Morning/before school routine & organisation

[PolkadotRosa]

Hi I'm trying to work out the best way to get up, get sorted & get out as smoothly & stress-free as possible, so was hoping to hear how other mums manage it.

I now have school bags packed and any forms/diaries signed etc the night before. Uniforms & nursery clothes ready and I (usually) wake first so make sure I'm washed, dressed and have my 'face on' before the chaos begins. This helps loads I've found, but would really appreciate any other good tips and ideas.

I seem to be in the habit of getting the kids dressed in the lounge (meaning pj's to pick up and move) and they have their breakfast, in lounge too(!) usually before dressing. Then wash, dress, hair & teeth. I also now try and only put the tv on when they're 'ready' otherwise my eldest is even more in snail in a trance mode. I feel like I'm rushing around on repeat saying "eat your breakfast!!"
I need to help my 5 yr old daughter get more independent with dressing, I help probably more than I should because she dawdles and gets distracted. What works for you? Share your routines and rituals pls!

My only observation is that a nice breakfast is a good incentive to get ready quicker.
Now mine are old enough not to end up wearing half their breakfast,they dress first.
Not so easy with smaller ones though I'm afraid.

I have a number of cheap poundland water bottles so if I've not washed up/they've been left at school,I can always get one easily.

Thank you thatbloodywoman (great name btw!) I think I'll try getting my 5yr old washed & dressed before breakfast, she isn't quite as messy as she once was. Also probably better to enforce eating at the table (as we mostly do for all other meals).
I'll have a go at being more creative & varied with breakfast. I guess more time in the morning means more time to get a more exciting breakfast together! Thank you.

We get the breakfast bowls etc. out the night before. Also, the DCs have a second toothbrush downstairs, so once they've come down for breakfast, they don't need to go back up again.

We've never been big fans of doing everything the night before, it creates extra work IMO, but whatever works for you.

Our system is based on not flitting about from one room to another, and reading your routine it occurs to me that we also avoid moving things between rooms. So I wake DCs, take 6yo's clothes out of his drawers and put them on his floor (takes less than 5 secs), tell 8 year old to get up, shower myself & get ready while periodically reminding them to get dressed. If they are faffing too much I bring them into my room, but that then creates work moving their clothes in, pjs back, hairbrushes back to our room. Often these days 6yo will get dressed in nothing flat and then he gets extra lego time. In the early days we just dressed him to start with, and later gave him a sticker chart and a sandtimer app on the ipad so he could see how much time he had left. We don't go downstairs until dressed. Now they all know the timings - downstairs by 7.30, breakfast needs to finish by 8.00, teeth brush at 8.15 etc. They put their PJs under their pillows, open curtains, turn their lights off... in theory!

Breakfast, they are allowed porridge if not running late, which is a fairly good motivator. They also get their own crockery and cutlery, sort out their cereal, take water bottles to the hall. Each step is tiny but together they do make a difference. When they were younger I had little jugs for them to pour their own milk, which was possibly a bit keen, but they enjoyed it. From around younger's 5th birthday they have just poured from the 4 pint bottles. We stopped buying the 6 pinters as these are a bit tricky.

Child height mirrors on the landing and in the bathroom have helped with hair. Also letting them go to school all proud of the ponytail they've done themselves, even if it is a lot messier than you'd like!

We get dressed before we go downstairs for breakfast. After breakfast we have teeth to brush, hair to brush and bags to pack. They read school books if necessary while I do their hair. I find if I know they're dressed, I don't need to nag them and can just get myself ready after breakfast while they play. Don't do TV at all in the mornings as it would completely slow them down - think comatose in front of it!

Definitely agree get them dressed upstairs before breakfast. Like you, I help my eldest (5) far too much but to be fair, winter clothing (tights, polo necks, dresses) is harder to get on quickly than summer shorts and a tee-shirt. So I don't feel too bad even though I know I should be encouraging her to do it herself. (We are not in UK so alas, no school uniform).

Mine are not great in the morning at waking up and are already (at 5 and 3 yrs) doing good impressions of teenagers - pulling the covers back over them again and burying their heads in the pillows!!

I like the idea of second tooth brush downstairs to avoid having to go upstairs again - would also need a face cloth as they have their faces washed after breakfast.

