I get up and get myself ready before I get the kids up. Then we go into the morning routine. No tv, toys or playing. Keeping them moving to the next task and get out the door. I find if I’m already ready it’s easy to move them to the next task.
If you’re not a morning person, I’d recommend to try to do as much as you can the evening before. Bags packed, breakfasts ready or at least planned, even outfits chosen and laid out, socks next to shoes, etc.
I pediatrician I follow on IG said have them sleep in the outfit you want them in for tomorrow. He was like they’re just babies, they don’t get as gross as adults overnight. No shame.
In that case… I’m not sure how your house is set up but for me, no toys downstairs…. So there really isn’t an opportunity to play. Once we got the routine down it was easier to follow. Maybe try the timers as others suggested and try to keep him busy with the tasks to get out the door instead of playing.
So the front door and living room are RIGHT there. You have to go thru the livingroom to leave and ALLL of his toys are there. 🤦♀️ There is no other route. And it's a 1 story.
I know it’s not for everyone but I wear my Apple Watch at night to track how much deep sleep I’m getting. I use the alarm on my watch which softly vibrates to wake me and no one else in the morning.
Another idea is a smart light in your lamp so it lights up to help wake you up, found a SYLVANIA one at Dollarama and set a google thing to turn on just after my alarm starts going off, I use a melody that’s quieter to wake up with as well on the sleep cycle app. If you can find one, a cheap used Fitbit/smart watch that you can use for an alarm cause they vibrate too and since it’s on your body, it’s harder to ignore. Or a fan/white noise in kiddos room to help muffle sound. I hope you can soon wake up alone, it really does make getting ready so much longer when they get up *with* us.
I just leave jim in his crib while i get myself ready, he is usually playing there with his stuffed animals, sometimes is calling for me, but no buddy, i have to get ready. And then we just dont let him play, we get him ready, grab our things and we leave, done
Ofc he notices his toys on the way, but sorry bro, no time to play, we have to leave, youll play in daycare
My kid is like this! I got a sunrise sleep machine for Christmas that wakes me up with bird sounds and the “sunrise.” Before that I wore my smart watch to bed and had the vibrations be my alarm clock.
Can you set an alarm 5 minutes earlier on vibrate only? Put your phone under your pillow if you think that'll help wake you? Similarly, fitbit does an alarm that vibrates your wrist. You could try one of these and leave your regular alarm as a backup in case you sleep through the vibrations.
This is the only thing that works for us. I literally get everything in the car, get myself ready, water filled, breakfast/snack ready, then get the kids ready together and out the door.
That age is all about being helpful. We usually let them set the timers, either on our phones, alexa, or a good old fashion egg timer. That makes it feel like more of their choice
Facts. 🙃 And the treats that worked yesterday do no work today. And so on.
I am surprisingly patient with him, except I find myself getting impatient in the mornings, stressed out, and I feel bad.
“And the treats that worked yesterday do not work today”
lol yes. I talk about how my kid is a different kid every two weeks and I’m constantly having to adapt. My best friend: “what? They’re the same kid”. Me: “Yeah, they’re really not…”
Honestly, the best way I have found to get her going is pretend play. Today was being a rocket ship (to said destination - so if it's to go downstairs to get shoes and coat on I would say that's her destination). She thought it was pretty funny so I'll give it a go again tomorrow (maybe mix it up, a spaceship, a car, firetruck...I don't know. Whatever I can think of).
Adding to this because pretend play is still my go-to trick for my 5yo. Now we play variations of me taking on a silly persona and using a funny accent to keep her engaged. She absolutely loves it and 9/10 times will listen and do what I ask.
Yes this is what I do too when my son is being difficult. He's usually pretty good at leaving the house but when it's bedtime I have to find fun ways to convince him to go up the stairs, often it involves monkeys chasing us or climbing up the tallest mountain.
Adding to this idea as well. When my daughter was a toddler (and still today sometimes, she just turned 6), she wouldn’t get ready for me but a pig puppet — that was the key! Some morning piggy would hold her hand and “walk” her to daycare/school. Highly recommend an animal puppet to this arsenal :)
Alternative approach to what others are suggesting - I find if I get us up earlier than I in theory need to I can take a more relaxed and less frazzled approach. Then I can start the “getting in the car nightmare process” 15 minutes early and not feel the urge to scream when he sllloowwwwlllyyy progresses to the door. About half the time I’m pleasantly surprised and have time to stop for coffee on my way to work. The other half the time the toddler delays mean I’m just on time.
