Tips on morning routines for school age, toddler and newborn children

[mayaknew]

DC3 is due to be born just as toddler starts his 5 mornings at nursery . Also have a DC in school .

DS goes into nursery at 8.45 and DD goes into school at 9.05 so I can drop DS then DD then drop DH at the train station so I can keep the car .

But I'm thinking about how we are all going to get ready and out of the house for 8.35 .

Any tips would be brill

I've got no tips unfortunately -it was just something I muddled through somehow. I can tell you though that the toddler quickly learned to say "hurry up" and "get a move on" and that one of the baby's first words was "gool " presumably because he spent most of his time in the pram either going to school or playschool.

I'm thinking that milly that my days are going to be spent running to and from school and nursery then feeding newborn in between

Mornings in here are already chaos - DD is fairly self sufficient but is soooo slooooooow she just has no intention of rushing and DS is a non-compliant toddler when it comes to getting washed and changing clothes . Yeah it's gonna be great fun

My tips would be to get as much ready as you can the night before ie school uniforms, snack bags, lunches. Don't worry about dressing the newborn in the morning If I didn't have time they would stay in sleep suit until we got home.
If your dh is going to be at home with you in the morning could he not feed newborn whilst you help/encourage the other 2 dc to get ready or vice versa

I only have 2dc aged 3 and 20 months but need to ba out tbe door by 7.30 am our routine is very strict-
Nursery/work bags packed and in car night before.
Clothes ready night before.
6.30- me and dh up showered and dressed.
6.50- dc up and dressed (we divide and conquer )
7.05 ish downstairs for breakfast.
7.20 shoes on and out to the car.
7.30 we are in the car and off to nursery.

Agree about the night before thing. Wash all children and yourself the night before so you're not showering inthe morning unless baby's been sick on you. No TV on in the morning until both older children are dressed.

If either of the older children have the option of meals at school and are having a packed lunch, get them used to having school (nursery) meals if they're an option. Reduce the number of plates you have to juggle.

I have 3 under 6 and have to do this on my own 3 mornings a week as DH is gone at 7. The key as others say is as much prep the night before. Bags, shoes and coats by the door the night before. Empty dishwasher night before. Have cups and bowels out and ready overnight.
Wash yourself in the evening and plan your outfit. I used to get dressed for work and then put an old large tshirt over the top And take it off before I left. But they aren't so mucky these days.

I was back on the school run when dc3 was 3 days old, I remember thinking it would be impossible but once they are trained it isn't so bad. We leave earlier than necessary (kids can then play in playground with friends which they enjoy or read school book in car before going in if it hasn't been done).

I'm strict, no TV in the mornings ever. No breakfast until dressed and downstairs. If we are running out of time I have been known to serve cereal in tupperware boxes in the car (if DH would miss work train). Clothes are put out the night before.

Everybody up, washed and dressed and teeth done, THEN downstairs for breakfast. If you can get down before 8am then you should be fine, and might even have enough time to feed yourself :)

I had 4 under 6 when the youngest was born. DH leaves at 7.15am so I had to do it all for school runs.

For me it was easiest to give the baby half a breast feed around 6-6.30am, she then slept whilst I got ready. Everyone downstairs by 7.30am at the latest, no TV, all uniforms, bags laid out downstairs the night before. I found they played/carried on if they went back upstairs so it was easiest keeping everyone downstairs. We have extra toothbrushes in downstairs loo.
Whilst they ate breakfast the baby got the other half of its breastfeed and a coat put on over her pj's so as soon as she was fed she was put in car seat or pram depending on weather. I had a second change mat downstairs so I didn't even need to go upstairs for nappy changes.
Then finish dressing those who were stuck. Hair/teeth and out the door by 8.20.
I had to find a routine and stick to it so everyone knew what was happening. 3 years later it all starts again tomorrow morning!

Feed baby before the others, then try and put baby to sleep.

