Getting three under 5s up and out in the morning on your own

[PetitFilou1]

Please give me your tips.....

Dh gets up and leaves at 7am. And on Tuesdays it is 6am. I have ds1 to get to school (4 1/2), dd to get to nursery (3) and ds2 who is 5 weeks old who just has to drag along. This morning was hell and it is doing my head in.

do as much as poss night before - packed lunches, lay out everyone's clothes inc your own, put book bag with any dinner money, letters, etc by front door.

Get yourself dressed as soon as you get out of bed. Dress baby at same time as doing maorning nappy change. Dress older dc after breakfast - they should be able to do some themselves!

My dc are 5, 3 and 16 weeks and this is the only way I can get out by 8:30 am. I get up at 6:30am (before dc) to shower and dress.

I've only recently got the knack of getting two of them up and out in the morning; am dreading what happens after DC3 is born as DH works away so i'm on my own all week with them.

I have been there and remember it well.

back then, my morning routine actually started the night before. I would get as much as possible sorted out once all the children were in bed.

lunchboxes made and in the fridge. if you don;t like doing sandwiches the night before (many people don;t I have been reliably informed), then do the rest of the box and just do the sandwich in the morning.

all breakfast stuff bar the milk was put out on the table the night before.

school uniform in my house is always on the banister, but you could lay it out ready on the bedroom floor to be put on as soon as up.

bags packed and by the door.

shoes ready, and coats, also by the door.

morning
get up yourself about 15mins before waking everyone else up....you then have time to bath/shower and get dressed without fretting about where the children are.

then get the children up and get school uniform on straight away. clean teeth, do hair, then go downstairs. No TV until after breakfast and only then if there is time. If baby needs feeding, then do that first (I actually got baby up and fed before getting the girls up. baby then went back into cot/crib until leaving for school......and she was only changed once home).

sort out breakfast and lunchbox.

leaving for school should then be quite easy, as everything else is ready by the door.

the only snag was that occasionally the was a spill and clothes needed changing, but it was actually quite rare, and the simple fact of them being dressed first far outweighed the possible need to change.

HTH

This sounds dreadful,but when my twins were tiny and I'd just got them into snowsuits to get ds1 to nursery, I'd smell a 'suspect' smell and ignore it then change their nappy when we got back - they never got nappy rash honest!
I second everyone else - preparation the night before is key and I have a mental deadline thing in my head eg - must be dressed by 750, must be finished breakfast by 815 - all other things like washing up can be ignored, but these deadlines are stuck to. Breastfeeding got into a routine quickly because they had to wait!

Can DH not get the 2 older children up and start breakfast with them?

Make the breakfast table the night before, get up before 7 and throw on some clothes, then stick to a strict timetable - children up at 7 - straight down to breakfast, eat breakfast and upstairs by 7.30, clothes already laid out, lay baby down whilst you help dress dd, make it a race with ds (obviously help him if he needs help with anything) get the children to brush their teeth, whilst you change baby's nappy, get them dressed (or this can wait until you get back) then downstairs at 8am, watch tv whilst you brush their hair, and then tidy the kitchen, sit down.... then leave the house 5 minutes before you really need too.

I've only done this with 2 dc (dh leaves very early and has only got them ready in the morning once in over 7 years).

As others have said you need to do as much as possible the night before. Even things like check the weather and choose appropriate clothes, check calendar etc.

I get up ¾ of an hour before the dc to make sure I'm fed and dressed. I also have a (mental) timetable; for example dc must have eaten by 8 am, been to the toilet, hands/face/teeth cleaned by 8.15, dressed by 8.30.

I factor in an extra 20 mins or so to allow for mishaps (tantrums, spillages etc)

I do feel for you - I only have two dcs and that's bad enough! Agree with isaidno - do as much as poss the night before, school bags with dinner money, letters etc by front door with shoes, coats all ready. Clothes laid out. Kitchen ready for breakfast. I get up with DH and have a shower and get dressed straight away. Make sure I get a cup of tea. I find it's the last 10 minutes before we leave the house which is the killer - putting coats and shoes on and making sure we've got everything - so I try and allow 20 minutes for that last 10 minutes if you see what I mean! Then I don't have to scream at them. (as much )

I've been there too, this time last year. It did get easier when my youngest could sit up and watch what was going on.