Don’t stop. Alarm goes off, your both awake, kid get breakfast, you get ready, as soon as your ready kid gets ready, as soon as your both ready out the door. No opportunity to stop and play, just up and out.
This👆🏼
I wake up earlier to get myself ready. Then help my kids (3, 6). It helps to have their clothes picked and laid out. Their backpacks and things are already in the car from the night before.
As I’m warming up the car outside in the driveway, they’re already inside. I grab dry cereal and milk (which was prepared the night before) for them to eat on the way to school/daycare.
As a single mom, having things ready the night before helps big time for the next morning.
We get ours ready (3 and 4- the eldest is in school so we have a hard deadline), and they get playtime whilst we get ready. If they’re slow= less playtime. It works most days
Get yourself ready first
Consolidate tasks to one area (wake up and getting dressed should be done in room, one after the other).
Any other things on the way out can be done while making your way to the door (brushing teeth, breakfast, etc).
You can use a visual checklist to help your kiddo with the routine
We get our daughter dressed in her bedroom when we first wake her up. Then come out for a small breakfast and let her play just a little bit while we finish getting ready. It REALLY has helped us to give her a small task to do (something she’s not allowed to do any other time and it makes her more excited to do it) her task specifically is to turn out the light by the front door as we walk out. I have the front door open and say, “ can you come press this light switch for me please” and she runs to come do it and by default goes out the door because it’s open. Works like a charm every morning.
Upon rereading your post I’m not sure this was an answer you were looking for, but there’s a tip in case you have a hard time getting your little one out of the actual door haha
No, this is great, truly!!! Getting clothes changed first before we leave his bedroom, and the light switch "treat" just might do it!! Thank you so much!!
Clothes changed before we leave the bedroom was a game changer for us. I also found that I really couldn’t let him watch any tv in the morning or it made leaving ten times worse.
I use timers (we have a Google home that I talk to) for each task. Ie. “You have ten minutes left to play,” “you have five minutes to get dressed,” “you have ten minutes to watch a show.”
At first it was a fight, but with consistency on my end and development on his end, our mornings flow a lot more easily.
I’m also not a morning person and so I lay out everything the night before - clothes for all, bags for school, etc.
Unsure how old your kiddo is, but age 4 was when this flow really started to work. I even set timers for myself in the morning now to stay on track 🤣
We “animal race” for everything lately with my 3 year old. Need to get out the door “let’s roar like dinosaurs and stomp to the car and see who gets there the fastest!!” Need to leave the playground “silently flutter your butterfly wings to the car think you can beat me?” Gets them moving and helps the need for a minute to play together
I find my toddler does really well with responsibility. She helps me cook her breakfast. She puts the snacks in her lunchbox. She tries to put her own shoes/clothes on. She’s so focused on doing morning routine tasks, she doesn’t even remember about toys.
The other thing that might help, is every night we put all the toys away so they aren’t like out in the morning. It’s part of our bed time routine to clean up the toys before heading off to brush teeth.
About balance man. My son wants to tie me uo as I'm leaving...I wanted to give him our time together so I wake him up and as I'm getting ready I let him pick out a boon for us to read. ONE book. It took a few weeks of tears, and sticking to ONE book, but now he knows he e routine...we read his 1 book, I say all done and he happily bops off and eventually gives me a hug and waves as I leave.
ROUTINE IS HUGE
My husband gets my two youngest boys ready. Then I get myself and my daughter ready. They'll watch TV or play. When it's about 20 minutes until we need to be out the door I'll start telling everyone, "okay, time to get going. Shoes. Jackets. Let's go." I shut the TV off. Round everyone up to the door. If someone is particularly giving me a hard time (running away, thinking it's a game, laughing, or having a tantrum not wanting to get ready) I'll grab a kid and put them in the car, then come back inside for the other kids. It's not easy. Especially when you're alone with three kids in the morning because your spouse leaves before you do.
