What Is Your Morning Routine?

In my house, I wake up awhile before my son does. After I am totally ready, then I wake him up. I set out his clothes and bathe him the night before. When he wakes up, he gets dressed and then has breakfast. Using a timer really seems to help us. We set the timer before doing everything. Breakfast is usually cereal or oatmeal.

Hope this helps.

My son and I have a 20 minute car trip to school in the morning, so I get him up, and dressed (bathes in the pm) and he eats breakfast in the car. It helps us get to school/work on time most days!

I second what Diana G said, her routine is similar to ours. I wake up at 6 and sometimes our 4 year old is up cuddling with us and sometimes not. I jump inthe shower and then hubby follows. While I am in the shower he is supervising the 4 year old. He can totally get himself ready. All clothes are ready the night before for 2 kids and myself. While my husband is inshower I am getting all ready and the 4 year old is watching tv. Only tv of the day for him. At some point the baby wakes and I nurse him. We all go down and eat breakfast together. I have layed everything out the night before including getting coffeepot programmed. Our lunches are also made at night and I set table for dinner after we eat breakfast. All our "gear" for the day is ready by the door including shoes. I only work part time but have found that my day~especially mornings goes much easier the more I have ready at night. Plus I prep much of our dinner the night before (crock pot, marinate meat, cut veggies whatever) so when I get home in the afternoon I can just toss it in oven or pan. Hope that helps you.

You didn't mention your sons age but I assume under 3... is he able to get himself ready at all alone? My youngest has been an expert hair brusher since around 2 years old and she started getting herself dressed about taht time too. Of course I had her clothes laid out for her. If your son can get dressed or brush hair alone I would have him doing that while you are getting breakfast on the table. If you don't have a shoes off rule (we do) you could have him put them on as well.
Our routine is to get dressed before breakfast then wash face and brush teeth. The hair part comes whenever there is time...sometimes before breakfast sometimes after just depends.
My kids do eat sitting at the table but not usually at the same time and I am usually busy doing other morning chores. But this actually is better for our family because if I have more than one kid at the table at a time and I'm not there they play around or argue.
If you are always running late because he is a slow eater (my middle daughter can take up to 1 hour 45 minutes to eat dinner so I know....) it isn't gonna hurt him to eat in the car after brushing teeth and every other get ready routine. My kids have had to eat toast, pop tarts even dry cereal in the car on days that they were so slow in the morning we were gonna be late. I always keep wipes handy to make sure faces and hands are clean when we arrive where ever we were going.
If you feel he will spill or make messes.... you can wait to get him dressed just as you are doing but maybe have hair done before hand.
My kids are older but this is the routine we have always had. My kids are ready in about 1/2 hour every morning... maybe 45 minutes when I was still dressing them.
Hope this helps :)

I have 3 year old twins and we used to take 2 hours from the time they woke up till we were out the door. Used to allow tv time, play time, etc. Now I have their lunches made and breakfast made. Depending on whether I have a meeting, so must get out the door at 7:30am or not, we adjust breakfast. Hurry up days are waffles and a smoothie in the car, slower days are cereal and a banana, in between can be scrambled eggs and sausage, which can also go in the car. They both love to eat out of their large cups in the car, along with a sippy cup of milk. I keep a pack of baby wipes in the car to clean faces and hands before we walk into pre-school. And although they have snacks in their lunches, they always eat a banana or apple on the way home. A 15 minute drive and they finish their fruit every day! I quickly got over the fact that they may have a spot or two on their clothing. Being happy, healthy and not stressing over the small stuff makes the start of the day much easier! Good luck and have fun with him!

My son eats on the way to school almost once a week too. I combine the cleaning/playing time by throwing him in the shower with me. He gets to play and I can get him cleaner faster because he's distracted. Once we get down to breakfast he's had his play time and he's hungry. I've found that if I feed him before his shower he isn't hungry yet so he tends to play around and take forever. I also don't give him anything to drink until after his breakfast. My son will fill up on fluids and not eat so this way I can get more actual food in his belly! As soon as the last waffle bite is in his mouth I slap his clothes on and head out the door. You can't rush a 2 year old but you surely can trick him into going faster!!

Here is our schedule with an almost 5 yo son and an almost 3 yo daughter. Our 5 yo is ALWAYS the last to be ready and our 3 yo is always the first to be ready. Just their personalities, I guess.

