How to get 5yo to hurry up in the mornings....?

[butterfliesinmytummy]

Dd2 will be 6 in September, perfectly capable of getting ready (dressed, wash face, teeth etc) but takes ages in the mornings, stalling, playing, spending 20 minutes on the loo etc.

Normally I chivvy her along, "hurry up", "let's do yr hair", "come on" etc. I'm normally brushing my teeth, getting ready at the same time, popping in and out of her room and eventually dressing her as she takes ages (her clothes are laid out for her). It normally comes down to the wire and I rush around while she's not bothered at all. It drives me crazy. For the last couple of weeks we've tried to reward her with pretty hairstyles (like one from Frozen) if she is quick in the morning but she only managed it twice and although she loves the idea, wasn't too upset when she didn't have it. Maybe it wasn't enough to motivate her, although her teacher commented on her hair and she was really chuffed.

This morning I told her she could get dressed, teeth brushed and face washed by herself (we had 20 minutes for this) and I would give her a 5 minute warning before I got in the car. At 5 minutes she was in her pyjamas on the toilet . There was a huge tantrum about socks (the sewing wasn't right) and we ended up doing her hair in the car when we got there. I had to carry her down the stairs at home, kicking and screaming about having her hair done at home, but there wasn't time. At the weekend s, she's up at 6am, dressed, washed, hair brushed all by herself.

I'm starting my day needing a nap, what motivates your dcs in the mornings? Do I need a sticker chart again? We eat breakfast first and then get dressed afterwards, maybe we should swap these round? What works for you?

I struggle myself in the mornings and have a similar issue with DD who is 4. DM suggests I need to be up and ready before she actually gets up - I reckon she's right but I am so not a morning person

I think you need to get dressed first then breakfast. Then if running law she gets toast and banana in car for breakfast. If she wants to sit down to nice breakfast she needs to speed up. I would allow slightly longe though.

Here it's roughly 30mins to eat, 30 mins to get dressed/ ace washed/ teeth/ hair/ shoes on etc. That's quite rushed also.

Leave longer, it's not worth stressing over. And definitely do breakfast second - they have every reason to delay going into school which they perhaps aren't that enthusiastic about, but breakfast is something to hurry up for.

I used to let DS watch a bit of TV in the morning too as long as he was ready. It works if you choose a channel because you can also say "Right as soon as Peppa is over, it's time to go!" and they don't argue with the TV It has to be the same programme every day.

(Which is why we stopped doing it, because with a DVD if they start it later they want to finish it later)

I think some sort of reward scheme might work, if she is the kind of child who is motivated by stickers/marbles and the promise of a reward once she has x number of those.

Have you tried racing? "Dd, I bet you cannot be dressed before I get out of the shower". Or set a timer... "see if you can dressed before the buzzer goes... I don't think you can!"

When our dd was that age we took photo's of her doing the things that needed to be done in the morning and stuck it on her door. It helped somewhat.

Maybe she just needs more time than you're allowing.

We get up at 7:15/7:30 breakfast from 7:30 - 8:00 (yes they really do take that long to eat and chat). Shower/wash, brush teeth and get dressed from 8:00 - 8:40. Shoes on and out the door for 8:45. It's a nice, relaxed pace, and minimises drama.

YY to the introduction of competition (bet I can get myself dressed quicker than you...etc).

I do breakfast, then uniform as my youngest can make such a mess of himself.
I say last call for breakfast, then get dressed, then do teeth and faces and if ready then they can play, draw or watch 5-15 mins of TV.

I'm up and ready before them as I hate being too rushed and it takes me a while to get my brain in gear.
Sounds great, but I was actually rushing around trying to find ds2's shoes this morning. (They were in the garden !)

DS has his breakfast first, as he would get it all down his school uniform if not. He always wants something else afterwards. If he is quick getting dressed then he has time for more food, if not he doesn't. I find that helps motivate him. When he has been really slow I have threatened to take him to school in his PJ's too. That is very effective, but only if they know you will carry it out if you have to.

Same issue here.

Up at 6.20, breakfast
out at 7.20

I can't make her wake up earlier really. Will try the dressed before breakfast though, good idea.

I'm not proud but my solution was always if you're ready to go by you can have TV on.

I second the tv option. DS1 was an absolute nightmare to get ready in the morning (screaming, taking himself back to bed, hiding, etc) intil he discovered there were programmes he liked on CBBC before school. He's dressed by 8:15am most mornings now.

He watches Newsround every morning, so I can kid myself that it's educational, and not just a desperate last resort to avoid tantrums (from me and him) every day.

Thanks everyone seems I'm not alone at least!

I get up at 6am and shower and dress, wake kids at 6.30, breakfast about 6.40, get dressed about 7ish, leave at 7.25. I drive them to the school bus (we live in Texas) and we can't miss it so leaving even 10 minutes late is no good. I don't want to wake them up any earlier either.

We prefer getting dressed last as it means their teeth and faces are clean and there's no breakfast or toothpaste down the school uniforms.....

We normally do a nice hairstyle and let dd2 play with the dog if she's on time, I might have to use tv as a bribe too....

I bet it would only be once that you put her on the bus in her pj's and hair not done

You could try the QuickKids app if you have a smartphone/tablet.