I definitely need to motivate myself to get up earlier and be ready before getting them up - as it is, I have developed the bad habit of pulling on a fleece over my pyjama top and a pair of jogging bottoms for the school run classy

I generally have any school equipment ready by the door the night before to save a few seconds.

Good motivators for getting them up and ready more quickly include breakfast bribery (pancakes, hot chocolate or a banana and raspberry smoothie) or saying something like 'Look, it's snowing!!'

I get as much ready the night before as I can. School bags packed, clothes laid out, water bottles lined up etc. Dress before coming downstairs then breakfast. Absolutely no TV. We would never get out of the house on time. It does help that both can now tell the time as I can tell them what time they have to eat breakfast etc. I am almost always up, showered and usually dressed before they wake up. Chaos if I'm not

Thanks all, great advice. We're in a bungalow, so maybe I need to get them straight in the bathroom for a wash & back in the bedroom to dress, then breakfast. Going to try putting bowls etc out on the table the night before, and encouraging my older DD to help herself to her cereal. Currently planning different breakfasts too. Will use the 'tv on only when breakfast is eaten' approach, but ideally would like not to have it on at all!

I do need to step back and allow DD to practice getting herself ready, she's just sooo slow, and gets frustrated easily and says she can't do it. Sigh. Must allow more time for this!

I agree with getting them dressed before going downstairs, and no TV on at all. Also- clothes and bags ready. I do think you need to train your five year olds to dress themselves though; allow them at weekends then do as a pp has said and set them a timer. My 5 and 3 year olds dress themselves (though the 3 year old needs a kick up the bum bit of reminding!! )

All that said, we rarely leave without a fight and a rush (three 5 and under) so I'm probably not the best one to advise!!

Ps don't they have to change into PE clothes at school? In which case they should be able to do it quickly if they have to?!

We have breakfast first, then dressed (they are 5 and messy eaters). After breakfast I lay out their clothes, in the order they need to put them on, then supervise them dressing while I get dressed and do my hair. I threaten that if they don't get dressed, they will be taken to school in their pants and have to get dressed in the playground. I'm not one to make idle threats, so they believe I would actually do this, and tend to get dressed quickly . DH does their teeth and I do their hair, which shares the work round a bit.

Oh, there is no TV on in the mornings, and I tend to remove toys while they are getting dressed, just to keep them focussed. I always make sure there are lots of kisses and cuddles when they're dressed, and I aim for them to have 5 minutes playing time once they're ready, which softens the blow of getting ready a bit.

We do milk, cookie, breakfast then dress, teeth etc
Since no 3 started school TV is banned as they were too distracted

I don't have any life-changing advice, but I'm so relieved to hear that other people have to remind their children to eat as I do!

We also have toothbrushes upstairs and down, it does help. But I do feel like a recorded message, nagging about the same things every morning. If we are running late I don't hesitate to "assist" in dressing, etc!

I'm up and ready and have had my breakfast by 7am. I wake up any sleepers and tell them all that they have half an hour to get dressed.

Breakfast is round the table at 7.30, the DC's have to be dressed by this time or else they miss out (it only happened once) - every weekend I load the wardrobes up with a weeks worth of uniform so that the older 2 can do it themselves, I help DC3 out but he pretty much gets dressed himself.

Breakfast is limited to 3 choices, that keeps the faff time down. I do more choices in school holidays and at weekends.

After breakfast we just need to do teeth, hair (I have a tray with hairbrushes and bands etc), shoes and coats.

I don't put the tv on anymore, if they are up early the dc's do lego or coloring on the table until breakfast is ready.

On a good day it goes nice and smoothly, on bad days it is useful to have timed points at which stuff would ideally be done by.

I have a 5yo DD and a 2.5yo DS.
We aim to leave at 8.15 as that means we're out the door by 8.20 which is then a comfortable walk to school.
Until a couple of weeks ago, our routine was me in the shower by 7am and then I was ready by 7.30. During this time, the DC played upstairs. We all went down at 7.30 for breakfast, back up by 7.50 to get dressed (DD dresses herself and I do DS) and then into the bathroom for hair & teeth between 8.05 and 8.10.
However, DS has been such a nightmare recently that this didn't give us enough slack in the system for a major tantrum so the DC now eat their breakfast downstairs whilst I'm in the shower. We're now upstairs by 7.40. This morning, we were all ready by 8.00 so the children played.
Under no circumstances does the TV go on on a morning weekday as it just causes chaos as the children don't want to turn it off and, if they do agree to it going off without a fuss, it is only at the end of the next programme which can be 10 mins away.

