NOW CLOSED: UK MNers with a child aged 5-15: take a short survey for Warburtons - & share your best morning tips/breakfast recipes - £300 of Love2Shop vouchers to be won

[AnnMumsnet]

We've been asked by Warburtons to find Mumsnetters to:

~ Complete their survey all about the morning breakfast routine in your house - this is open to all UK MNers with at least one child (of approx school age) aged 5-15 years - complete it and add your details at the end and you could win a £150 Love2Shop voucher - here's the link

and also for all parents (whatever age child you have) to please

~ Share your top tips for making mornings run smoothly, your top breakfast recipe tips or top advice on how to get your children eating breakfast - everyone who adds a tip etc will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win another £150 Love2Shop voucher.

This is all in advance of a new book which Warburtons are producing, so please note your anonymous tips/ advice may well appear in the book - as well as stats from the survey. The book will be distributed free of charge next year and there will be an opportunity to get a copy via MN.

Here's the survey link again (at the end you will be redirected to this thread so you can add a comment then)

thanks
MNHQ

School things are kept next to the door - children deposit school bag, coats, scarves and hats on their own peg as soon as they arrive home each day. The following morning everything is waiting for them on their peg. Makes it quick to get ready and you can see at a glance they have everything they need do the day.

No TV in the mornings.

By doing this I can have two small children out of bed and out of the house in 30 minutes.

DD pretty much has a set order to get ready in. It just came about over time. So she knows that after breakfast she goes to get dressed, then has hair done, shoes on etc. She is 5 so does need the odd prompt, but she knows what is expected of her and can get on with it.

Absolutely agree on the no telly. We made this decision when she started reception last year. I'd noticed that whatever time she was going to nursery, she was reluctant to leave if she was enjoying a programme, and it just made things more difficult. We put Classic FM on the radio as it's nice but not too distracting.

We have alarms on our phone - 8.10 is the earliest we should leave, which gives us plenty of time (we could leave at 8.30 and just about arrive on time if we rushed). It's useful to have the alarm as it propels us along a bit and the DCs know what it means.

In terms of food, basically the DCs eat a limited range of cereals. Not ideal, but I am a believer of 'pick your battles' when it comes to food, and breakfast isn't one of them.

i cant seem to open the link so will have to come back later.

my main breakfast tip is to always have something quick in such as croissants, fruit and cereal bars. they dont always fancy toast or cereal.

i also try to vary what we have in; diff fruits, crumpets, fruit loaf. also dont worry if they want something like ham or salami or cheese and crackers. we always think of these as non breakfast but a much healthier option than biscuits or sending them to school hungry.

I've never been a morning person, so I do as much as I can the night before - hence kids' clothes clean, ironed and hanging on wardrobe ready, underwear etc out. Homework done, bags repacked, lunches prepared.

And they eat breakfast whilst in PJs, after eating it's upstairs for a wash and teeth brushing, then dressing, so no chance of spilling on uniform...

I don't do a lot of those things in the survey during the breakfast routine/before school run. Organising social events/hobbies/telephone banking etc can all wait until the children are at school.

I lay out clothes and breakfast the night before, children are old enough to get dressed/washed/teeth/get own breakfast with minimal help so I don't find it all too stressful. We are also lucky enough to live close to school so don't have to leave before 08.40.

Get yourself up before dc. Give yourself time for shower, coffee etc.

Make sure all uniforms, homework, letters to school, lunch money are ready the night before.

Everyone needs to know what is expected of them in the mornings, eg make beds, get washed, dressed.

NEVER put the TV on.

I have to echo everyone who has said The Night Before Christmas School Prep is key!!

DS has Complex SN and is tube fed so his stuff has to be organised the night before, as does mine as I go to school (as his carer) for now so I need lunch made too. The night before organisation is key in this house, but if DH has interviews/meetings, and isn't here when the house wakes, then it's hard being on my own, especially when DS refuses to co-operate. We have a huge wolf dog, a cat, two gerbils, and a partridge in a pear tree

In short, routine and timing, plus everything ready in the right bags to go when the moment hits!

Get up with plenty of time to spare.
Make sure kids know when they have to be out of bed and dressed.
Have breakfast at the table.
No TV

I do nothing the night before, I'm quite a morning person!

Our morning routine doesn't feel stressful, we have just divided our responsibilities evenly. The big dc dress themselves, dh dresses the two small ones. We feed them whatever there is and they all eat it and don't complain because they generally like food.

I make everyone's packed lunches (3 but will be 5 on 3 days a week from jan) and organise the school bags/go through the letters and RSVP to things, get out and check all the bikes. DH or I put the breakfast out depending on who is there, I put on the dishwasher and/or some clothes washing.

DH brushes all the children's teeth an often does a little bit of work in the morning and I brush hair, big children do their own coats/reflective jackets/waterproof or snow trousers and gloves, dh does the little one's coats and away we all go. We get up at 7.20 and leave at about 8 although we'll be able to leave later now dd1 has got a bigger, quicker bike.

I think my tip is don't do anything for someone that they can be reasonably expected to do for themselves.

Have a weekly diary meeting with the family to make sure everyone knows what is coming up that week (things to be taken to school), workers leaving early/late, playdates etc.

Write it all up on the wall and check every night before heading to bed...

Do school bags the night before
Get as much of lunch together as possible - juice & yogurt & fruit & spoons in bag already in the fridge. Only need to make/add sandwich.
Put all extra requirements for school in my diary as they come in.

