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?

This is all so alien to me, the amount of stuff you have to do if you have a kid, it sounds exhausting!
I'm childfree and am ready in 1 minute. (WFH and don't eat breakfast, shower the night before)

I'd say an hour for me and two DC but neither I nor the 2 year old have breakfast (he has breakfast at nursery) and I normally shower the night before. 4 year old is the hardest one to get moving at anything other than a glacial pace. It seems no matter how early he gets up we are usually still running late because of him.

Depends what we're up to that day!

If it's a nothing much to do day, it takes about an 1.5hr to get me, toddler and preschooler up and still remain friends throughout. Sometimes more, sometimes less. We might read 10 books while we get dressed we might build a puzzle we might change outfit 3 times (toddler!) we might take time to make porridge or eggs for breakfast or we might have cereal. How long's a piece of string.

If it's a day we've got to be somewhere prompt and early, I shower in the evening before, then I get up first and after that get the kids ready - all in it takes 45mins (including breakfast). Quickest I've done it without breakfast is 22mins from beds to out the door 💪 (with a yoghurt pouch and banana each for the journey)!

If we add DH into the mix then add an additional 1.5hrs ("I've just got to do this really important thing that has to be done right now and can't possibly wait....clean the bins, have a poo, scoop up the garden leaves, spend half hr scrolling etc etc...")

Kids are 4 and 2 with scraggly hair that definitely needs taming before we go anywhere!

We have a 3 year old and a 4 week old. We all get up at 6am and take
it in turns to shower/hair/make up: get dressed. We all have breakfast
together at 7.30am and have some time for laundry/housework
before we leave at 8am (I usually put a wash in at 6am to be out
out just before we leave). So 2 hours
for all of us to get washed and dressed and presentable and fed and for the house to be in order before we leave.

I can't shower with a toddler to look after and I've never managed to reliably get up earlier than any of mine, either because they wake at the crack of dawn or vary their waking times considerably day to day. That means always showering once they're all sleeping in the evening. Sometimes that's not until 10pm or later, but no matter when - as soon as they're asleep, I get straight in the shower. Then I pack bags for the following day/make lunches as needed, and while getting them ready for bed I've usually laid out clothes for the morning.

I get myself dressed and ready while they're eating breakfast (and I'm downing a coffee - I eat breakfast at my desk later) then get them ready, pack last things in bags and go. It still takes an absolute minimum of an hour even with lots of things done the night before - more often an hour and a half. You have to factor in time for them not necessarily wanting to eat breakfast as soon as they wake, not wanting to get dressed, fighting and screaming and hitting when you try to brush their teeth, arguing about putting shoes on, pooing (or after potty training, announcing they need one) as you've just put their shoes on or strapped them into the car seat...

It's no more stuff than you'd do for yourself to get up and out. It's just you do it for you and you also do it for someone else who is small and slippery and has many limbs and wants to wrestle, wants to play, wants to wear the green sock and the blue sock, wants the trousers from yesterday or the ones that aren't dry yet, someone who wants to do everything themselves but has neither patience or coordination to succeed and who doesn't understand why when they see you can....it's fun.

I have to set off for work at around 8.25am so we get up at around 7.05 and have plenty of time to spare before we leave.