Breakfast stuff is laid out the night before so DS only has to get the milk out and he has eaten breakfast before I'm downstairs because he's awake at 5

After many stressful mornings waiting for him to dress himself at approx 1 item of clothing every 15 mins, I bring his clothes downstairs and dress him in the living room. He then puts his pj's in the laundry room.

He can then play/read while I sort his bag and water bottle and have a cuppa.

It's fairly relaxed here in the morning but then there is only 1 of him and me pointing out he won't get time to play before the whistle will get him moving.

BTW DS can dress himself, and does every other timr but something about school uniform slows means it must be put on at snails pace. It was a stress not needed every morning

I'm a FTM to be, so reading with interest!

I taught 5 year olds, they got changed independently (buttons and all!) for PE with a timer of 5 minutes, then they got a reward. it took a few lessons to get them that quick but they can do it!

Absolutely no TV in the morning EVER! That is the first thing.

Since the DDs started school our routine has barely changed at all. They are now 11 and 8. Our house is upside down, so we go "up" to the kitchen and "down" to the bedrooms:
Wake up, wash, dress (uniform laid out night before), go upstairs for breakfast where they serve themselves (their choice of cereal plus a piece of fruit or toast if they want it. Sometimes there are pancakes or French toast made the night before that just needs zapping in the microwave), teeth and hair done in the upstairs loo, then coats and bags and musical instruments etc. We can get out of the house in half an hour! Usually more like 40-45 minutes though.

DH and I give updates on timings as the morning progresses: You have 5 minutes to finish your breakfast. 10 minutes and we are walking out the door. That sort of thing.

Mine would happily miss breakfast so can't use that as an incentive, mine still get dressed after breakfast aged 9 and 11, so do I - our bathroom is downstsirs so it's easier to come down, use the loo, have breakfast, wash then go back up for dressing. We don't get much ready the night before either, just homework in bags really, however we are on top of things enough that we know there is always clean uniform and shoes are on the rack, water bottles in the cupboard etc. No TV. My only real tip is just to allow enough time. Our routine is
7ish - DS gets up and reads or plays
7.30 - I get up and organise breakfasts, packed lunches, etc while DH showers, call DD down about 7.40.
7.50 - DCs unload dishwasher, then DS and I both have quick showers and DD washes
8 - DCs and I upstairs for dressing and hair, DH gets his breakfast and clears up
8.29 - all back downstairs for shoes, teeth, bag packing, coats on etc
8.30 - all leave the house.

When they were younger I used to let them dress downstairs but stopped by about ages 4 and 2.

I'm not one for doing everything the night as I'm normally shattered and got more energy in the morning
I do like to have water bottle and snack done though. I make sure everything I need is where I need it.
My son (5) gets up at 6am and has his breakfast straight away. My husband gets our teenage daughter up and she pretty much gets herself ready but normally is looking for some item of clothing.
I deal with the baby as I'm seeing to ds.
My son likes to play in the playground for 10 minutes before the bell rings so this is a good incentive to keep him moving.
Some mornings are better than others.

I lay their school uniforms out on the bannisters every night.

Make sure school bags and water bottles are by front door, and shoes.

In the morning there is no iPad/or Playstation before school. They can watch tv only when they have had breakfast, completely dressed, brushed teeth, and done spellings or music practice.

I put out all uniforms the night before. Lunches are made whilst I'm cooking dinner and bags shoes and coats are put in the porch ready to go. The tv is not allowed on or everything grinds to a halt. They have to be dressed before they come down, or everyone is just wandering about in pjs looking confused. I make their breakfast whilst they are washing, and I do their hair once they are sat eating. I also keep flannels in the downstairs loo to wipe off any extra porridge or toothpaste as the leave.

Routines are great but the only real solution I have found is to start earlier. So however long it "should" take, get up 20 mins earlier. Then, strangely, I seem to have time for a sitdown breakfast.