730am: Hubby gets up with the kids. They snuggle and watch tv, he feeds them breakfast. Usually something kind of portable...drinkable yogurt, a Clif Kid Z bar, left overs from dinner, a bowl of cereal. There are days where neither kids eats breakfast though. I don't worry, they have their first "snack time" at school at 9am and then lunch at 1130am. On non school days, my kids eat at least 4 times throughout the day. So if they don't eat breakfast in the early morning, they usually eat a good snack around 10am and then lunch at noon.
8am: hubby gets my son dressed for the day (hubby has to help him get dressed or it will never happen since my son procrastinates on everything). Poor guy is lost in the way of how to dress a girl...you should see some of the crazy outfits he comes up with for my daughter...even she tells him it doesn't look right :).
815 am: I get up and get my daughter dressed. Pack their lunch on school days or snack bags for our daily outings.
830am: Kids are in charge of getting their shoes and socks on. My 2 yo will have her shoes on is minutes. My almost 5 yo will dilly dally and then freak out once he sees me and his sister heading out the door to the car.
845am: Out the door to school on M-W-F. On non school days, we usually take it slower and get out the door around 10am.

A good friend of mine and mother of 4 children gave me this advice regarding meals for the kids:

- on a day where Mom is under the weather, over stressed, or it's just been a bad day overall.....cheese and crackers does count as a well balanced meal.

-It's okay if your kid skips a meal here and there. They will just be extra hungry when it's time for the next meal. This is especially good to keep in mind when your 2 yo is trying to powerstruggle you over finishing their veggies. The rule in our house is, you finish your meal and then you can have snacks/treats. My son has missed many meals because he refuses to sit down nicely to eat. Lunch is only 4 hours away from breakfast and dinner is only 5 hours away from lunch. So they won't starve to death...they'll just be really hungry at the next meal :).

Some kids, or adults for that matter, take awhile for their tummies to "wake up" too. Maybe that's why he eats so slow in the morning. AND kids, don't often eat a lot. Just make small portions for him. (unless he eats a lot). For my kids, even just a banana or a yogurt is enough for them in the morning.

For eating, if you decide to get him ready/dressed before eating... then put an apron bib or smock on him. Or, have him eat without his shirt on. I know lots of Moms who do that.
And wipe his face off with a diaper wipe... and keep those in the car too for wiping up other stuff, his face/fingers included. Short cuts.

I also carry extra clothing in the car too. For back-up purposes. It REALLY comes in handy.

Mostly, its allowing yourself MORE time in the morning... perhaps getting yourself and breakfast and him ready sooner than you already are. Then you don't have to rush.

And, wake up PRIOR to him getting up, and get yourself ready first and do your routine. Then once he does wake up, YOU are already ready. Instead of starting everything once he wakes up. Make YOUR "start-time" earlier. That is what I do. Less rushing around in the morning that way.

And no, during the weekday, we don't always have a 'sit-down' breakfast... I let that slide instead of adhering to it. Less hassle that way. And yes, if he is walking around eating finger-foods, that's fine. At least for me it is. Especially the week-day mornings.
Feed him things in the morning that are 'easy' and mobile.

All the best, just some quick ideas,
Susan

we keep breakfast simple--a bowl of cereal or a cereal bar that gets eaten in the kitchen or at the table. We let our 2yr old walk around with a sippy cup of milk, but walking around with food is a no-no at our house. Bibs are mandatory.

If you take him to daycare, can he eat breakfast or a morning snack there?

If time is an issue, I get her dressed immediately when changing her morning diaper--MUCH quicker than going back in there later, and she is more compliant and less picky about what to wear. (I imagine once we potty train--soon--we'll just strip the jammies off for the morning pee.)

Hello. I am Mother to a 5 year old and 2 1/2 year old boys. I put their pants, socks and shoes on first thing. Let them play while getting breakfast together then do the hair, teeth and washing up after breakfast. When it's time to head out the door we just have to put on our shirts and we're off. Hopefully this helps a little.

Hello, I have four grown children and did licensed daycare while they were growning up. When our last one got in school, I went to work at the school and did daycare before and after school as well as during vacations. My time was limited, but I don't remember have to rush except when they got older. I was thinking that maybe you could put cut up fruit into the bowl as well. That would give him a more balanced meal and you could do it more than once a week. On weekends, you could make a point of having the "sit down" breakfast together.
Good luck with your precious little boy.
K. K.

The 5-month-old is up first and plays and kicks, then I get the 2-year-old when I hear her cry. (She does not know she can get out of her new toddler bed yet!). The 3-year-old joins us usually, once he wakes up. This all happens around 7:30 or 8am. Bedtime is 9pm, but the baby falls asleep after 10 usually.

I don't get to shower then (evenings work out better) but I do throw on new clothes and brush my teeth. Then I dress them all and sometimes brush their hair (but only the girl has any hair to speak of that needs brushing.) The toddlers sit down to eat cereal, and I nurse the baby. I eat a bowl of cereal too while nursing.