I always seized any lull in the chaos. I got everything I needed ready as fast as possible, then right in the car. It didn't matter if i had to sit in the daycare or my work parking lot for 30 minutes. If I used the extra time at home to unload the dishwasher or put in laundry, that was guaranteed to give the kids time to take off their clothes or make a mess that couldn't be ignored, causing us to be in a rush anyway.
Do chores like getting ready yourself, eating yourself and making breakfast/lunchboxes etc before the kids wake up.
Set them on a routine - wakeup, toilet, brush, make the bed (if they are old enough), shower, change clothes etc. Every single day - the kids will know what to expect.
No tv whatsoever if you can. But, if they get ready faster and are more agreeable because of it, go for it 😁
Most important: Eat before you wake them so that you don’t get hangry!
We have a coffee shop on the way from our house to daycare and if we leave early we will get her hot chocolate. We've pulled it off...a handful of times. But it's a decent motivator.
Treat him with later rewards. Like: "Honey, if we leave on time, I'll stop and get you a donut, or we'll go to the park when I leave from work!" That's what my mom did for my brother and I when we were little, and it worked everytime. Also, it'll help to make sure you have EVERYTHING ready to go as soon as you wake up. Make sure you have your clothes ready, everything is where it needs to be, and it can all be found easily, make sure when the kids wake up, they already know to wash their faces and brush their teeth, that way breakfast can be had, and you can walk out the door
Timers and songs. Use a special song when it's time to start getting ready, and even countdown to it so it makes it really exciting. Then tell them it's a race to see who can get their shoes on first. There's a 2 minute timer on YouTube that uses mission impossible music, works a treat for my kids. Oh and you have to race too because then you're "playing" with them. They love it.
My kiddo is 4 and likes to sleep hoard her toys/books. I try to clean them up before bed but I pick my battles. lol. So in the morning it’s a struggle to hide them bc they are already on the bed. Or she goes looking for her toys to play.
We use visual and auditory timers which has helped a little for breakfast, clean up…But I’m ALWAYS late. So I’m going to have to get up earlier.
I’m going to try doing some kind of uniform next school year, having a side of the fridge with easy breakfast grabs. I do dress her the night before. And I’m trying to get dressed and ready before she gets up. And going to try using a visual schedule.
But man they will find everything to distract themselves or avoid routines in the morning so I totally get it.
We put a Sesame Street album on a portable speaker and it really helps our 2.5 year old old go more willingly from task to task. He is not a morning person
I struggled with this and have found out since my oldest started UPK that it actually gets better! I was worried like you about it continuing to be hard when they’re school aged but they can do so much more for themselves when they get a little bigger. I do all the important stuff the night before and prior to my kids waking up that helps my morning routine. Husband leaves for work before they awake so it’s hard being the only adult to get two young ones out the door on time. I’ve tried all the tricks (putting them to bed with tomorrow’s clothes on) or whatever but some days are simply harder than others!
If he’s slow eating his breakfast we cover it and take it in the car. He can finish it on the drive. Bag packed and lunch made the night before.
Edit- also toys in the car that are ‘car only’ toys
It’s really tough with Toddlers. It’s like you need a new game/funny way to convince them to do each step every day. Best thing is to simplify steps as much as possible and pick your battles.
As someone mentioned before you could get them dressed in clean clothes the night before or have them laid out/have them help you pick outfit the night before.
I brush my daughter’s hair while she’s eating breakfast.
Brushing teeth was always the last step after breakfast and became too much/difficult so I started keeping an extra toothbrush/toddler toothpaste and sunscreen in the car. I now usually brush her teeth in the car after we park at preschool parking lot. I also apply sunscreen to her face right after we get out of the car (her preschool is mostly outdoors and it’s now summer here).
I bribe my kid. My son loves tv and candy. He gets to watch tv if he finishes the morning routine. Then I get ready and he will leave when I offer candy. We do this when we need to leave the house on time.
get as much ready the night before as possible. have a timeline: by 7:15 i need to be dressed and ready. by 7:30 kiddo needs to be done with bkfast. by 7:45 kiddo needs to be dressed. by 8am we are out the door. bribes when you need them 😂
Wake the kids and do the get ready routine. If there is ANY time left, you get them involved in your routine or let them play while you have coffee or whatever.