TV after DC is dressed so I can get myself ready without an audience. 5-10 minutes only.

Think outside the box for breakfast idea's, cold meat, hard boiled egg and a piece of fruit is very quick to grab from fridge and can be eaten standing up/without using crockery and cutlery or on the school run if really pushed for time.
Set all clocks 10 minutes fast.
Have a mirror, hairbrush and babywipes near the front door so even in a desperate hurry everyone can leave looking half presentable!

get everything downstairs the night before - we even keep another set of toothbrushes in a mug by the kitchen sink
it always seems that it's when the DC "just pop upstairs to get......" that they never come back down again, and certainly not with the thing they disappeared to find.

and tell them that if you are all late for school, you will politely inform the teacher that you were ready to leave the house at 8.30, so they'll need to discuss the reason for lateness directly with your DC.

Its just good time management really. That's the advice given to me by my dsil when I told her I was frazzled and stressed.

I get the lunch boxes sorted the night before and we always have plenty of store cupboard options in for if dd goes off something.
I also have the clothes out and ironed and all homework/books/PE kit done and by the front door ready.
The mornings are literally have breakfast, dress, out the door. There is no running round frantic, I get to put my make up on and get ready with a cuppa while dp (who will have had a bath and got himself together) helps the dcs brush their teeth. They then get to watch Milkshake for however long we have left before school, but no TV on before they are ready. DD now helps DS get dressed so that's helpful.

I don't find the morning routine stressful at all. We get up by 0730, there are no real options offered for breakfast ie "You can have Weetabix and/or toast" (always followed by some fruit), the lunchboxes take just a few minutes to prepare and the children have to take responsibility for their school bags and any extra things like swimming kit or instruments. Being a SAHM and living a 1 minute trot from the school helps though .

Breakfasts are always more interesting at weekends when I can be bothered to make something more involved. School day breakfast is simply nutritious fuel.

I do as much as I can the night before, usually at the same time as preparing dinner. So water bottles, drinks for packed lunches and fruit are all ready to be thrown in a lunch box in the morning!
Dds usually have cereal for breakfast and fruit or a favourite in our house is crumpets with nutella and banana.

With 3 children under 7 yrs old breakfast can be a little stressful!
I'm afraid there is no such thing as democracy on a weekday! They all eat the same thing as it's easier, however I have found that letting them do little things like setting the table and pouring their own cereal encourages them to eat up.

On very busy days (or when Mummy has slept in!), a Chocolate Chip Brioche, Banana and a glass of juice hits the spot and is quick and easy!!

We try to have bags and lunch boxes ready the night before. Also put anything by the front door (or in the car if driving) that needs to go to school - guitar, swimming kit etc. I also make the kids wear their uniform for 2-3 days to minimise washing.

Probably very similar to everyone else!

• prep as much as possible the night before. For me this includes filling the kettle and putting a tea bag and sugar in a mug as I don't function well without tea first thing! Ironing, lunch boxes, homework all done too. I put out the children's clothes too.
• I put together a small breakfasty snack box for DS (2) as he's a bit non plussed about eating as soon as he's up. He then can eat on school run.
• nobody goes downstairs until they are washed and dressed!
• no tv until breakfast is finished.

According to my friends I'm a bit hardcore about mornings but it works!

Orangization its the only way. Mornings are like a bootcamp in this house except for weekends when its chill time.

Agree, you prep as much as possible, the night before. The night before I make pack lunches, make sure clothes laid out, that pe bag is by the door, that ds1 has put his homework and his reading book back in his school and that it is zipped up ready to go, by the door. The way to do stress free is everyone to get up early. the kids are done, ready to go, only then can they watch tv for 10 minutes. Only if I do this way can I cope. If not I'm dashing around at the last minute, trying to locate things, shouting.
You learn what you have to do, to make it 'doable'.

I completed the survey but it has little to do with our morning routine.

Dd1 gets up at 6.50 gets ready, leaves for her (high) school at 7.40 having washed, dressed, texted all her mates and been force fed breakfast!

Ds gets up at 7.15, eats a huge breakfast (cereal, toast, fruit, yoghurt) and is ready for the bus at 8.

Dd2 also gets up at 7.15 but cacks around so much that I'm forcing her out the door with a banana in her hand!

Our daughter is only 3 months old. To make sure I get breakfast my DH has been getting up 15 mins earlier and bringing up a round of toast and marmalade with juice. He jumps back into bed and the three of us enjoy breakfast in bed.

We just buy a couple of sliced loaves each week and pop them right in the freezer and then the frozen slices go right in the freezer. Lunch is made in advance and normally something like vegetable soup or casserole which I make in a large batch and then freeze in small pots so he can grab one and go.

My boys love breakfast and will eat whatever's there. Dd struggles-she's not that hungry/feels a bit queazy. I have to leave at 740 on 3 mornings so if we've lost the race against the clock (I have issues with getting pony tails straight-not a born hairdresser) I give her a harvest crunch bar and a piece of fruit/capri sun and she'll eat it in the car.
I have a friend with a very fussy thin dd and she cooks her pancakes every morning-I can't manage that until the weekend!

My top tip is to remember to smile: we have never got to school/work any quicker when I've been shouty so I've stopped raising the stress levels. I have always done bags/lunches/piles of uniform the night before. On the rare occasions I haven't then I have had no time for my own breakfast which is rubbish.

Right in the toaster I mean!

Done. I try not to iron anything in the mornings before work/school. Those days are always the worst. I like being prepared the night before.