Dh and you tag team feeding and dressing older two. 7.30am wake, dress, teeth, hair done . 8am eat. 8.30am shoes on and out the door

I buy x5 of trousers, socks and polo shirts (always polo shirts, then they don't need you to ever help with the buttons). By Sunday night I have a whole weeks worth ready. Shoes get put in the shoes bucket every night when they come in. The only thing I need to get ready the night before are book bags.

They don't get breakfast until they are dressed, a bit of toothpaste/food needing to be wiped off a school jumper is better then being late. I have set time markers in the morning. I have to be in the shower by 6.30. Breakfast has to be a 7.30. Shoes need to be on at 8.10 and so on.

We are often early, with a newborn I would allow 20 minuets of 'going wrong' time, it's less now that youngest is older...if nothing goes wrong then we are early. If they baby poos just as we are leaving the house then we are still on time.

All school trips/assembly's are on outlook and on my phone so there are no nasty surprises or forgotten welly boots/lunch boxes.

In the end I also moved DC3 to a nursery that did whole days so I only needed to pick up/drop off at the beginning and the end of each day, I found that much less stressful than having to go out again at lunch time. It also meant that I could go back to bed for a decent length of time if I'd had a really rough night with DC4.

6DCs here!

Like art and Fresh I feed baby first then put back down for a sleep whilst I sort everyone else out.

Definitely get as much as possible organised the night before.

In morning, bath/showers, dressed, hair done then downstairs for breakfast. If no time for breakfasts then always have cereal bars, bananas, dry cereal in a bag etc to eat in car.

My DH leaves for work at 6am so don't have any help. If he is ever home he is not much help anyway! He says I am like a Sergent Major in the mornings but I have to be to make sure everyone is ready and gets to school on time

Get as much ready the night before as you can.
Allow extra time for a toddler tantrum and a newborn poo/vomit.
Allow more time than you think you will need.

Remind yourself it is a stage that will pass.
Also remind themselves everyone else is too busy worrying that their own DC's antics are being watched by others to notice when it is all going wrong.

We have the same stage DC as you. DS1 can be dropped at school between 8.30-8.50, DS2 playgroup drop is 9am, we have to leave at 8.20. I do mostly what others have said, book bags are ready the night before. I feed baby at 6.30. Then she sleeps. No one goes downstairs until dressed. DH showers whilst DSs watch some TV and I'm feeding DD. Then I shower and DSs put their coats and shoes by the back door. DH leaves at 7.30 and I just have to sort breakfast, do teeth and go. Tooth brushes in downstairs bathroom, DSs go one at a time so there are no distractions/water fights etc. If they're ready early they get to watch a quick programme/YouTube clip of their choice whilst I feed DD again. DS 1 helps dS2 with shoes and coat and I dress DD if there's time. We drive half way to school then scoot and walk with buggy the rest of the way, scooters, buggy, rain cover, along, sun shade and extra blankets, emergency baby wipes and extra nappies always in car. Pretty bonkers but works for us. Sometimes even manage to get DS 1 reading done for the day as he's far too tired in the evenings. Evenings, now that's what I really struggle with..... Reward charts are my friend.

I had 4 in just over 5year (oldest is now almost 9), but apart from all the above, I move the clock on the hob forward by 7 mins. I still do it! I am not late when I think I am really going to be late...

When relying on smaller kids doing stuff, so things like serve breakfast, then say you have 10 mins to eat breakfast and set 10 mins on the hob, 5 mins to get hair done etc etc. then they can participate in the time keeping , they know what is going on and can help build up the routine.

I used to do it on my own to get into the car at 8:35, to drop the nursery children off at 8:45 and school at 9:45. I managed, I didn't always shower first, and sometimes it was such a battle, esp with dd2 who was 3 at the time. I could never work out what I was doing wrong - she is now being diagnosed with autism, which accounted for a lot of our difficulties in getting out of the house back then.

Oh, and if ever are REALLY running late/unexpected disaster, the dcs in buggies don't really need to be dressed - that's what foot muffs are for!