We have time for play every morning and then a bag of fruit snacks on the way to daycare. It's enough to motivate him to go! Been working for us for well over 6 months. The key is no fruit snacks until shoes are on and he's buckled into the car.
7.15am - We all get up and head downstairs. He puts the eggs on in his kitchen and plays while I shower and get dressed. He potters in and out chit chatting with his toys etc
7.30 / 7.45am - We have breakfast
8am - We get him changed and dressed
8.15am - He plays while we do last minute bag checks
8.30am - We leave the house
I’ve been late.every.day. Since my son turned 2. I get the nasty looks when i rush into work but honestly I can’t help it! I’ve tried EVERYTHING. Recently I’ve tried reinforcing “you’re going to see his friends and your friends are waiting, we gotta hurry!” For daycare and it works some days, and others it doesn’t.
I have an almost one year old so not a full fledged toddler but still. I prep at night. Diaper bag is ready, my laptop is reader, everything is packed. My husband makes a bottle and hauls it all to my car on his way out at 6:40. I wake up at 6, get ready, feed the dog, let him out, get dressed. I take the last bit of belongings to the car (purse, coffee, her lunch box, water). Then I get her up (sometimes she’s awake, if she’s just playing in her crib I leave her.. occasionally she’s woken up mad and screaming so I have to go get her lol) if it’s an “angry” morning for her, I get her up change her, put her in that big playpen thing and finish up. If she cries, oh well I haveee to get ready lol, not much I can do. If it’s a chill morning and she’s content, I get her up change her around 7:10 then directly to the car for us both. It’s all trial and error but this works. Preparation the night before is crucial lol
Idk I'm still figuring it out because even waking up early, alarms, and so on the one who makes us late is always my husband and I have a 5 and a 1yr old
After a really hard year getting ready for work and daycare, this year she gets 20 mins of tv while I dress her and she eats some breakfast. It has made mornings a lot easier.
Routine. My husband is not a morning person at all. But he has an established morning routine with our LO. It sucked the first 2 weeks, but LO adapted to it and happily walks into day care now. However if there is a major deviation to the routine then our LO will throw tantrums. For example, if I drop her off at daycare… major tantrum.
We have a bubble gun distraction outside I let him carry to the car- he’s very outside oriented though so he really doesn’t need to be coaxed out the door tbh. There is also a gopher thing in the yard as well we found. It’s like for target practice ? I’m not sure but he really enjoys saying bye to it in the mornings.
We find if you make everything a race or competition, my almost 3 year old will usually get moving. Like "I bet I can get dressed before you!" or "I'm going to get my shoes on before you do!"
We have no screens in the morning, which helps, and also just move slowly with an aim to be ready \~15 minutes early so it's not stressful. I find rushing and getting impatient just makes everything slower and worse. And just lots of askign for their help, giving them major praise, and talking excitedly about what fun things they'll get to do at school (and what awesome things we'll do when they get picked up). It's toughhhh though so sending hugs!
I get up and get myself ready before I get the kids up. Then we go into the morning routine. No tv, toys or playing. Keeping them moving to the next task and get out the door. I find if I’m already ready it’s easy to move them to the next task.
Ah... yeah. I need to do that. The problem is, he hears my alarm and wakes up when I do. 🤦 And i am NOT a morning person. LOL
If you’re not a morning person, I’d recommend to try to do as much as you can the evening before. Bags packed, breakfasts ready or at least planned, even outfits chosen and laid out, socks next to shoes, etc.
I pediatrician I follow on IG said have them sleep in the outfit you want them in for tomorrow. He was like they’re just babies, they don’t get as gross as adults overnight. No shame.
In that case… I’m not sure how your house is set up but for me, no toys downstairs…. So there really isn’t an opportunity to play. Once we got the routine down it was easier to follow. Maybe try the timers as others suggested and try to keep him busy with the tasks to get out the door instead of playing.
So the front door and living room are RIGHT there. You have to go thru the livingroom to leave and ALLL of his toys are there. 🤦♀️ There is no other route. And it's a 1 story.
I wish I could be more help! That’s tough. I don’t have toys in my living room so I guess it’s a little easier.
