https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:42:31 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2723301 Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:57:13 +0000 fmmtk 2723301@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sweetpie - I try and be part ready before she gets up and I finish getting ready while she eats. SO is up and helping to try and convince her to get ready, it always ends up being both of us arguing with her!</p> <p>Thanks for all of the suggestions - we tried less time this morning and using a timer. Didn't get anywhere any faster! I suppose as some have said there's no magic answer and maybe this too shall pass :crying: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722942 Tue, 11 Apr 2017 13:06:33 +0000 Purpledaisy 2722942@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with others that maybe less time would be better. For some reason the less time we have the more on time we are. My 4 year old dd's ok to wake clock is set for 7:25 and we are out the door at 7:45. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722938 Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:57:12 +0000 dolphin 2722938@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh man we've been through this with my 4 year old. Those morning battles are draining! </p> <p>What I've learned and done differently:</p> <p>- Give her at least an hour to get ready. In the past I would wake her up later so she can squeeze in more sleep but that would backfire because she moves so slow in the morning that I end up rushing her and we all get stressed out. </p> <p>- Timer for breakfast. This use to be a major issue for us because she eats so slow. A bee on here suggested using a timer app. I downloaded a kid one with animals and set it to 20 minutes. Whatever she does not finish in 20 minutes we take away. We've only been doing this for two weeks and it's been working like a charm! She loves to beat the timer and she actually finishes everything. Game changer. </p> <p>- We let her watch a little tv AFTER she's done getting ready. The faster she gets ready the more time she has to watch Doc McStuffin. Otherwise, she doesn't get to watch anything. Her choice. We also make sure to start it near the END of the episode so it stops exactly a few minutes before we need to leave. I know this might not work every kid because you risk the chance of them not wanting to turn the tv off but for DD she's been very good about us turning if off once she sees the end credits and know its done. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722672 Tue, 11 Apr 2017 06:29:55 +0000 SweetiePie 2722672@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What level of ready are you when she wakes up? Are you waking up at 6 as well and trying to get both of you ready in that time? Where/how is your SO involved? Sorry if any of this was already asked/answered. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722634 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 21:28:28 +0000 Nutella 2722634@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I can empathise with so many of these responses. </p> <p>My 3.3 year old is a force in the mornings, he wakes up slowly and only if we lure him with the promise of a to show (just to add further madness to the mornings) - so we tried letting him sleep in later (7am) and doing breakfast, clothes, teeth, shoes, car - scrapping the tv. The tv caused meltdowns anyway! </p> <p>He refuses to go toilet in the mornings &amp; I've stopped fighting it! Takes too long! As long as he eats his breakfast happily and gets out the door, it's a win. </p> <p>I'm constantly late to work but that's more because daycare drop off takes longer than I'd like...a whole other story 🙄😬</p> <p>Mornings can be SO painful though. Even on he days he wakes up happy and leaves the house happy, daycare drop off can turn everything to custard and my morning at work is spent worrying about him :crying: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722595 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 19:37:27 +0000 MrsSRS 2722595@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Another vote for less time. The only time we struggle is when we are up early or for some reason have extra time and DS has time to settle in or play. Quick snuggle, then potty, clothes, breakfast, out the door. 30 minutes max. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722592 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 19:19:55 +0000 JennyD 2722592@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yep. Been there done that. </p> <p>I gave up and made my husband take her to daycare for awhile. Like, months. He never cared if he was late for work. None of it stressed him out. But it made a huge impact on DD. She begged for weeks to come with me again and I said no to make the point. </p> <p>When she did start coming with me again, I started waking her before I got in the shower and told her it was her responsibility to get up and get dressed before I got out of the shower. We also had a big talk about being on time and grumpy. Which had always had a big impact on her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722577 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 18:01:47 +0000 petitenoisette 2722577@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@fmmtk: like others have said, I was asking bc I was going to suggest less time. I think if they get too settled (and more awake) it's harder to transition them out the door. I have a two year old so of course it's a little different but we get her up and out the door in about 20 minutes. We do have to leave really early though so that's one of the reasons it works for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722574 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 17:49:20 +0000 Charm54 2722574@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Less time works best here - about 30 minutes tops. Dd wakes up, immediately goes to the potty and is dressed there. She then goes to the kitchen for breakfast which is waiting for her. She gets her coat, hat, boots on usually mid-breakfast and then we are out the door right after. It's so quick and structured that there's no time for arguing or getting distracted by something else. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722573 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 17:48:36 +0000 shellio 2722573@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just commiseration. Lucky for me, DH usually deals with this but we are still looking for a good answer. I think my kids would do much better with less time but unfortunately they are early risers and wake between 530-630, don't need to leave till about 8. My older kids are 3 and 5 and all they need to do is eat and get dressed and go potty at some point. Would love to just let them wet their pants if they don't go, but I feel like that is just putting another burden on their teachers and honestly the kids don't seem to care when they do. They would love to wear pajamas to school every day. In short, mornings are a struggle and I don't have any answers for you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722569 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 17:34:31 +0000 gingerbebe 2722569@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Less time is key. If we can't be out the door in under 15 minutes, we are stuck at home for an hour. We live in a single story home so if DS gets distracted by his toys or something it's a battle. So we go straight from dressed to the car. </p> <p>Also we put our son to bed at 730pm (give or take 30 minutes) every night. He usually needs about 11 hours sleep so he wakes up around 630am. We don't get him from his room until 7am so he has about 30 minutes of built in time he's hanging out in his bed and singing and talking to himself (while we rush around getting everything ready to go). Giving him this time to wake up "naturally" makes it so that he's really happy when we go get him in the morning and he's usually really chipper and wants hugs. If we have to wake him up he's a grouch. So perhaps timing bedtime so she will wake a bit earlier on her own may help? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722543 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 16:07:15 +0000 shabang 2722543@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlejoy: Us too with the cuddling time. I think taking that time gives her the time she needs to wake up and get on board with the rest of the morning. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722540 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 16:02:35 +0000 littlejoy 2722540@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@shabang: We also fit our routine into 30 minutes ... it sounds like it wouldn't be enough time (well, we do 10 minutes of cuddling first), but she eats in about 15 minutes, which leaves 15 minutes for clothing, teeth, coat and door. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722521 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 15:26:27 +0000 travellingbee 2722521@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just empathy. Our 4 year old is a beast in the morning... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722519 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 15:26:12 +0000 shabang 2722519@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlejoy: We basically do this. </p> <p>Also, if you have multiple floors, it helps to have all upstairs activities (get dressed, brush teeth) followed by all downstairs activities (gather things, breakfast, etc.). Going back upstairs causes crazy delays.</p> <p>Counter intuitively, it actually works better for us to give her less time in the mornings. Optimal is about 30 min - more than that, and she gets distracted. I've been saying "potty, shoes, coat, go" so much that now she knows what's next that she has to do to leave the house and I'll just check in with her every few minutes.</p> <p>Granted, this is all scrapped if she wakes up in a shit mood. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722516 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 15:19:15 +0000 hummusgirl 2722516@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's so hard. The main thing we do is try to turn everything into a "fun" game - race to go downstairs, try to catch these crazy pants that are running all around, pretend you're the toothbrush and talk about how hungry you are to eat her teeth, race against mommy to put on shoes, etc. It's exhausting but better than constantly pleading/yelling (though make no mistake, we have plenty of that too). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722488 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 14:37:07 +0000 lawbee11 2722488@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband gets her ready and drops her off most mornings but in general we set timers for everything. We have an Amazon echo and when Alexa goes off she knows it's time to do whatever we asked. And we let her have some control by saying "Do you want to leave in 5 minutes or 7 minutes?", "Do you want to go upstairs for bed in 10 minutes or 12 minutes?", etc. And when the timer goes off she does what she's supposed to. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722483 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 14:30:54 +0000 MrsRoo 2722483@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm right there in the trenches with you- my 4 yr old is the worst in the mornings. We try to be all set the night before, but she just hates waking up and is super grumpy in the mornings. The only thing that kiiiiiiind of works for us is me taking deep breaths and adjusting my tone, because the later it gets and the more frustrated I get, the more she digs her heels in. So I take a moment at least once a morning and she typically copies me and we both breath deep and make better choices for the day. I also give her warnings about taking away her music in the car and sticking with it if she doesn't cooperate. This is a huge deal to her, and if I take away her music one day, she talks about it for the next few days and it keeps her on track.<br /> I have not found a great long term solution to our morning struggles though. So hopefully my short term fix doesn't loose its potency any time soon. :meh: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722426 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 12:53:29 +0000 fmmtk 2722426@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@petitenoisette - an hour and fifteen minutes! She wakes up or I wake her up at 6 and typically give her 10 minutes or so to wake up in her bed. We have to be out the door by 7:15, which almost never happens. I don't think waking her up any earlier would help - I think it would just draw out the arguments longer. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722422 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 12:50:31 +0000 petitenoisette 2722422@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@fmmtk: How much time is there between wake up and when you should be heading out the door? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722385 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 12:11:35 +0000 fmmtk 2722385@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@momtolittleb - I'm glad others can commiserate and experience the circus and war zone as well :crying: It is exhausting!