- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Houston Babies
Preschool age moms - getting ready in the morning
Please tell me any tips you have for getting a 3 year old motivated to get ready quickly in the morning... or commiserate with me! We have an almost daily struggle getting ready to leave to go to MDO, the library, etc. DS1 wants to play all morning and drags each task of getting ready out to as long as it can possibly take. I am at my wit's end, and I hate the person I become in the morning. I do my best to be patient, to talk about us having good teamwork to make it on time, and to say things like "let's see how fast we can brush our teeth", etc. It doesn't help that DS2 gets fussy and needs a nap about 30 minutes before we need to leave, so I get more stressed. Ugh!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Preschool age moms - getting ready in the morning
Our situation is a little different as we have to get out the door much earlier in the morning for daycare than we would for MDO. However, I found the key is to get as much done immediately after wake up and before play. So before O can go downstairs to his toys he has to potty and get fully dressed. Then when we get downstairs he has to eat breakfast first thing and then brush teeth. After that he's allowed to play. That makes it a lot easier than trying to remove him from play to convince him to go brush teeth. In order to get out the door I've found that if I let him pick a toy to bring with him he's more eager to go. He'll grab his toy, come put on shoes, and we're out the door.
This doesn't mean our morning is without battles. Some mornings he decides he doesn't want to get out of bed or he doesn't want to potty right away. But he knows he can't go downstairs until that's complete so he eventually relents.
When A was in preschool I used to have to leave the house at 6:30am. It used to be a fight to get her awake and motivated to get dressed at all. I started waking her up 15 min earlier and letting her watch cartoons to wake up a little. She knew after the show was over we got dressed and brushed teeth and if she did it fast enough she could watch more until it was time to go.
Weekends were tough too b/c we would play in our jammies for so long that she didn't want to stop and get dressed. I did what the pp suggested in getting dressed right out of bed and it was so much better! I let her pick out her clothes the night before and they were laying on the chair waiting for her when she woke up.
Collin Thayne 10.11.2010
It can be tough with two. Sometimes we just eat breakfast in the car, like cereal bars or a banana. More often than not, I don't take a shower or put on makeup until after drop-off. We go to preschool every day and our target is to arrive by 8:30, but it's more like 8:45. One of them is usually up by 6:30 so that gives us plenty of time. But when they sleep much past 7 then I'm in trouble.
I usually give my 3yo a choice of two outfits and let her choose between them. All shoes and socks for both children are kept downstairs to make the logistics a little easier. I try to pack lunches the night before.
I feel like I'm always hounding Sarah to do something - go to the potty, put her shoes on, let me brush her hair, et cetera. It's maddening and I lose my patience with her all.the.time.
We started a sticker chart. It is too early to tell if it will be the solution. It seems to be helping during our problem times. Lucas likes to negotiate control (like dragging things out), even though he knows how to be a good cooperator.
How it works. We have a sticker chart that is a reward for good behavior. For example, staying in bed at night, going to sleep during nap time.
Stickers are little apple stickers that go on an apple tree.
Reminder stickers and penalties. When he goes to school, I give him a sticker for his hand that is a reminder to nap at school. At night, he gets two stickers to remember to stay in bed. If he fails to comply, he will lose a sticker. If the stickers remain on his hands (no infractions), then they translate to a sticker on the chart.
It is helping as his compliance (or lack there of) match his imagination and complex emotions. We'll see...
at this age...they're all about independence. And so I give her options "Do you want me to dress you or do you want to dress youself?" If she response, "dress myself!" Then I kind of do a reverse psychology and say "are you sure? do you know how to dress youself and do it fast for mommy to see??" She then has something to prove and tries to do things quickly. Same with putting on shoes...but it's more of a race on whole can put their shoes on the fastest and get outside.
I also try to remind her where we're going so she'll want to get their quicker (i.e. Macy's: Do you want to ride on the esculators??? If so, you better hurry up or we won't have time to do that...)
I have not had issue with Hannah getting ready--she's always been pretty easy. With Sam, we began with LisaK2b's method, and then we started a sticker chart to help him become more independent with the steps in the morning.
Plus, I am super strict about not letting them play with anything in the mornings until they're dressed, have eaten breakfast, and have brushed their teeth. That helps a lot.
lots of good advice above so i don't have much to add. i can say we often struggle with it, too-- esp the DS2 needing to take a nap about the time we are supposed to leave. luckily, DH can take him most mornings which helps.
we have had success using tv as reward. every morning he wants to watch DInosaur Train and he (now) knows he can't do it until he has eaten and is dressed. if he is all ready, he can watch a little bit of tv until we are ready to get out the door.
I wake DD up a little earlier than I need to...while I'm still getting ready. I ask her to use the bathroom, brush her teeth (I do it after she does still), and pick out her clothes. I have to stop and help here and there (taking off her nightgown, re-brushing her teeth) but we're ready about the same time in hte morning. Then we go eat breakfast together.
If I do wake her up later than usual, I dress her in her bed and then she uses the restroom and brushes teeth before anything else...I do it all while she's semi-sleepy. Hope it gets easier!
ETA: I only have one kid right now, so I'm not sure how it'll go with two, and we're getting ready for work and school in the morning (DH is already gone so he isn't around to help either).