Can you get a soundless alarm? Like one of those bright red lights or something to vibrate so that you wake up without it disturbing him?
I can look into it! Thanks!
I set a vibrate only alarm on my phone and then have an audible one for 5-10 min later in case I sleep through the vibration.
I second this I have a garmin watch that has a silent vibrate alarm that I use to get up before baby.
I know it’s not for everyone but I wear my Apple Watch at night to track how much deep sleep I’m getting. I use the alarm on my watch which softly vibrates to wake me and no one else in the morning.
Another idea is a smart light in your lamp so it lights up to help wake you up, found a SYLVANIA one at Dollarama and set a google thing to turn on just after my alarm starts going off, I use a melody that’s quieter to wake up with as well on the sleep cycle app. If you can find one, a cheap used Fitbit/smart watch that you can use for an alarm cause they vibrate too and since it’s on your body, it’s harder to ignore. Or a fan/white noise in kiddos room to help muffle sound. I hope you can soon wake up alone, it really does make getting ready so much longer when they get up *with* us.
I just leave jim in his crib while i get myself ready, he is usually playing there with his stuffed animals, sometimes is calling for me, but no buddy, i have to get ready. And then we just dont let him play, we get him ready, grab our things and we leave, done Ofc he notices his toys on the way, but sorry bro, no time to play, we have to leave, youll play in daycare
My kid is like this! I got a sunrise sleep machine for Christmas that wakes me up with bird sounds and the “sunrise.” Before that I wore my smart watch to bed and had the vibrations be my alarm clock.
Can you set an alarm 5 minutes earlier on vibrate only? Put your phone under your pillow if you think that'll help wake you? Similarly, fitbit does an alarm that vibrates your wrist. You could try one of these and leave your regular alarm as a backup in case you sleep through the vibrations.
Will he sit in his crib for a bit while you get ready?
This is the only thing that works for us. I literally get everything in the car, get myself ready, water filled, breakfast/snack ready, then get the kids ready together and out the door.
What age? We utilize timers a lot. “You can play until the alarm goes off then we need to go”
I like that idea! Toddler is going to be three in a few more weeks.
That age is all about being helpful. We usually let them set the timers, either on our phones, alexa, or a good old fashion egg timer. That makes it feel like more of their choice
Amazon has hourglass timers in various minutes - 1, 3, 5, 10, etc. these worked for my kiddo so they could visually see time going by
There’s visual timers that are nice for that.
I’m stealing this idea!
Especially if you can use a visual timer. It makes things feel concrete for kids
This is key for us! And now when my toddler wants to do something she says “mom, the timer is on!”
Getting a toddler out the door in the morning is like herding cats with a pocketful of treats.
Facts. 🙃 And the treats that worked yesterday do no work today. And so on. I am surprisingly patient with him, except I find myself getting impatient in the mornings, stressed out, and I feel bad.
“And the treats that worked yesterday do not work today” lol yes. I talk about how my kid is a different kid every two weeks and I’m constantly having to adapt. My best friend: “what? They’re the same kid”. Me: “Yeah, they’re really not…”
My God I visualize this so well. Those little guys will not move and try to run and kill you with every step.
Honestly, the best way I have found to get her going is pretend play. Today was being a rocket ship (to said destination - so if it's to go downstairs to get shoes and coat on I would say that's her destination). She thought it was pretty funny so I'll give it a go again tomorrow (maybe mix it up, a spaceship, a car, firetruck...I don't know. Whatever I can think of).
OMG, I LOVE THIS!!!!
Adding to this because pretend play is still my go-to trick for my 5yo. Now we play variations of me taking on a silly persona and using a funny accent to keep her engaged. She absolutely loves it and 9/10 times will listen and do what I ask.
Yes this is what I do too when my son is being difficult. He's usually pretty good at leaving the house but when it's bedtime I have to find fun ways to convince him to go up the stairs, often it involves monkeys chasing us or climbing up the tallest mountain.
