Help me get out of the house on time for school run with newborn twins

[Spanneroo]

My twins are 3 weeks old, and I have a 2yo and 5yo.

DH is going to be doing an early work pattern until the babies are a bit older to help ensure that no matter what, at least dinner and bed happen in a timely manner, as everything else will go tits up if the big girls haven't slept enough.

So from next week, I will have to get everyone out of the house on my own.

I am looking for any tips to get organised so that I can have a few trial run mornings before Monday and hopefully get there on time. I'm getting a bit overwhelmed at the idea of having to have fed/changed babies, fed/changed big ones, school bags, coats and shoes on (DD2 needs some help, DD1 doesn't), getting hair and teeth done... I'm not even sure which order to do things in - e.g. if babies aren't fed close enough to leaving, they'll be hungry and crying.

I do have a neighbour with a school aged child as back up, but DD has been being bullied, so it's important I'm there if I can be for moral support and to speak to the teacher if needed.

Do you have to drive to school OP? You are going to have to be super organised. Can you pack the car the night before with coats and bags? Give the 5 year old instructions to get dressed before breakfast (leave out clothes the night before). I've no idea about the twins, I'm getting anxious thinking about it but I think if you accept that they will be crying some mornings (and that's ok), it might be easier on you. Are you breastfeeding? Or can you bring bottles in the car? Do they take a soother?

Also, does the two year old need to be dressed? Throw on a onesie for the car?

Get all clothes ready the night before, bags packed. Easy breakfast available as a back up. Have getting dressed races - can you get dressed quicker than I can dress your sister? For the twins change nappies at their early morning feed and sleep suits if necessary, especially this time of year no one will notice with snow suits on. Think ds were sleepsuit on school run for probably first year! Consider as a temporary measure wearing leggings to bed so in an emergency you can just pop a coat and go too. Sort out yourself and twins once home again. Good luck, it does get easier.

You could have a shower the night before so you just have to pull on some joggers and a hoody.

Don't change baby gros until after the school run, just change the nappy.

Have easy velcro shoes so the bigger ones can put them on themselves.

My friend has triplets and an older child. She gets up much earlier than the children, lays everything out before (clothes, breakfast things, book bags). Each child has their own peg at child height so they can grab their own coat. Nobody is allowed downstairs until they are dressed. She keeps toothbrushes downstairs. No going up again once they are down. She has an alarm on her phone 15 mins before they have to leave.

Are you walking or driving? Does 2yo go in a buggy with twins? How far is school?

I have 4 children, not as young as yours now, but I always find preparing the night before is a must. So get everyone's clothes out the night before including yours, do packed lunches, school bags al night before. The ones who don't go school and are ina pushchair or car the whole time don't worry about dressing them. When my youngest was small I just changed his nappy, he had breakfast and I changed him when I got home. As long as the child going school is dressed properly I wouldn't worry.
Get up early. Sounds obvious but the amount of times I've let myself sleep in a bit and regretted it is unreal.
Have a routine, but don't be too strict with babies that small! So if you wake at 6.30 and the twins are still asleep, get yourself sorted first. Then get them up changed nappy feed and I'm sure they will be fine in the car or pushchair babies normally sleep as they find travelling soothing!
If the babies wake you around the time you need to get up, then sort them first, then yourself, then the other children.
Once you get into the hang of it you just go like auto pilot and as the babies get older you will find it much easier as you can predict their needs more!
Don't be afraid to ask for help, from a friend or family member if you find yourself struggling one morning. But 100% my main advice is prepare the night before.

You will be fine!

I’ve got a 2 and 5 yr old (no twins!) and we’re out the door for 8am. I always get them dressed upstairs before breakfast, if I relent and they go down in pjs it always goes wrong / they start playing/faffing around and I end up annoyed they won’t get dressed. So I would have everyone dressed and ready for downstairs, twins nappies changed too and clean clothes on if needed. Then downstairs for breakfast. You could set several alarms like ten mins before leaving time start bringing in coats/hats/shoes and so on to dress the older two and get little ones into the buggy. Sorry no useful advice about feeding the twins and making sure they are ready but relax about the crying if they do - they’re bound to cry on some school runs. Babies be babies!

Shower night before, if using the car, put all bags and shoes in the car the night before so put the kids in and ask them to do shoes on the journey (shoes are the main issue in our house!) All uniform in piles ready the night before. If you have to take on a snack, have in pots the night before ready to go.

Family diary near the door to remind you of all the stupid random non uniform days and countless things to bring in.

Dummies for twins in case they need a feed during the school run.

How far is school run? Walk or drive?

Wow! So many quick responses.

School run is a short (~10 mins) walk away. The 2 year old walks, and is a very good walker. Quite a bit more focussed than the 5 year old most days... twins will be in a sling as T2 screams bloody murder every time he's in the pram as he's away from his sister (cute, though inconvenient).

We will both be having evening showers. No way will I ever get out the door if I also have to deal with getting in the shower and the aftermath of leaving 4 young kids unsupervised

Not letting DD1 have breakfast until she's changed is a really good idea. She is very easily distracted and getting changed has sometimes taken almost an hour, despite nagging. A rumbly tummy should help hugely!

Babies are still living in babygros, so I will just be doing nappies and feeds for them. I am breastfeeding so pretty stuck when they're hungry, so need the big girls to be getting on with things while I feed them. Thinking about it, I should probably aim to feed them while the big ones have breakfast as that's the only time DD2 can get on with things completely by herself.

