Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

How much time do you give yourself to get yourself and your DC ready in the morning to get out the door, drop
off the baby at daycare or a sitter and be at work on time?

DS is 10 weeks and will be starting daycare next week and already I can't imagine how I'm going get the two
of us ready and out the door in a timely fashion without staying up all night prepping

Please share your morning routine!!!

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Before bedtime lay out your clothing, an outfit for DC, then in the diaper bag make sure it is full of diapers, wipes, ointments, lovey (and if you need to restock daycare diapers for them, an outfit or two for DC, and any formula. If pumping make sure you clean the old bottles, and in the fridge have the new ones ready)
Check to see if there is any dirty laundry in the bag and put stain stick on it.
In your bag make sure it is packed and you have your phone charged.
I keep in my car an entire outfit for everyone in a tupperware. I change it seasonally, but for DC you will need to change it as he/she grows into a new size too.
If you want prepack your lunch and leave it in the fridge.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Anything that can be done the night before is done (lunches prepped, clothes laid out, etc). Then in the morning I get up 30-40 min before DS wakes up to get myself showered and dressed. Then DS wakes up and I get him changed and dressed and get him breakfast. While he eats in his high chair I throw my lunch in a lunch bag and usually make myself coffee and a bagel for breakfast. While we get shoes and coats on DH brings DS daycare stuff to the car (his food, his cups etc). Then I grab my work bag, my lunch bag, grab DS and head to the car and go. I give myself an hour and a half in the morning between waking up and leaving. DH gives himself half an hour

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

What the pp said...get as much as you can get together the night before.
I get up at 6:10 and shower and get myself ready.
Kids up by 655ish....
Out the door by 7:20-7:30
I have 3 kids though.

Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Haha, I wake up at 5:30 to leave by 7:30. To be fair, I like a liesurely breakfast. But I know that ds can wake up at 5:45 or 6:30 and I like to make sure that I have time to be presentable leaving the house.

Like pp said, I do things ahead of time. On sundays, I iron my clothes so it's not even a thought in the morning. I think that helps tremendously. Also, I shouwer at night so in the am, I don't have to factor that in.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

DH is 100% in charge of DD in the mornings, as I leave with her well before he needs to leave.

We are up at 6:10. I shower while he feeds her. He gets her dressed while I get dressed. He packs up her food (everything else done night before) while I do makeup. We put on coats together. We are out the door by 7:15.

I don't know how we would do it if DH did not help.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

I do everything the night before. I shower, do my hair, make sure I have dd lunch, milk and clothes for the next day all ready. I have to be out of the house by 620 630. I wake up at about 530 makeup, dressed and breakfast. My dd wakes up about 6.

Doing everything the night before is key. Good luck!

Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

I wake at 515 get myself ready. DH gets up at 6 and I leve at 645.

It's not that hard. I don't even prep the night before anymore. The first few days might be tough but you will figure out a routine that works.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

I thought the same thing as you. Before the baby I would already be up by 5:15am! So I had to switch my schedule around after DD was born. I also do most things at night including shower, hair, laying out clothes, getting her bottles ready, etc. I do as much as possible the night before that way all I have to do is get myself ready, wake DD up and get her dressed and ready and get both of us out the door. Some days are better than others. My DH gets up after I leave, so I do it by myself, but if your DH is able to help, I would assign him some jobs to help make things easier on you.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

I have two children - 1y and 3.5y

I wake up at 640 and shower
Kids are up by 7 (get them ready, baby has a bottle, DS has a small "breakfast" snack as he eats at daycare.
We are out the door by 8/810
I am at work by 9

as for how I manage them both while I am getting ready? DS plays in his room and DD is in the jumperoo in there with him I go back and forth checking on them every few minutes. They usually watch fresh beat band in the am!

Message edited 1/29/2014 10:02:06 AM.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

night before:
Bottles are filled with water (day care mixes them with powder there) and they are put in his day care bag with any food that does not need to be refrigerated. If we are due to bring in more diapers, etc, they are either in the car or by the front door ready to go. On sunday nights his big bag is filled with his sheet, blanket, boppy cover, bibs for the week, etc and is ready to go by the door.

Daily.
Our routine has changed soooo much each month as he has started doing new things.

when he first started daycare at 12 weeks...
I showered while he slept or gave him a bottle then showered while Dh watched him. Then he sat in RNP (then graduated to bouncer, then graduated to exersaucer) in our room while I dried my hair, got dressed and did make up while DH was showering and getting ready too). Then I dress him and out the door we go.

NOW that he is mobile and knows better it is tricky. I try to shower before he wakes, then he feeds himself his bottle in our bed while I sit on the bed and do my hair and DH showers. Once his bottle is done, he wants us to play, read, pick him up. We try to make him play in his own, in our room, or in the hall on the floor and he just goes back and forth between with his books, etc . while we finish getting ready. Then I dress him and we leave.

Either way, I wake at 7ish and leave the house between 8:10 and 8:20.

IT's EASY IN THE BEGINNING WHEN THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING!!!!!!