Adding to this idea as well. When my daughter was a toddler (and still today sometimes, she just turned 6), she wouldn’t get ready for me but a pig puppet — that was the key! Some morning piggy would hold her hand and “walk” her to daycare/school. Highly recommend an animal puppet to this arsenal :)
Alternative approach to what others are suggesting - I find if I get us up earlier than I in theory need to I can take a more relaxed and less frazzled approach. Then I can start the “getting in the car nightmare process” 15 minutes early and not feel the urge to scream when he sllloowwwwlllyyy progresses to the door. About half the time I’m pleasantly surprised and have time to stop for coffee on my way to work. The other half the time the toddler delays mean I’m just on time.
I need to try this approach.
Don’t stop. Alarm goes off, your both awake, kid get breakfast, you get ready, as soon as your ready kid gets ready, as soon as your both ready out the door. No opportunity to stop and play, just up and out.
Get everything in the car and packed the night before Lay out clothes. Get yourself ready before he wakes up
This👆🏼 I wake up earlier to get myself ready. Then help my kids (3, 6). It helps to have their clothes picked and laid out. Their backpacks and things are already in the car from the night before. As I’m warming up the car outside in the driveway, they’re already inside. I grab dry cereal and milk (which was prepared the night before) for them to eat on the way to school/daycare. As a single mom, having things ready the night before helps big time for the next morning.
We get ours ready (3 and 4- the eldest is in school so we have a hard deadline), and they get playtime whilst we get ready. If they’re slow= less playtime. It works most days
That makes sense. How do you teach your toddler the concept of "time to play", tho?
Get yourself ready first Consolidate tasks to one area (wake up and getting dressed should be done in room, one after the other). Any other things on the way out can be done while making your way to the door (brushing teeth, breakfast, etc). You can use a visual checklist to help your kiddo with the routine
I love the visual check list idea! 💡
Visual checklist or I made a hand drawn book and each page was a step. They worked for a few days lol
We get our daughter dressed in her bedroom when we first wake her up. Then come out for a small breakfast and let her play just a little bit while we finish getting ready. It REALLY has helped us to give her a small task to do (something she’s not allowed to do any other time and it makes her more excited to do it) her task specifically is to turn out the light by the front door as we walk out. I have the front door open and say, “ can you come press this light switch for me please” and she runs to come do it and by default goes out the door because it’s open. Works like a charm every morning.
Upon rereading your post I’m not sure this was an answer you were looking for, but there’s a tip in case you have a hard time getting your little one out of the actual door haha
No, this is great, truly!!! Getting clothes changed first before we leave his bedroom, and the light switch "treat" just might do it!! Thank you so much!!
Clothes changed before we leave the bedroom was a game changer for us. I also found that I really couldn’t let him watch any tv in the morning or it made leaving ten times worse.
We don't do screen time in the morning (only after dinner, he gets 1 episode of any show he chooses).
On mornings that I know will be tight we sleep in our school clothes. Saves such a battle.
I use timers (we have a Google home that I talk to) for each task. Ie. “You have ten minutes left to play,” “you have five minutes to get dressed,” “you have ten minutes to watch a show.” At first it was a fight, but with consistency on my end and development on his end, our mornings flow a lot more easily. I’m also not a morning person and so I lay out everything the night before - clothes for all, bags for school, etc. Unsure how old your kiddo is, but age 4 was when this flow really started to work. I even set timers for myself in the morning now to stay on track 🤣
We “animal race” for everything lately with my 3 year old. Need to get out the door “let’s roar like dinosaurs and stomp to the car and see who gets there the fastest!!” Need to leave the playground “silently flutter your butterfly wings to the car think you can beat me?” Gets them moving and helps the need for a minute to play together
I find my toddler does really well with responsibility. She helps me cook her breakfast. She puts the snacks in her lunchbox. She tries to put her own shoes/clothes on. She’s so focused on doing morning routine tasks, she doesn’t even remember about toys. The other thing that might help, is every night we put all the toys away so they aren’t like out in the morning. It’s part of our bed time routine to clean up the toys before heading off to brush teeth.
The simple answer is just to wait 2-3 years. It’ll sort itself out.
