Share your school morning hacks with Arla Big Milk – chance to win £300 voucher!NOW CLOSED

[RebeccaEMumsnet]

Whether you’re celebrating or commiserating, it will soon be time to go back to school. For some, it will be the first time their DCs put on their (slightly too large) school uniforms and head off into primary school. To make the new routine a little easier for first-time school mums, Arla wants to know what clever tricks and hacks you use to make everything run a little smoother during your own school week.

Here’s what Arla has to say: 'Being a parent is often unpredictable and getting your little one the nutrients they need isn’t always easy. That’s why Arla Big Milk has been developed to specifically meet the needs of growing children from ages one to five*, enriched with essential nutrients to help support children’s growth and development as part of their balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. Arla Big Milk ‘helping your little ones become big ones’

If your DC is starting school this September, what do you plan to do to prepare them (and yourself!) for the change? Are you going to rehearse the school routine, or the school run? Do you have a plan to cope with your own emotions on their first day?

If you already been there and done it - once that scary first day was out of the way how did you keep the momentum going? Did you turn getting ready for school into a fun challenge, with strict time limits and music? Perhaps you’re a stickler for getting lunches, uniforms and bags prepared and set out the night before, ready for the day ahead? Do you end up resorting to good old bribery to get the kids out of the door on time?

Whatever your tip or hack is, Arla want to hear about it, so post a comment below. Everyone who posts will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will receive a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Insight T&Cs Apply

*The Department of Health recommends that children at the age of one move onto fresh whole cows’ milk and that their diets are supplemented with additional Vitamin, A, D and Iron

I make sure everything is ready the night before, uniforms, pe bags, lunch. The less to do in the morning the better. :)

If you want to shower or eat breakfast, get up well before the dc.

Set the leaving time 5-10 mins before you really need to leave, but don't tell the dc.

If your dc are the sort that get distracted, a visual timetable really helps, even if you or they think they're too old for one. As well as what to do, it can include when to do it or by when it needs to be done.

Set finishing times, eg if you haven't made your pack lunch the previous night, you need to start making it by xx time and have finished by qq time. ('You' in this case referring to the dc! Mine make their own from Y4, if they want one.)

Label all items! Be ultra prepared and arrange everything the night before! Have a calendar and look every day to make sure you know what's going on!!

I get everything ready the night before, not just for the children but also for myself. We have to leave early s I work and mornings are very tight for time, so I load up the car before I go to bed.

Breakfast is also a simple affair- a brioche, croissant or other pastry with a glass of milk or a smoothie. That way I have free hands to (try to) do my hair and make-up while organising the morning exodus.

I lay out my DDs' uniforms the night before so they can get dressed easily in the morning. It also helps putting the bags on the side ready so there's no panic in the morning!

our DCs are already back at school. yeeh. organisation and quickly into a routine helps and a big diary to keep track of everything.

Prepare and load the car the night before

Prepare food the night before

Prepare as much as you can the night before! Uniform out, breakfast dishes out... Makes it so much easier to get up to the alarm in the morning.

I have two alarms set, the first means time to wake up (8am) and start getting dressed, the second alarms (8.30am) is brush hair and teeth alarm and why have you only managed to put your undies on....I also have a third alarm which is set at 3pm and reminds ME to pick DS up [sic]

I always make sure to prepare the night before, packed lunch and lay out clothes for everyone. I always set my alarm 20 mins earlier so I get ready first and then I grab the kids and hustle them into their clothes and out the door. I sometimes buy easy on the run breakfasts like breakfast bars, fruit toast, cheese scones, so we can walk and eat.

Lots of organisation the night before. Uniforms ready, lunch boxes made , PE kits packed.
For the reluctant child (like mine) a wall chart is greatin the morning to earn TV time/internet time e.g brush teeth 5 mins earned, eat breakfast at table 5 mins earned. works a treat for my little one!