The mornings when dd just screamed were really hard and I know I took it out on the boys a bit.

Getting things done the night before helps. Do you have someone who can take your dc to school if your having a really bad morning.

The coat over pyjamas is a great tip. I did that loads too. One of teh joys of winter.

Psychoaxemurderermum, think I am going to print out your routine and stick to the fridge!!

I am expecting DC3 in november and DS1 starts school in january. I am dreading it, I struggle to get 2 of them ready for 9.15 (when DS1's pre-school starts)

I am anticipating DS2 to be the main problem, he is being very '2' at the moment!!

Luckylady, yes I used to just bung ds in the pram in his snowsuit and sort him out when we got back from dropping dd!

Babies only need to be fed.

Get outfits & lunches ready the night before plus check what extras they need for school -

If dh can't get little ones up & have breakfast it's the following... I get up, have a coffee, get washed & ready, get everyone up apart from dd5, loo,breakfast, take lunchboxes out of fridge, then teeth, hair, dressed, lunches in school bags, check they have everything, tv on, get dd5, nappy, dressed, bf, in car seat, shoes & coats on - off we go

mabel!

I at one point had 5 under the age of eight, in fact at that point they were 8, 6, 3, 2 and newborn.

I had to follow a strict routine otherwise it would all fall to peices. I am proud to say that they were never once late for school unless I was in hospital with one of them and DH had to take over. He never seemed to 'get' my routine .

I never used to dress my baby in these circumstances, just whack the snowsuit on over the pjs - saves time and no-one knows! also used trackie bottoms as my own pjs so could easily nip out without actually haing to find time to dress

petitfilou, after seeing your post on the postnatal thread this morning I just knew this would be you

Obviously I have no experience to draw on so can only offer a reviving cup of tea and sympathy Sounds like you're doing a great job to me.

Psychoaxemurderermum - wow! I am very Impressed!!

My strategy was to do all the night before stuff, including having a bath / shower so I can just get up and dressed in the morning, although, i anticipate feeling a bit scummy for the rest of the day doing this!

Struggling too, have dd1 just 4, ds 2.5, dd2 5 months to be out by 8, then car drive and then walk. dd2 can't get any sort of routine, naps for 10 mins in car on way, 10 mins on way back then shattered all day. Find afternoons difficult too when all tired, hungry...

it was easy tho once in the routine. and it was not as tho someone handed me 5 kiddies and expected me to get on with it.

having said that tho, I trained as a nursery nurse and then lived-in nannying for twins, so I was always from pre-children very organised with routines.

now, as osborne says........teatimes were helltimes in my house. Routine went to pot then, thro tiredness and grumpyness.

Hatrick - yet again V impressed!

Respect!

Thanks all
I do do the lunches etc the night before, putting breakfast things out, school bag etc but what really shafts it is a) me trying to get up myself (but how do I have a bath the night before when I'm doing all the prep plus ds2 cluster feeding all evening) and b) what do you do when ds2 feeds at 5.30 and goes back to sleep. Get him up without feeding him? Get him up at 7am and give him a bit extra food????

hatrick - when does your dh go in the shower? Mine goes in at 6am so I can't go in myself then (not that we HAVE a shower atm - just a bath as the shower is being fixed). I need a routine but at the moment it is just winging it atm which isn't really working....

Have a bath/shower when the older are at school and when ds2 is asleep - you don't have to have one at set times.

I used to feed ds at 6 ish, let him go back to sleep and wake him no more than an hour before we needed to leave. How long does he normally sleep after his 5.30 feed?

Petitfilou - if I were you, for the next month at least I would shower once you're back from the school run.

Oh, and get dh to help sort clothes, bags etc in the evening (assuming he's home at a reasonable time)

mornings are can be stressful here too.
i get up at 6.30 get a shower and coffee then get the girls up at 6.45 get them bathed/hair washed, then get ds up and washed/bathed then they all get dressed whilst i make the breakfast.
the kids eat breakfast then brush teeth and i have to have them at the school bus stop by 8.10.
i get school bags and uniforms ready the night before.