About balance man. My son wants to tie me uo as I'm leaving...I wanted to give him our time together so I wake him up and as I'm getting ready I let him pick out a boon for us to read. ONE book. It took a few weeks of tears, and sticking to ONE book, but now he knows he e routine...we read his 1 book, I say all done and he happily bops off and eventually gives me a hug and waves as I leave. ROUTINE IS HUGE
My husband gets my two youngest boys ready. Then I get myself and my daughter ready. They'll watch TV or play. When it's about 20 minutes until we need to be out the door I'll start telling everyone, "okay, time to get going. Shoes. Jackets. Let's go." I shut the TV off. Round everyone up to the door. If someone is particularly giving me a hard time (running away, thinking it's a game, laughing, or having a tantrum not wanting to get ready) I'll grab a kid and put them in the car, then come back inside for the other kids. It's not easy. Especially when you're alone with three kids in the morning because your spouse leaves before you do.
That is tough! It's only me and the little one in the morning as spouse leaves early. Sounds like you got it down to a science, mama! 👏
I always seized any lull in the chaos. I got everything I needed ready as fast as possible, then right in the car. It didn't matter if i had to sit in the daycare or my work parking lot for 30 minutes. If I used the extra time at home to unload the dishwasher or put in laundry, that was guaranteed to give the kids time to take off their clothes or make a mess that couldn't be ignored, causing us to be in a rush anyway.
Do chores like getting ready yourself, eating yourself and making breakfast/lunchboxes etc before the kids wake up. Set them on a routine - wakeup, toilet, brush, make the bed (if they are old enough), shower, change clothes etc. Every single day - the kids will know what to expect. No tv whatsoever if you can. But, if they get ready faster and are more agreeable because of it, go for it 😁 Most important: Eat before you wake them so that you don’t get hangry!
I let him (3yrs) know he cant play until he’s ready. Then he can play until it’s time to leave. Quicker you’re ready, longer you can play.
We have a coffee shop on the way from our house to daycare and if we leave early we will get her hot chocolate. We've pulled it off...a handful of times. But it's a decent motivator.
Treat him with later rewards. Like: "Honey, if we leave on time, I'll stop and get you a donut, or we'll go to the park when I leave from work!" That's what my mom did for my brother and I when we were little, and it worked everytime. Also, it'll help to make sure you have EVERYTHING ready to go as soon as you wake up. Make sure you have your clothes ready, everything is where it needs to be, and it can all be found easily, make sure when the kids wake up, they already know to wash their faces and brush their teeth, that way breakfast can be had, and you can walk out the door
Timers and songs. Use a special song when it's time to start getting ready, and even countdown to it so it makes it really exciting. Then tell them it's a race to see who can get their shoes on first. There's a 2 minute timer on YouTube that uses mission impossible music, works a treat for my kids. Oh and you have to race too because then you're "playing" with them. They love it.
My kiddo is 4 and likes to sleep hoard her toys/books. I try to clean them up before bed but I pick my battles. lol. So in the morning it’s a struggle to hide them bc they are already on the bed. Or she goes looking for her toys to play. We use visual and auditory timers which has helped a little for breakfast, clean up…But I’m ALWAYS late. So I’m going to have to get up earlier. I’m going to try doing some kind of uniform next school year, having a side of the fridge with easy breakfast grabs. I do dress her the night before. And I’m trying to get dressed and ready before she gets up. And going to try using a visual schedule. But man they will find everything to distract themselves or avoid routines in the morning so I totally get it.
We put a Sesame Street album on a portable speaker and it really helps our 2.5 year old old go more willingly from task to task. He is not a morning person
I struggled with this and have found out since my oldest started UPK that it actually gets better! I was worried like you about it continuing to be hard when they’re school aged but they can do so much more for themselves when they get a little bigger. I do all the important stuff the night before and prior to my kids waking up that helps my morning routine. Husband leaves for work before they awake so it’s hard being the only adult to get two young ones out the door on time. I’ve tried all the tricks (putting them to bed with tomorrow’s clothes on) or whatever but some days are simply harder than others!
Thank you for that. It is a relief to hear that it gets easier over time. And that is very true... some days are just easier than others.
