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Original poster

How do you get two adults and a 10 month old ready to leave the house by 7.30 every morning?

53 replies

peakaboo · 05/08/2008 07:55

I'm going back to work in two weeks and have no idea how we are going to all get clean, fed and dressed without getting up at 4am (although that's often when dd wakes so it might be the start of our day ) and without having tears from any of us. How do other families manage this?

OP posts:
Ledodgy · 05/08/2008 08:00

Get up at 6.30am. Feed baby, dress baby. Shower and dress yourselves. Go downstairs, have breakfast. Bath baby the night before. Pack baby's bag the night before and make sure both your clothes and underwear are set out the night before as well. It is do-able honestly I get 3 children ready and out of the house in less than an hour on school days you just have to find a routine that suits you. Good Luck.

2point4kids · 05/08/2008 08:04

You will be fine once you've done it a few times I am sure
Its just practise.

I'd get up at 6.30am and jump in the shower and get dressed then get baby up at 7am and give her some milk.

Is she going to a childminder or a nursery? A childmider may dress her for you when she arrives and both should give her breakfast that early, so all you'll need to do is give milk, change nappy and have a snuggle.

Definitely pack everything and leave clothes out the night before.

GrapefruitMoon · 05/08/2008 08:06

Is you baby going to a childminder or nursery? My dd went to a nursery which provided breakfast for the children- a lifesaver when I was running late!

One of you should shower and dress while the other gets the baby ready, then swop over.

ghosty · 05/08/2008 08:08

Work together on it.
When I worked (I work from home now but we still do this), I would get up at 6 and have my shower and get ready (hair/make up etc) and DH would get up for DS. If DS woke later than 6 then that would be a bit of a lie in for DH. DH would give DS his breakfast and/or bottle. Then when I was ready I would come down and take over getting DS dressed etc while DH got showered and dressed.
I always had nursery bag packed the night before and my stuff all ready to go (I was a teacher)
This habit has stuck and nowadays we do this: I get up around 6.45am and go in the shower and DH gives the children their breakfast (they are now 8 and 4). Then he comes and gets himself ready for work and is out by 7.30 and I take over to do packed lunches, check bags etc etc and we are out of the door at 8.30am for school/kindergarten.

popsycal · 05/08/2008 08:10

prepare everything you can the night befroe - lunches, clothes out, bags at the door
do a few trial runs

popsycal · 05/08/2008 08:11

i get mne and 2 DSs out the door for 7:30 on the days i work
we get up around 6:45 n

Isabellasmam · 05/08/2008 08:19

ditto, have everything ready the night before. i even have a list on the inside of the kitchen cupboard that has her milk, food etc... in so we dont forget anything that she needs.

I am a teacher and dh a joiner so i get showered, make-up, clothed while he feeds dd. have breakfast together and then i drop her off with family, they get her ready for me.

it feels impossible until it becomes part of your routine and then its just how your day starts. we get up at 6-6:30 (depending on dd) and leave at 7:30.

keevamum · 05/08/2008 08:29

I always got up at 6 to get my 2 DD's up and out by 7.20. I am a teacher too. It is doable, in time you will find it much easier then you have another and you have to start it all over again!

seeker · 05/08/2008 08:32

Try to get yourself completely ready before the baby wakes up, if possible. I trey to do this myself on school mornings still. It makes everything so much easier - and mine are 7 and 12!

Original poster
peakaboo · 05/08/2008 08:34

Loads of good suggestions, thanks very much. She's going to a nursery at my work, but it's 45min drive from our home (I'm really hoping she sleeps in her car seat). We're also doing baby led weaning so breakfast can take ages as she feeds herself and is very messy. Maybe nursery can do that, though...

OP posts:
Slouchy · 05/08/2008 08:38

If you do breakfast at home, shower and do hair etc before baby is up BUT put dressing gown on until she has eaten.

