To ask how much longer it takes to get ready in the morning with a young child?

[Laidir87]

I'm pregnant with God willing my third child. My older children are 19 and 15 though, so I've completely forgotten most things about early parenthood!

I have a friend who had a less than one year old child and works full time. She said her son gets up around 6.45am and she has him fed, ready, and herself showered and ready to leave by 8am.

I admire her - it takes me longer than that for just myself!

So how much 'extra time' does it take to get ready to leave with a young child?

Does she get up before him? Because that's how I do it. I get DS2 up at 7:20, and I get up 40 minutes before that so I can have my shower and get his breakfast etc. ready before he needs attention. I probably would manage to leave by 8ish if it weren't for DS1, who eats his breakfast more slowly than you would believe possible. We've been lucky though - both of our DCs stay asleep till you want them awake.

18month old takes no extra time as they have to go at your speed. The problematic one is the 9 year old who wants to stay in bed and work from home 😳

I’d say 45 mins for the child but that’s just me personally!

Would you like to swap your 18 month old for one who likes to do a massive poo just as you are on your way out of the door? He's otherwise very nice.

You’ve kind of answered your own question in that some people are just quicker at getting ready and out of the door than others. If you take an hour and 15 minutes just for yourself ( I could probably do 20 minutes) then you might think about doubling that time or getting organised and running a tight ship.

How much do you value sleep? Or are you someone who wakes easily and likes to take your time?

Mine does that too! Standard behaviour!

Well that depends on what you classify as "getting ready". I used to need to e out the house by 7am, DH was up at 5.45, showered and off to work by 6.10am. I was up at 6, shower etc, DD1(4yo) up at 6.30, breakfast and into school uniform then I got her sister (2yo) up at 6.45, dressed and she had her breakfast in the pram on the way to drop DD1 at school. It was efficient as we needed to be.

My DD is 1, I try get up before her but doesn’t really make a difference either way, takes me 30 minutes to get myself ready and then around 39 minutes to give her breakfast and get her ready, I usually try to prep baby bad the night before but really only takes 10 minutes if I don’t. If she’s awake she’ll go in the play pen whilst I get ready when she was younger her bouncer chair/moses basket/cot she’s always been quiet happy just rolling around playing whilst I get ready

@BarnacleBeasley No I think she gets up at the same time as her son.

@TakeMe2Insanity 😂at your 9 year old! Yes I kind of remember when they were like that and I used to constantly be in shouty mode to get them out the door in time.

@MatildaTheCat Yeah I am starting to think the problem is me tbh. I don't sleep well and so I'm always tired and hate getting ready and it seems to take me ages. I don't know how I am going to do it in any reasonable timeframe.

It take me an hour from waking to leaving the house, inc toddler. Neither of us eat at home though.

I will concede I’m currently allowing ten minutes of TV to allow me to get them dressed and teeth brushed without too much wrestling.

Otherwise it would probably take two hours….

Under one is easy peasy, they stay where you put them! The problem happens when they hit about 3-4 and they suddenly have to "just" do everything that pops into their head first before they can possibly do anything so unimportant as get dressed or eat food. Then all your dreams of earth-motherhood go out the window as you're screaming "it's ten to nine!!!!" up the stairs, Victoria Wood style.

Or so I've heard. From a friend. 😅

@MidnightPatrol Where do you eat? Breakfast takes me at least 15 mins to make and eat so cutting that down would be good.

Before dc I would take ages getting ready. After dc I'd get up before them, about 5:45, get me showered dressed, get my bag together, get them up and be ready to go by 8. Some mornings we had to be out by 7:10 so I'd get up a little bit earlier and never wash my hair those mornings.

Getting everything ready the night before was key. Not just getting clothes and bags sorted but putting out bowls and spoons for breakfast, things like that.

OMG. 'I just need the sellotape...' Why?????

Anywhere between 30 minutes and 3 days!

Totally depends on how much you have to do in the morning. I’m very basic, shower, dressed, whack hair back wet and go and that’s working or not. I don’t bother with make up etc so that saves me a lot of time. I get up and straight in the shower at 6:45, have 3 kids 9,5 and 1. They all get up about 7 and we are ready for the school run by 8:15. I leave plenty of time for tantrums regarding sun cream, hats, shoes etc and we’ve never been late yet!

I have an 18 month old, this morning was approx:
7:30am baby wakes up, bring her to my bed for cuddles / books.
8:00am I shower and DH gets baby ready starts giving her breakfast.
8:30am I take over and DH gets ready.
8:40 leave for nursery
9:00 back home to log on work

I get up at 6:50, make coffee, shower while it brews, put toast on. DS (3) woken at 7:20 if he’s not awake before. One episode of Paw Patrol, dressed straight after, teeth and hair brushed. Out of the flat precisely at 7:54, nursery drop off at 8:30. It’s a 25 min walk/scoot but this allows for the stopping to look at a scraggy pigeon or what biscuits are in the baker’s window today and the answering of 234 questions about what became of the dinosaurs. Also gives a five minute buffer before we leave incase I can’t find where I put my phone down/DS suddenly decides he wants to wear a different pair of shoes.

its all about getting the routine down really. But anything I can prepare the night before I do- clothes, shoes, bag, coffee pot and kettle ready to go.

If it’s all a big rush I do my make up on the train, I don’t prioritise that before I go unless I have 3-4 minutes spare. I’ve reconciled myself to nothing more than a quick blast with the hairdryer.

We only have to do this 3x a week at the moment which is nice, but it’s good practice for school.

At work!

I shower the night before. Saves a lot of time!

My nursery aged children always ate breakfast at nursery so I literally woke them once I was ready, got them dressed and then straight into the car. I also don't eat breakfast and bathe at night so could get us all out in 30 mins.

Now they are at school and have breakfast at home we need 50, but they can dress themselves now.

I can get both my primary school boys ready within the hour if that helps

I think it depends on what stage the child is at to be honest. I started showering at night and setting everything out for both of us the night before so I'd have spent about 30 minutes getting myself ready and then ds took 20 minutes to get a quick nappy change, dressed and a nurse before we were off to nursery. If I had to give him breakfast before nursery then that added another 30 minutes. He's currently potty training and sometimes that means a few trips to the toilet which adds on some time. But I think you just get to know your child and then when the time comes you have an idea of how long things will take you. Plus the very early days especially if feeding on demand it can feel near impossible to leave the house some days. I also have a little mini makeup kit in my bag and keep stuff for my breakfast at work and I do heatless curls overnight so if I'm really under pressure I can be ready to leave the house myself in 10 mins if ds needs more from me. Just finish the rest at work.

Mine are grown up now but I have no recollection of ever having to wake up a child younger than 13.

Memories are a bit dimmed now but when dd was a baby I had to take ds to nursery for 9. I don't remember the mornings being very challenging and don't remember ever being late. We all left the house clean, fed and dressed. It was always baths at bedtime and I had a family room off the kitchen with a TV and a lot got done there. Toothbrushes and my make-up in the utility, they got dressed around the TV to the strains of Big Cook Little Cook and Auntie Mabel.

This is what we would do as well (except everything shifted an hour earlier)