baby bunching Q/A: morning craziness

We received this question from Shell on our Facebook page.

Q: Any tips on how to successfully get several children that wake at the same time our of bed and downstairs? I have a 2 1/2 year old and 16 months old. I am expecting #3 in September. I have just ordered at Stop Light clock for my oldest with hopes of teaching him to get out of bed by himself, but would love any other ideas!

A: Your morning routine will be dictated by two things:  1) what time everyone wakes up (and if everyone happens to wake up at the same time) and 2) whether Dad is around to help. While some moms find it easier if children wake up in a staggered order so you can start putting them through the morning routine assembly line (diaper change, breakfast, dressed, shoes) in the order in which they arise, most of us aren't blessed with this capability to choose when our kids wake up.   We get what we get and embrace it!

However, Baby Bunchers universally agree (no study needed) that given the choice, we prefer to have Dad around to help as much as possible in the morning.  This makes it easier for you to either Divide and Conquer (put a parent on each kid) or put Dad on the kids while you treat yourself to a quick shower and throwing on some clothes. If you can, get Dad to focus on getting your oldest child fed and dressed so that you can focus on getting baby ready for the day.

Whether or not the morning routine is a team effort, we do have a few Baby Buncher tips for streamlining the process.  Again, organization factors in heavily here.  Since it is a pain in the butt to travel back and forth from areas (upstairs/downstairs) as a unit, try to bring everything you need to get everyone dressed into the kitchen/dining area when you bring the children in for breakfast.  This means diapers, clothes, shoes/socks, toothbrushes (you should already have these at your kitchen sink, per our earlier recommendations).  Don’t forget any combs or hair stuff you might need.  We also recommend keeping a stack of inexpensive washcloths in the kitchen somewhere.  These are good not only for food spills and mop-ups, but also for face cleaning and hair-wetting when getting ready.

Assessing your children's eating habits can help alleviate morning crazies as well. Perhaps one child awakes starving and would be happier with a cheerio-like cereal or banana in his belly before moving onto the next activity of the morning or the other child isn't ready to be served breakfast until a morning poo. Watching toddler pick at cereal while you nurse a baby gives you time to snack everyone in the same place. Knowing everyone's eating preferences is a good skill and one that will help you down the road. (The good news is: many times how they prefer to eat won't change as they get older. So do your observing now.)

Certainly getting everyone out the door for work/daycare has a different level of energy than not. Here's a great post we found on Alpha Mom for getting your household ready in the morning. The tip about the coffee pot is a great one for Baby Bunchers as well. Schedule your morning cup of jo so it's ready when you wake up!  

Do yourself a favor and do NOT get the children dressed until after they have eaten.  They are only going to get food all over whatever you put them in, so spare yourself an outfit change.  Depending on your child’s age, we even dare to suggest that you put off changing morning diapers until after everyone has eaten – it is one less trip to the changing station and one less change of pants.  Obviously we don’t recommend this if your child’s pants are dirty or so wet they are sagging off his body – use your judgment here.  After they are done eating, once you have a kid pinned down for a diaper change, get them dressed from head to toe before you let them go so you can check that kid off the list as “ready for the day”.

One last bit that might help is to turn on the tunes. During the frantic mornings, it's amazing what music will do to calm not just the adults, but the kids. One of our favorite CDs for morning, noon and night is Susie Tallman's Lullabies for Sleepy Eyes. The next time your morning starts to take a turn for the worse, reset with some mood music and watch what it can do.

Everyone's household is varied with different morning routines, personalities and appetites. Remember that kids read you. Frantic mornings can make for frantic days. Many mornings may include food disasters, spills (from you and then), poo, stains, and tears. Believe us when we say that you are not alone. Laugh it off and move on because naptime is right around the corner.

Comments

[Elaine]

This is good stuff. I am starting to look at this blog more and more lately, love all the posts. With a 2 and a half year old and a 14 month old, and a full time job that seems to get busier and busier, I need all the helpful hints I can get. Thanks Ladies!

[AZ]

Definitely agree that it helps to have dad around to divide and conquer. We have a 21 month old daughter and 7 week old son, so getting everyone ready, mostly means getting her and myself ready, and baby nursed and changed. Dad and little baby are very low maintenance.
The routine is different if I'm on my own versus have help from hubby.
When he's home, he thankfully often gets up with our toddler, takes her for a pee, gets her teeth brushed, face washed and downstairs fully dressed & ready for her day breakfast and/ or for daycare.
I am usually changing, nursing, and getting myself ready at this time.

If I am on my own, I do the whole routine with DD, while trying to nurse and/or change my son in between. I cannot function at all without a shower and getting fully dressed - am not a go-downstairs in pj's person. So once they are both in a fair state of readiness to go down for breakfast, I usually will put on treehouse tv for DD and/or (if he's awake) strap little baby in a bouncer in the bathroom, so I can take my shower and get ready.

I'm not reccomending my routine to everyone. Especially now that we have the little one, its hard to get everyone downstairs at a decent time. I think I am going to have to start waking up before the kids.

But my secret weapons have been Mickey Mouse Playhouse and a bouncy chair or some kind of strap-em-in bounce and play toy in the bathroom for when they are little so you can keep an eye but still take a shower...