SazzlesA · 05/08/2008 08:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

FluffyMummy123 · 05/08/2008 09:30

Message withdrawn

Gobbledigook · 05/08/2008 09:32
Wink
Original poster
peakaboo · 05/08/2008 09:43

If you're referring to the OP, no... by 6.30 I have a baby who has woken at least 5 times in the night often for hours, is exhausted and cranky, and often won't eat or take a bottle unless it is unhurried and calm. Getting dressed can take 20 minutes or involve screams, and I then have to drive through horrid London traffic to our nursery. Just asking nervous and asking for advice.

OP posts:
Original poster
peakaboo · 05/08/2008 09:45

and yes, of course the 4 am was an exaggeration, but it really can take us more than 2 hours to get going.

OP posts:
LIZS · 05/08/2008 09:47

Get yourselves up and ready then do baby - bathe her in evening so you have minimal to do in the morning. Nursery can do brekkie but maybe give her milk and toast to start while you eat yours.

FluffyMummy123 · 05/08/2008 09:49

Message withdrawn

Original poster
peakaboo · 05/08/2008 09:52

It's ok. I am nervous about the job, and very nervous about the commute. And not getting much sleep at the moment, which makes everything seem much more intense.

OP posts:
ggglimpopo · 05/08/2008 09:56

Anything is possible.....

Yesterday the baby had a hospital appt in Paris (a three hour train journey from me) and I had train tickets for 8.24am, the latest train I could take to make the appt.

I cocked up the alarm. Woke at 6, fell back asleep and woke up again at 8.02!
I rang my neighbour and asked if she would drive me to the station (2 miles away in the centre of town, I had planned a leisurely trip on the tram) and managed to get ds and myself dressed, find stuff for a mobile breakfast for him, change the car seat into her car - and was on the train at 8.22. Exactly twenty minutes after having woken up.

If I hadn't got absolutely EVERYTHING ready the night before (apart from the picnic breakfast!) it would have been impossible - and an early rising, very kind neighbour helped!

So I would suggest you get everything, everything ready the night before.

Good luck. It is easier going back to work than imagining going back to work!

Original poster
peakaboo · 05/08/2008 10:17

thanks

OP posts:
thehairybabysmum · 05/08/2008 10:33

Agree with get yourself ready first then do baby.

Maybe give weetabix with a spoon rather than finger foods for breakfast to save time...it wont do any harm, she will get lots of finger food at nursery too.

I find that nursery does tire mine out more than a day with me so if you're lucky she will sleep better once settled in.

Dont worry it is doable and actually quite easy once you in the swing of it. Agree with iCod that actually its quite nice to go to work, you even get to drink a full cuppa before it goes cold!!

findtheriver · 05/08/2008 10:33

Agree that the thought is worse than the reality. I was still bf when I returned with my first, and the morning feed could take up to an hour, so I was really anxious about the logistics of returning. It's all about having a smooth routine and doing as much as you can the night before. Definitely do a few 'dry runs' before as well, so that you can see where any possible problems might be. The other thing I can't emphasise enough - once you have established a routine, make sure the other bits of your life fit around it. If you need to get up at 5.30 am for the next year, then just do it, you WILL cope, but make sure you adjust your (and the baby's) bed time so that you still get enough sleep. It sounds obvious, but some people end up running themselves ragged trying to stay up late as well as having early starts. And honestly, once you've been doing the routine a couple of weeks, it will be normal to you. I had 3 pre schoolers at one point to get up and out, so all things are possible!

PerkinWarbeck · 05/08/2008 10:45

I am aware that this will be perceived as really grotty, but could you shower and blow-dry hair the night before. I reckon this saves me 30mins in the morning and I don't smell too badly .

My DD normally wakes when I get up (light sleeper) so I'm not normally able to steal a march on her.

Otherwise military planning. Check weather and pick your clothes and DD's the night before, right down to underwear. Breakfast at nursery if you arrive in time.

findtheriver · 05/08/2008 11:03

Perkin - give us your tips for keeping your blow dried hair looking ok after sleeping on it! I would happily do this, but I'm afraid I wake up looking like Edward Scissorhands so I might scare colleagues if I dont wash my hair each morning!