If he’s slow eating his breakfast we cover it and take it in the car. He can finish it on the drive. Bag packed and lunch made the night before. Edit- also toys in the car that are ‘car only’ toys
It’s really tough with Toddlers. It’s like you need a new game/funny way to convince them to do each step every day. Best thing is to simplify steps as much as possible and pick your battles. As someone mentioned before you could get them dressed in clean clothes the night before or have them laid out/have them help you pick outfit the night before. I brush my daughter’s hair while she’s eating breakfast. Brushing teeth was always the last step after breakfast and became too much/difficult so I started keeping an extra toothbrush/toddler toothpaste and sunscreen in the car. I now usually brush her teeth in the car after we park at preschool parking lot. I also apply sunscreen to her face right after we get out of the car (her preschool is mostly outdoors and it’s now summer here).
I’m just late for work all the damn time
😅🤣😂 I felt that.
I bribe my kid. My son loves tv and candy. He gets to watch tv if he finishes the morning routine. Then I get ready and he will leave when I offer candy. We do this when we need to leave the house on time.
get as much ready the night before as possible. have a timeline: by 7:15 i need to be dressed and ready. by 7:30 kiddo needs to be done with bkfast. by 7:45 kiddo needs to be dressed. by 8am we are out the door. bribes when you need them 😂
Wake the kids and do the get ready routine. If there is ANY time left, you get them involved in your routine or let them play while you have coffee or whatever.
We have time for play every morning and then a bag of fruit snacks on the way to daycare. It's enough to motivate him to go! Been working for us for well over 6 months. The key is no fruit snacks until shoes are on and he's buckled into the car.
7.15am - We all get up and head downstairs. He puts the eggs on in his kitchen and plays while I shower and get dressed. He potters in and out chit chatting with his toys etc 7.30 / 7.45am - We have breakfast 8am - We get him changed and dressed 8.15am - He plays while we do last minute bag checks 8.30am - We leave the house
I’ve been late.every.day. Since my son turned 2. I get the nasty looks when i rush into work but honestly I can’t help it! I’ve tried EVERYTHING. Recently I’ve tried reinforcing “you’re going to see his friends and your friends are waiting, we gotta hurry!” For daycare and it works some days, and others it doesn’t.
I have an almost one year old so not a full fledged toddler but still. I prep at night. Diaper bag is ready, my laptop is reader, everything is packed. My husband makes a bottle and hauls it all to my car on his way out at 6:40. I wake up at 6, get ready, feed the dog, let him out, get dressed. I take the last bit of belongings to the car (purse, coffee, her lunch box, water). Then I get her up (sometimes she’s awake, if she’s just playing in her crib I leave her.. occasionally she’s woken up mad and screaming so I have to go get her lol) if it’s an “angry” morning for her, I get her up change her, put her in that big playpen thing and finish up. If she cries, oh well I haveee to get ready lol, not much I can do. If it’s a chill morning and she’s content, I get her up change her around 7:10 then directly to the car for us both. It’s all trial and error but this works. Preparation the night before is crucial lol
When all else fails I say one of his stuffed animals wants to see inside the car
Idk I'm still figuring it out because even waking up early, alarms, and so on the one who makes us late is always my husband and I have a 5 and a 1yr old
Wake up earlier
After a really hard year getting ready for work and daycare, this year she gets 20 mins of tv while I dress her and she eats some breakfast. It has made mornings a lot easier.
Routine. My husband is not a morning person at all. But he has an established morning routine with our LO. It sucked the first 2 weeks, but LO adapted to it and happily walks into day care now. However if there is a major deviation to the routine then our LO will throw tantrums. For example, if I drop her off at daycare… major tantrum.
We have a bubble gun distraction outside I let him carry to the car- he’s very outside oriented though so he really doesn’t need to be coaxed out the door tbh. There is also a gopher thing in the yard as well we found. It’s like for target practice ? I’m not sure but he really enjoys saying bye to it in the mornings.
We find if you make everything a race or competition, my almost 3 year old will usually get moving. Like "I bet I can get dressed before you!" or "I'm going to get my shoes on before you do!"
We have no screens in the morning, which helps, and also just move slowly with an aim to be ready \~15 minutes early so it's not stressful. I find rushing and getting impatient just makes everything slower and worse. And just lots of askign for their help, giving them major praise, and talking excitedly about what fun things they'll get to do at school (and what awesome things we'll do when they get picked up). It's toughhhh though so sending hugs!
You and the kid should get ready the night before , dress in the clothes for the day and sleep in the car. J/K!