?

Here's one day for a 2-year-old. Move the clock to fit your family, and keep the order.

• 7:00am: wake, nappy, dress, breakfast together.
• 8:00am: home work and play. You tidy the kitchen and hang out washing, and your toddler helps or plays near you.
• 9:30am: snack, then out. The garden, a walk or the park.
• 11:30am: lunch.
• 12:30pm: nap.
• 2:30pm: quiet play, a finger rhyme, a short story on your lap.
• 3:30pm: out again, or a job together like baking or watering.
• 5:00pm: supper.
• 6:00pm: bath, pyjamas, one song, bed.

That bedtime isn't a Waldorf rule. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 11 to 14 hours of sleep in 24 hours, naps included, for children aged 1 to 2. An early bedtime is often the easiest way to get there. Our bedtime routine guide goes through the evening step by step, and the daily rhythm guide shows how the day grows as children get older.

What does a Waldorf parent-child class do?

Many Waldorf schools run parent-and-child groups for babies and toddlers. You don't drop your child off. You go together, usually one morning a week.

The Waldorf School of Atlanta's Morning Garden is a good picture of one. Babies meet in small groups of four or five families, grouped by whether they're crawling yet. Toddlers have an outdoor morning of songs, movement and a warm snack from the teacher. While the children play, the parents talk with the teacher about development, sleep, meals, rhythm at home and screens.

For a parent at home with a small child, that company can matter as much as the songs. Our parent-and-child group guide goes into these groups in more detail. You can find Waldorf schools and kindergartens near you on the Waldorf Map, and some of them run a parent-and-child group.

Waldorf with a baby and an older homeschooled child

This is where most families feel the pinch. You have a grade 1 or grade 2 child who needs a main lesson, and a baby who needs you now.

A few things make it work:

Put the main lesson in the longest nap. At home, a grade 1 main lesson is often 60 to 90 minutes. That fits inside many babies' morning or afternoon nap. Plan the lesson so it can pause if the baby wakes early.

Let the baby join circle time. A baby on your lap or in a sling can be part of the verse, the songs and the movement. The WHO guidance says not to keep a baby in a carrier for more than an hour at a time, and circle time is well under that.

Keep a basket for the toddler. A basket of blocks, beeswax or a cloth doll by the table lets a toddler be near the lesson without being in it. Our multiple children guide has more on this.

Plan for interruptions. You'll stop to feed, change and settle. If you expect that, the lesson can start again without anyone getting cross. The rhythm holds even when a day doesn't.

Let the older child help. Folding the baby's washing, singing to the baby, fetching the nappy bag. It's real work, and it's the older child's place in the family.

Be kind to yourself in the first months. With a newborn, a shorter lesson or a few weeks of only stories, painting and walks is fine.

Starpath has no curriculum for babies, toddlers or kindergarten. Its Waldorf-inspired blocks start at grade 1, written by Sophie, a Waldorf class teacher with more than 10 years' experience, and grades 1 to 3 are complete. It's there for the older child's lessons, while the little one simply lives in the house.

Where to start this week

Choose three anchors for your day, like breakfast, time outside and bedtime, and keep them at the same times for a week. Learn one nursery rhyme and one song and use them every day. Clear away half the toys. Next week, give your toddler one real job beside you.