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722379 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 12:02:57 +0000 MOMTOLITTLEB 2722379@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No advice but commiseration. It is such a huge circus. My son slept late and then woke up in a great mood this morning. We were already up getting ready so he scurried into our bathroom and gave us both big hugs. It was lovely. Once talk turned to him getting ready it was like we were in a war zone and that continued until we got into the car. I'm pregnant and only have about another week of work so I'm just trying to get through it for now. I'm sure it will be a whole new set of problems home with 2 kids and then when I go back to work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722362 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 11:50:56 +0000 littlejoy 2722362@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just have to have everything ready for her, and really leave nothing up for debate. We instruct the entire morning ... we give 10 minutes for morning cuddles, then it's time to pee, eat breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, and head out. We guide her through it, and remind her what's next. Sometimes she gets distracted by her chalkboard, and wants to sit and play. If she seems adamant, I'll set a timer on my phone for 3 minutes (because that won't really make or break our morning), and she seems ok with it, and is able to transition easily after that. For getting her dressed, we have her clothes all picked out, and we're prepared to help her change. She's 3.25, and this has worked well for us for the past year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722342 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 11:34:48 +0000 ShootingStar 2722342@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a morning routine that seems to help. DS knows he gets dressed, eats breakfast, and has to go potty before he leaves the house (that's the rule no matter where we're going). He used to give a me a huge hassle when he was younger about getting dressed. So I would either dress him on the potty or I'd dress him while he ate in his learning tower. It seemed like dressing him while he was engaged in some other activity helped. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722331 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 11:23:59 +0000 looch 2722331@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@fmmtk: I think there is a difference between getting them to cooperate and forcing. I can't physically force my son to do anything. If I have to forcibly place him on the toilet or wrestle him to change his clothes, what am I really solving...that's where I am coming from.</p> <p>In my view, getting my son to cooperate sometimes involves letting him make poor choices. I wish it were as easy as me doing what I need, but it isn't. So on that note, since reward chards don't make a difference to my son either, I have basically decided that he has to live with the consequences of his actions. And eventually, it did get better. It's not an issue so much any more because I have learned that he's slow to wake, so I wake him earlier than what I think it should take to accomplish the tasks and build in time so we're not rushing. I also make sure I am completely ready before he even wakes up, otherwise there isn't a chance I will make it on time.</p> <p>Oh, and what about dressing her in her clothes for the next day at bedtime? If you choose soft separates and she accepts that, you've eliminated that potentially. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722329 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 11:22:19 +0000 matador84 2722329@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I really struggle with my 3 year old most mornings. I honestly think it boils down to a weird anxiety she has. It started right around 2, and she is honestly such an easy, happy child and is only ever difficult on school mornings.</p> <p>I've tried taking her to school in PJs (at her old school--she wears a uniform now). That didn't phase her. I've taken her to school in PJs and then changed her in the car in the parking lot, and that really didn't help. I've tried sticker charts for "x" amount of easy days in the morning without hysterics is a treat of her choice. I've tried holding her down and forcing her to get dressed and ready (which really only resulted in a lot more frustration and sweat from me). I've also tried morning bribery, with candy, kindle, etc--things she would NEVER get otherwise to be calm and get dressed. SO, maybe one of those things will work for you but unfortunately none worked for me! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722313 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 11:07:22 +0000 catlady 2722313@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would love to know the answer to this problem. :) DD is 3.5 and we've been struggling with it on and off for probably a year now. We mostly just bribe her with a stroller snack (she doesn't get one if she takes too long getting ready). I guess our other strategy is to just get ready way earlier than we really need. If we aim for a certain time, we are destined to be there 15 min late so we start getting ready to go with about a half hour on the clock.</p> <p>I definitely see 3 and 4 year olds still wearing PJs at DD's preschool so I think this is a universal thing at this age. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722302 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 10:54:00 +0000 fmmtk 2722302@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch - she would think going to school in her pajamas and wet pull up is the greatest thing ever and then want to do it every day :grin: I think allowing her to make those choices of not doing things is easier said than done at least for us. Allowing her to not go to the bathroom before leaving ultimately results in an accident en route on our long drive, which results in clean up (of her and the carseat) for me. I view it as trying to get her to cooperate rather than forcing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722288 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 10:41:39 +0000 looch 2722288@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What would happen if she had a fit and you just sent her to school in her pajamas, without doing anything, might she get the message that way?</p> <p>The one thing I don't do is strong arm or force my kid. If he doesn't want to go to the bathroom, and he wets his pants, tough cookies, he can ask his teacher for his change of clothing. If he doesn't want to eat before we leave, there are only a few options of things I will allow him to eat once we reach our destination (I don't allow eating in the car because I still to this day worry about choking). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-out-the-door-in-the-morning#post-2722282 Mon, 10 Apr 2017 10:34:11 +0000 gingerbebe 2722282@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ds is not potty trained yet but at night in order to transition him to bath we strip him while he's on the potty practicing. So I would do the reverse with your kid. Like throw your daughter on the potty and strip her and throw her shirt or dress on while she's on the can. When she gets up to flush then pants go on. While she's there, have her brush her teeth. </p> <p>We move our son directly to the car after getting dressed. Socks and shoes and sweaters live in the car and get put on once we get to school. </p> <p>My son gets breakfast at school but he usually eats a car breakfast anyway. I give him a bottle of water and a waffle/bar/Belvita/snack trap of cereal. Basically something dry and not messy. He can have milk and whatever they are serving at school if he wants. </p> <p>I generally pack the daycare bags and place them in the car at night. Once I buckle in DS I hand him his breakfast to start eating and then I grab his lunch and my coffee and we are out. </p> <p>I also keep spare clothes in the car in case he gets dirty for some reason on the way to school (like dumps his water bottle in himself). </p>