Message edited 1/29/2014 9:44:47 AM.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

It was so much easier when DD was that young. Now she's 2.5 and mornings are torture. I wake up at 5:45 to leave by 7:30 the latest. I'm late everyday. I pack up lunches the night before so I just have to throw it in a bag and go. Clothes are all picked out in advance. I actually have an organizer in DDs closet that I put clothes and a diaper in for every day of the week. Pack the bags as much as you can the night before too.

Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

as everyone said, do what you can the night before
i would prepare dds bottles, my lunch and whatever she needed for daycare at night
i also dressed dd at night...at that age she was in sleep n plays, so i put a fresh one on before bed so when she woke it was just a quick diaper change and feeding.
in the morning, i would get up at 6:30 to shower, i would nurse her around 7 and we would be out the door by 730

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

This is our morning routine - DS is 20w

6am - wake up. DH also gets up to work out
6:15-6:50- pump.
7-7:30 - shower and get dressed. DH eats bfast
7:30-8 - I eat bfast and get everything ready (make bottles if I didn't the night before, make sure everything is in his diaper bag, my work bag and my pump bag). DH showers
8am or so - out the door.

DS can wake up anytime between 6-7:30. Whom ever isn't in the shower is the one who gets him up and dressed. If he wakes up at 6 I nurse him instead of pumping. Sometimes he'll fall back asleep in his crib. For the days he doesn't, I bring him downstairs and put him in his rnp with a blanket and a toy. He's cool hanging out there for the rest of time and will typically fall asleep right as we're getting ready to leave lol. If he doesn't nurse at 6 then he probably already woke up around 4 and nursed. Regardless he'll be ok until 8:30 or so and will have a bottle at my mom's or at daycare.

Sounds hectic, and it is, but it works for us right now.

Message edited 1/29/2014 10:50:46 AM.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

An hour.

I did everything for day care the night before.

When she woke, I got her ready, then put her in a bouncy seat or papasan chair or something in the bathroom while I showered and did my thing.

Day care gave her a bottle for breakfast there. She was formula fed.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

when DS was that little it was harder to get out the door because his schedule was out of whack... once we started going to daycare regularly it got easier. I put everything together the night before.

Now at 2 years 10 months its a breeze for us... take everything out night before. Wake up and give him milk. I change and get ready, change him, walk out the door. half hour total time from wake up to in the car

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Thank you all so much for sharing your routines. it's definitely giving me ideas of how I can strategize. I know it'll take time for us to get into a groove but this is an awesome help to get started!! I think I will survive after all

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

45 minutes. Everything is packed and laid out night before. If she doesn't get up for a 430am bottle I get dressed then get her up. I change her diaper, then cuddle while I give bottle. Get her dressed then I put her in her highchair with some Cheerios while I start the car and make sure dog and cats are fed. The first month was tough falling into a routine but now its like second nature.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

I give myself 2 hours from the time I get up to the time I get out the door.

And since so much happens last minute with the kids, I feel like that still isn't enough time. Sure, I'M ready, but last minute diaper changes, melt downs, coats, hats, boots, etc. It takes a while just to actually get out the door.

Best bet...shower BEFORE the baby wakes up. Without a doubt, you will feel so unorganized the first few weeks. But you get into a groove a find what works for you. But preparing as much as you can the night before is key.

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Any time from Fri-Sun. I get my kids outfits ready--every part of it down to the matching hair clip!!LOL!

I also pick out my clothes the night before-sometimes getting 2-3 outfits ready for the week.

I empty/fill daycare bag within the
first 1/2 hour of arriving home--remove old bibs, fill the bag with any necessities that they will need---if I don't do this immediately, I always forget something.

I place all bags near front door or load what I can in the car the night before.

My DH used to fill the bottles w/water before he left for work which was helpful.

thankfully, daycare provides breakfast. If they didn't I think my morning would be crazy!!! I also will give my oldest a 'snack' occasionally and my littlest a bottle if LO woke up too early.

I get up early enough so that I can get ready before they get up---on occasion, this is not always the case!!! But, I go with the flow and all gets done!!!

You will be fine and I didn't feel it was that hard of an adjustment!! Good Luck!

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Like others have said...I do as much as I can the night before. I pack up DS's bottle bag; snacks/meals. Replenish the diapers and wipes in his diaper bag; add a new change of clothes (if he needs a new set).

Our mornings are as follows:

6:15 I shower
6:30 Iron my clothes/make-up (DH is dressing DS during this time)
6:45/7ish nurse DS
Out the door by 7:15.

I would really save time if I ironed my own clothes at night but I already feel like my evenings are just in prepartion for the next day so I save myself that 15 minutes at night!

Re: Getting ready in the morning (to get to daycare/work)

Posted by anonymous20

I empty/fill daycare bag within the
first 1/2 hour of arriving home--remove old bibs, fill the bag with any necessities that they will need---if I don't do this immediately, I always forget something.

I place all bags near front door or load what I can in the car the night before.