We're out the door at 9am to drive the oldest to preschool, then we come back home. Sometimes I put the other 2 in the nursery (connected to the preschool) so I can work out at the gym.

All in all, we're not fast moving at all, and it's a pretty big ordeal, but we are always on time. Mornings are a big rush for most families, I imagine. Good luck!

Hi

You don't say how old your child is and if your routine involves getting him to school or you to work , but I will just run through what we do mon-fri , weekends we don't really have a morning routine as we are in no rush to be out the door for school buses etc.

I have 3 kids , age 6,4,& 19 months , youngest is up first around 6.30 closely followed by the other 2 at around 7. They usually sit for 10 mins or so while they wake up properly (I let them have TV on).Then at 7.30 are start to get breakfast ready which is usually cereals , toast or bagels or sometimes pancakes , we all sit at the table and eat (myself included with them , husband already at work) , once breakfast is done I get the youngest dressed and the the other 2 start to dress themselves , then it's teeth and hair ,then shoes & coat and out for the bus and 8.40 and then drive middle one to preschool. Incase you are wondering where I fit in my shower , I do that while they are sitting watching TV when they first get up....VERY quick shower for me!!!

Hi L.--looks like you have gotten a lot of good advice--so I'll just add what I think may be different. I have 5 kids ranging in age from 3 to 10 and we have to be out of the house to take my older ones to school by 7:45AM--and this sysytem has worked pretty well for us!! I do all my prep work the night before--lay out my kids clothes, make their lunches (for the ones that our in school), get out what I need to make breakfast (as long as it is not refrigerated)--just bowls, utensils, cereal boxes etc. and I wash all the fruit that I will be giving them also. Then in the morning I wake up before them and get showered and dressed so I don't have to worry about myself anymore. My kids get dressed and know they have to eat breakfast first and once they are all ready to go (except for shoes by the door)they have time to play--usually we end up with about 20-30 minutes left. I give them a 5 minute warning when it is time for them to wrap it up,gather their backpacks and lunches and load up into the car. Does it always move lke clock work--no--but my kids have learned the drill so usually we do okay. I do have to say--this whole process depends on me-if I run late--we all run late--so I have to be very disciplined the night before and waking up early in the morning. Hope some of this helps--good luck!!!

eating while doing something else is a very bad habit. It can cause many problems later in life especially with digestion and intestinal problems which have more side effects and illness. Everyone should sit down to a nutrient dense protein breakfast. It should be smelled and enjoyed. This gets the mouth stimulated to start the digestive enzymes producing. All this helps the body to heal itself and to be healthy and to untilize the nutrients in the body. Remember you are breaking a FAST. Children need the protein and fat in the morning to do well in school and the B vitamins help the brain. So this should be a priority. Then everything else will fall into place. Also it is security for any child to have a routine at home. So the same each morning is good.So you will have happy, healthy, more intelligent kids if you feed them a good breakfast sitting down, relaxed. No processed cereals. M. NTP

Sounds like you're already doing things about as efficiently as possible for a child of his age. However to make your routine faster when he's older, you might want to start training him to get dressed, pick up his room, comb hair, etc., first, while you prep breakfast. Put a bib or old T shirt or apron on him while he eats to avoid the food-on-shirt problem. Use playtime as an incentive: he'll only have time to play if he gets the other tasks done first, including brushing his teeth afterward. I also try to do as much as possible the night before (set table for breakfast, mix up the raw eggs/milk I scramble in the morning, pour water in my kids' cups, place saute pan on cooktop, etc.) I'm also not a big fan of letting kids wander around w/ food. THAT will certainly create another cleanup job. He's old enough to start enforcing the idea that food stays at the kitchen table. ... if you slowly start changing your routine one element at a time, he will be well trained by school age to get through the morning efficiently, but none of what you're doing now sounds wrong or very inefficient anyway! So enjoy your mornings and make changes slowly if you feel you want to. :-)

I did not read in your explanation how you want the morning to go. I was exhausted just reading what you are dealing with. ( and I feel for you).

If it were my child I would set the tone the day before how the new system works. I'm not so sure the order or sequence matters as much as he understands that the car is leaving at a certain time. This means we has either eaten his breakfast or not (his choice), dressed ready to go or dress in car.(his choice). I'm sorry if this sounds harsh...remember we are preparing our kids for the real world. Being late to the office in the real world gets you without a job. Even though we love our kids and want to do everything for them and make life easy for them, my experience with my own kids and working with families kids are happier and better prepared for life when they start making choices and doing for themselves.