Who to wake up first?

amykins1283

I am starting back to work in August.  I am trying to wrap my head around the logistics of getting two kids (baby and preschooler) and myself ready and out the door by 7:15 every morning.  

I am not sure which child I should wake up first.  I am planning on getting up at 5:15 to get myself ready and then waking one kid at 6:00 and the other at 6:15 or 6:30.  DS1 is not the most cooperative child first thing in the morning and DS2 needs time to have a bottle.  DS2 will eat breakfast at daycare but also likes to eat something first thing in the morning so I will have to leave time for a small snack.  My commute is only 3-5 minutes total to get to work/daycare (same place) so eating in the car isn't really feasible for us.  I'm thinking I will offer him a banana or muffin.

So, who do I wake up first?  DS1 who will need to get dressed, brush teeth, and eat and who will probably be grumpy about it, or DS2 who will need me to sit down and feed him which takes about 15 minutes?  

I'm probably over thinking this whole thing but I HATE being rushed and frazzled first thing in the morning so I am trying to have some sort of plan in place before I go back.   

ThePolishHammer

I would probably feed DS2 his bottle and then wake up DS1.

LittleFish1

Can you do a couple of practice runs now (before you go back) and try it both ways? That would give you a better idea of how it would go with each child and your time estimates. This is what has worked fairly well for us.

littlemermaid

It might be easier to feed the baby first and then put him in a swing so you can tend to DS1 since it sounds like DS1 needs more time to get going. I would do a couple trial runs and see how it goes.

wino2006

I would probably wake up DS1 first-have clothes laying out ahead of time so he can get himself dressed and have juice and a banana sitting out for him. Give him time to do this. I wouldn't push it. I would wake him and then go feed the baby and then check back in with him to help and make sure he is getting up. I would get yourself completely ready before waking them too.

jlw2505

When I had little ones, I would get myself totally ready and then get the baby up and give her a bottle and get her dressed and totally ready and she would go into the bouncy or swing or something along those lines.  I would then get older DD up and get her dressed.  It only took me about 10-15 mins to get older DD dressed and be ready to get out the door.  We also only had about 5 mins max to daycare and I would still give her something small to eat in the car if she was hungry or she would eat it right when she got to daycare (they were OK with this and actually suggested it as it helped a lot of the kids settle into the day and they had a list of what was OK to bring in or had crackers ready for the kids).  If you think your older DD will wake up first or must eat at home, I would get older one up first and get dressed and then have him eat his snack while you get the baby dressed and feed a bottle. 

 As the kids get older, this will just work itself out.  My older DD has been getting up 1st for ages but she can now get herself ready and younger DD needs a little help still so it works great.