Prepping all school stuff the night before is a good idea. As is a calendar by the door to remind me of all the random stuff school does (non-uniform, bring in some recycling etc). Thank you!

I would also not come downstairs until everything upstairs is finished.

Clothes out for everyone night before, bags packed.

Get yourself ready first. Then eldest gets dressed, and twins nappies and sleepsuits changed. Finally 2 year old. Have at least twins and 2 year old clothing and changing stuff in one room, mat on floor for twins to safely lay whilst you sort other.

Once everyone is dressed, downstairs. Breakfast for elder two, feed twins at same time. Make sure you also eat and have drink.

Twins in pram if walking, then Finish kids hair, shoes and leave.

Work out how much time you need for each thing before you need to leave and work backwards to work out when everyone needs to be up.

Something like:
7am - you wake, quick shower, dress
7.20am - wake anyone still asleep. dress and change everyone needing help.
7.50am - downstairs to eat. feed babies
8.15-8.30am - spare time
8.30-8.40am - in pram, shoes and coats, leave

Adjust according to your actual timings needed.

What time does your dh need to leave the house? if its not too early maybe he can change babies whilst you get ready. and can also set up breakfast stuff (or night before)

This sounds doable to me op

How often can your babies go between feeds?

I have five but dc1 and 2 (11 and 10) walk to school with friends i just have to make sure they leave on time

I also have a six year old, a three year old and a three month old.

What i find hardest is if the baby feeds about 6am then at half 8 when i need to be leaving he is fast asleep and then he gets hungry while we are out!

Dressing how for you and the older DC, put over clothes when dressed that way any breakfast, toothpaste and other spillages end up on the dressing gown and don't require a last minute change. Swap dressing gown for coat as you go out the door.

If older DC has shoes with laces you can get 'Goodbye tie' silicon things from amazon Dd and I both have the dress shoe ones in our brogues as it saves time in the morning you can just slip your shoes on and Dd was getting told off for being the last changed from PE as her brogues were tricky to get on.

DH will be leaving around 6:40, so will help get any jobs done that can be done before then. DD2 will almost certainly be awake, so he will likely get her dressed most days.

T1 goes 3 hours between feeds, but T2 is quite a bit smaller and only goes 1.5-2hrs, though he will take a dream feed, so I can probably feed both whenever T1 wakes, and do another dream feed when my big ones are having breakfast.

Are you on breastfeeding twins and multiples group, and twin sling group? Both have lots of helpful tips and advice.

Your five year old can dress themselves if you leave their clothes out for them. And can you get breakfast (plates, cups etc) basically on the table the night before?

It’s absolutely possible but there is no playtime for any children until everyone is dressed, breakfasted, teeth brushed and ready for school.

I only had two (2 and 5 at one point) but I made it a rule to never go back upstairs, all bags ready the night before. So dressed, toilet, teeth, then breakfast. Bribe with CBeebies to be entirely ready - my two know which programme we leave after. If you started early enough you could feed the twins while they watched GoJetters.

(Oh and even if you don't HAVE to leave by 8.35, don't start Justin's House).

The easiest option would be to get a friend to take the 5 years old to school for a week. You could return the favour another time.
Alternatively the key is on preparation. It also depends if you walk or drive to school.
Clothes must be ready the night before, i don't get them dressed till AFTER breakfast, as my boys are soooo messy.
I d get them dress downstairs. Once downstairs is best to stay downstairs for us to avoid distractions. I keep breakfast as simple as possible. Porridge and fruit generally. Then brush teeth ( downstairs) Put twins on a onesie or sthg similar over their pjs for the school run.
Keep shoes , coats, hats, pushchair, bags, snacks by the door ready to go.
If going by car put shoes on just before you leave and the rest ( coats, hats, bags etc)can be ready in the car the night before.
Ah, very important, if you have to leave at say 8.30 in the morning, aim for 8.15

Dressing gown over the top of clothes is genius. Why it hadn't occurred to me before, I have no idea! We don't have any lace up shoes at the moment, but that device looks great!

Plates etc on the kitchen table is a good shout too. DD1 often gets her own breakfast, but she can't reach those and has to ask for them.

JC I'm assuming these are on Facebook, which I'm not on, unfortunately.

No TV until they're ready to go and NEVER start Justin's house 😂

If you're slinging the twins and boobing then you should be able to boob on the move. No worries about hungry babies on the school run.

Rucksack for you

You've got this!

We got DS some mini milk bottles so he wasn't trying to pour a full pint on his cereal.

(Glass, from eBay, approx 150 ml - the kind people get for their wedding table decorations).

I used to have a timer on my phone to see how fast my primary schoolers could get dressed. They do it fast when they're trying to beat their personal best!

Also we have a rule that once you're down, you're down (no return upstairs). We have two sets of toothbrushes/pastes and teeth are done downstairs in the morning and school clothes are put on in the living room.

Works for us!

Oh and we also kept toothbrushes downstairs and adhere to Pp’s rule of ‘once downstairs, stay downstairs’!

I got 10 small bowl sized plastic containers with lids and decanted cereal in to them on Sunday then Dd and I just grab one and just add milk during the week.

Lunches done the night before, I always thought the bread would go hard but it doesn't.