I'm VERY strict about getting organised the evening before. I set out all outfits, pack bags and lunch boxes, sort out any notes, etc. For breakfast, I put on a big pot of sweet, milky choco and banana oatmeal the night before in the slow cooker. Then, everything is routine in the morning, and the kids can't wait to get in the car as it means they can listen to music :)

My biggest hack is having "time slots" for doing different tasks. For example, teeth brushed, face washed and hair brushed by 7.45. Dressed with shoes on by 8.00. Breakfast by 8.20, and out of the door by 8.30. By setting little mini goals, DS and DD are kept on track and don't dilly dally around when they should be getting ready!

help them feel like they want to ge their uniforms ready by getting them to pick what socks and undies they want this gets them excited and so they get the other bits together too.
for packed lunch make it fun get a line going where shes your assistant"one oaty bar go chef" "ham from the fridge and go" ham back in and tomatos and sald out go" also let them pick an exciting snack to have for having the fruit or 'healthier bits'
DO NOT GET FRANTIC kids feed off your emotions just like as a baby and they felt your heart beating when lying on your chest,this same thing follows through with the age and if they see you angry panicked or in a tizz they reflect it back,and because they don't know why they will often bring this out in tantrum mode.
try and do what you can the night before but don't stress if not.it can be done in the morning and it will be ok.
get them excited over their first day.theyll be terrified and their little minds wont be able to compute exactly why either.tell them what they might do in the day?let them know youll be there to pick them up.how your really jealous of the exciting stuff they will learn and you cant wait for them to tell you all about it. how they will be able to beat daddy in cleverness.
pick up on the nerves and if somethings wrong.often its something tiny but sometimes their can be some real problems when they are at school and it can be huge to them.let them talk and tell you as though its just as important to you.
always do homework when you get it or as soon as,things always get in the way if you think youll vae time later haha

A little bit of carrots and sticks goes a long way I always find! Carrots- if we are out of the door and in the car on time, then DC get to choose the music choice during the drive, I'll treat them to a lollipop, etc. If they sleep in or are late getting ready, then I'm in charge of the music, and they're in charge of the dishes that evening!

My tip is to make it all as simple and fun as possible. Do as much as possible the night before so that the morning is straightforward and easy- hygiene routine, getting dressed, everything needed for the day a head, breakfast, then out the door! It's nice to have music and the radio on two as it means we start the day singing and dancing and smiling :D

Keep sufficient change in separate bags or pots so you have the right amount readily to hand!

Practice putting school uniform on at least once or twice a week before school starts. Practice putting PE kit on too, as most schools expect the children to dress themselves for PE!!

Everything ready night before for definite. It's a mad rush when I realise I haven't made the lunch!

Apart from the obvious of label everything from uniform to where they hang their coats and even your children if you see necessary I would say to mass-produce the packed lunches. Preparing lunchboxes has to be one of the most time-consuming and tedious morning tasks, so get as much of the work as possible done on a Sunday evening.

Sandwiches can be made, wrapped and frozen; snacks like carrots, grapes and raisins can be prepped and put into individual plastic pots. You can even pre-slice an apple the evening before and put it back together, held in place with a rubber band, to stop it going brown.

Its great because you will then know what you need to pick up from the supermarket through the week if you prepare early.

No morning screen time until everyone has done everything that needs to bar put on shoes!

Get everything ready the night before if possible. As soon as your child can cope with it, get them to get themselves organised and ready. Not so much for reception starters but a bit further into the year/years!

Also, try to make sure everything has it's 'place'. I had to teach my boys where the ties went after school and where they will always be able to find one. (They were left all over the house for ages, so none of us could locate them easily.) Same for their shoes, bags, homework and reading books.

keep everything in it's place. deal with any bits of paper that come home from school as soon as you get in. Put everything back in book bag and put it back on its hook each evening

I've read this thread hoping for some kind of revalation or something new, but no, 100 posts of people saying do stuff the night before.

Surely we can do better than that