Everyday Parents review the ergoPouch Routine Cards

As you weave bedtime routines into your evenings, your child begins to look forward to the comforting rhythm of sleep. To make these moments even smoother, we designed our own ergoPouch Routine Cards, crafted to guide little ones through transitions. We invited four parents of toddlers to try the Routine Cards during their daily and nightly rituals, hoping to ease their bedtime struggles. Here’s what they discovered.

Kellie

"[They] have been a fantastic addition to our bedtime routine. What used to be a long process of me constantly repeating “brush teeth,” “put on PJs,” and so on has completely changed. My toddler loves to pull her cards out, follows what needs to be done, and feel accomplishment when she flips each one once completed. It’s really reduced the need for repeated instructions and made getting to bed much faster, giving us more time for cuddles and books.

An unexpected bonus is how much fun she has with them. Each evening, she loves pulling the cards out again to set up her morning routine, choosing her top five priorities for the next day. It’s been a great little exercise in independence and decision-making. The cards themselves are excellent quality, durable and definitely baby-proof. I was looking for something to help my little one with her bedtime and morning routing and these cards have been perfect for my 4-year-old. We’ll definitely keep using them. The only thing I felt was missing is a dedicated way to display or organise the cards. We’ve been using magnets to keep them on the fridge, which works well, but it would be great if there was a QR code included that links to printable templates (don’t expect anything more to be included with the box) like a Monday to Friday routine sheet or a “top 3 tasks for the day” layout. It would also be amazing if these templates included ergoPouch’s TOG rating guide for different weather, which has always been my go-to for deciding how to dress my kids."

Chloe

"I liked that the routine cards had everything that we would do in our routine, food, bath, pjs, cuddle, brush teeth, read a book, sleep sack and bed time. The one thing it was missing was a card for night light/ pink or white noise and I think this would be a great card to have as its very much in our routine as we put these on together and I know ergo also have their own sleep machine too from memory. Would definitely love a card for this. My daughter sleeps with Pink noise and star machine so would work for us. My daughter is 2y10m and the cards worked well some nights when she would be wanting to extend bed time I would remind her what our cards said we needed to do but some days/nights she wouldn't tolerate it at all which is normal for a toddler i guess!"

Maddie

"The routine cards were so simple to use and just became embedded in our daily routine so quickly! Both my 5 year old and 2 year old could understand the pictures. They loved working with me to put out our bedtime routine, then following it, taking it in turns of putting the cards away when we completed a task. I was able to use different cards for each kid such as sleepsuit just for my daughter, and toilet just for my son. It took away so much of the bedtime battle as the plan was set an non-negotiable, we just followed the cards!

I would then set up the morning routine for them to follow the next morning, meaning out mornings were so easy because they could get up and just follow it! No arguments!

I loved the flexibility of being able to change it each day depending on what the plans were, if we didn't have time for a bath, if we had to do something unusual. This also helped their resilience in unpredictability of life, as other charts I had tried before were so rigid and didn't allow small changes like that. Just made it so simple.

We also took them travelling, which was game changing. Being able to use the same routines and system, but in a new environment made it so simple and easy, made out bedtime routine easier amongst the challenge of being away. We used them in so many transitions when we were away which was excellent.

I mostly loved the simple imagery, flexibility of use, ease of transporting them and how much my kids loved them!"

Madelaine

"We trialled the ergoPouch Routine Cards with our son who has just turned two. We mainly used them as part of our bedtime routine, initially including dinner, bath, pyjamas, brushing teeth, sleeping bag, reading time and bedtime. However, we found this was a little overwhelming and too many steps for a younger toddler, so we eventually simplified it to bath, pyjamas, brush teeth and bedtime.

The illustrations are clear, engaging and easy for young children to understand. Henry enjoyed looking at the cards and naming the activities pictured, but I don’t think they really helped him understand what was coming next in our routine. One of the things I did like was that the cards are designed for an Australian context. We had previously tried other routine cards that were more US-focused, so it was nice to have visuals and routines that felt more familiar and relevant to our family.

However, I do think these cards may be better suited to preschool-aged children than younger toddlers. While my son enjoyed interacting with them, he treated them more like a game or flashcards than a routine tool. As a new two years old, he isn’t yet independently following the sequence or using them to transition between activities."

How did your little one interact with the Routine Cards?

"Used for start of the day (selected cards in bed the night before). My child picked her most important top 5 for the day and we made sure we tried to do that - helped also decide with after school activities (ie go park or library or read at home). My little one would also be the one reminding me to do her cards - she really loved them and would remind me that one was coming up. She especially loved the cuddles card." - Kellie

"We put them out before bed and sometimes also during the day when we were doing things and would go through them such as "okay Harlee were going to have dinner, then a bath and do our bed time routine ok". My daughter and I also sat together and looked at the cards together and I asked her what the pictures where so she could identify them and know that this is what we do next. "Remember the cards?" Id say." - Chloe

"We started off using them just for the bedtime routine and they were very engaged! We soon added mornings, which I would set up and they would engage with every morning. He started independently setting them up with what he thought the routines would be!" - Maddie

"Just for bedtime. He enjoyed unpacking and packing away the cards into the box, but did not really interact with them when they were displayed on the wall as part of our routine."- Madelaine

Did the Routine Cards help with any of your bedtime challenges?

"They were a massive help for structure and reducing the need to repeat the basic bedtime routine instructions." - Kellie

"Yes and no. Some days it was used well and some not so much depending on how busy our day was and if Harlee could tolerate down time to do it. Some days where she skipped a nap she had low tolerance for them." - Chloe

"Yes, created some structure around getting ready for bed, the steps to get ready, ensuring we got everything done and actually off to bed!" - Maddie

"Not really."- Madelaine

How would you describe the quality of the Routine Cards?

"Love them, my 1yo also was playing with them and they still maintained their quality. Found the quality great and the images on the cards self explanatory with children (didn’t have to read)" - Kellie

"Gorgeous quality. Super thick and cute pictures. Easy to identify for toddlers" - Chloe

"Brilliant- such great quality, solid, handled everyday use" - Maddie

"Illustrations and design are lovely, durability is not. I was disappointed that they were made from a thin cardboard that can easily get wet or rip rendering them useless." - Madelaine

Would you purchase this product for the RRP of $19.95?

"Yes, I was in the market for something similar at the time this trial became available and was looking at templates or Etsy store cards. I found the convenience of being able to purchase good quality cards with little ones has been great and the cost of this was reasonable for what I was seeing in comparison on the market." - Kellie

"Yes, Super great price for $20 and is definitely purchase for friends as gifts too"- Chloe

"Yes, I think I would- when you are at the point of needing a new routine, knowing the possibilities and how flexible they were, it was a good option" - Maddie

"No, I would print and laminate my own cards to make them more durable rather than purchasing these, especially as my toddler still likes to buy things in his mouth." - Madelaine

So, as it turns out, families found these cards super easy to work into their daily chaos. Kids loved the clear, simple pictures, and parents actually saw fewer bedtime battles. Want to get in on our next round of product testing? Jump into our ergoPals Facebook group and stay in the loop for our next recruitment of testers.