Tips for getting up and out with a toddler.....

[StillForest]

OK, I feel like the biggest loser posting this topic .....but I'm just having the worst time getting myself and my 19 month DD out the door in the morning (DH leaves at 5:30 AM so no help there...). I've never been good at this...but we entered the "No No No" stage of toddler resistance the past couple weeks and everything has gotten exponentially more difficult.

How do you organize your toddler and tasks so that you can get out on time? I would be tremendously appreciative of any tips you may have. I am sick of being a frazzled AM Mama. :

TIA!

StillForest :

[QueenSheba'sMom]

I like to think of running as a game. My 18 month old loves to run. So everywhere we go I scream "run!" and we take off.

...at least until I got knocked up...

I do as much as I can before she wakes up. I try to have everything lying out strategically. I give her her choice whenever possible, make games out of what I can, let her do everything so she doesn't feel left out

...and in between, the running...

my goal is to stop the no's before they come

so far they haven't errupted, and she's been decisively no'ing for a month or two now. but, when she does have a difficult day whhhooooooo can it be hard.

When she is difficult I tend to just do everything myself and go about what we need to do, whether she's complaining or not. no empty threats. no words except explaining what i'm doing now and what i'm about to do (eg. I'm putting you in your seat so we can go to school). gentle touches and kisses when possible.

but i wouldn't necessarily say my way is the best way. just a way. that works for me.

[Nik's Mommy]

Well, this is what we do.

The night before I lay out the clothes he is wearing and any other things I may need to take to daycare that day.

We have to be out the door by 6:20am. I get up at 5:15am and get myself ready. Including eating b'fast. I even dish out Nik's b'fast and have that ready. (The daycare will let him eat b'fast there, but they found he wasn't eating, cause he wanted to play witht the other kids.... so I started feeding him at home.) At 5:55 to 6:00am I wake Nik up. Poor little guy.....I hate waking him up...... he is still waking up when I place him on the change table. I get his Pj's off and his new diaper on. Then I get him dressed. This is usually done in 5 minutes. Then I ask him if he would like some milk. He usually "wakes up" at that point, all excited. We go downstairs he gets milk and I start to help him with his b'fast. By 6:15 we are ready to get shoes and his jacket and away we go. Poor kid is out of the door 20 minutes after he woke up.

When he gets upset, for one reason or another, I try to stop it by distraction, as soon as possible. This morning he didn't want to eat.... but I gave him a fork to play with, and he ate real well after having the fork. Or a container of cheerios for the ride..... he like the chance to carry it outside.

Every kid is going to react different. Good luck! I hope the frazzling stops for you soon.

[geekmom]

Oy vey, totally my life. I have 2 toddlers, a baby and a 5 year old to get out the door. The 5 year old is finally pretty self-sufficient. I set up his breakfast for him and get him on the bus.

The toddlers and baby are a DIFFERENT story. The hardest thing I've had is getting everyone changed and dressed since they all want to either do everythign themselves or want to breakdance when I'm trying to get the clothes on. What I've done is come up with a game for each difficult part of undressing/dressing.

For getting the pjs off I tickle their tummies. I keep coming at them with my tickly fingers until I can get to their tummies. If either child says, "no" I just leave them and go do somthing else, usually they're more willing to have me help by then. Clothes going over the head is peekaboo. Then for pants I look in the pant leg and keep saying that "I'm looking for tickly toes, where are the tickly toes?" I act very upset and do big facial expressions. Usually they then show me the toes and let themin the pants. When they come through I act very happy and kiss them. Everything's very dramatic and quick so they're mostly watching me instead of whining or complaining. I tend to also sing through the getting dressed period. I guess it's kind of more of a vaudeville act than some people want to put on in the morning, but it gets everyone dressed and ready to get out rather quickly.

[joanie]

I can totally relate to this. I only have one child and he is 4 y.o., but I still struggle with this.

Definitely get yourself totally ready first. Everything finished, packed ready to go, as much as possible.

I also sometimes resort to dressing ds while he's asleep. (He sleeps in long john type PJ's, and in the winter, I can just pull his clothes on top.) Socks, shoes, everything except coat (unless we're leaving immediately, and then I'll do the coat, too. ) I know this is harder with a child still in diapers.

I think one of the hardest things is anticipating the time it will take. If you don't allow lots of time, all kinds of things can come up that will slow you down. (You know what I mean: leaky diapers, drinks spilled on shirts, boo boos that require major comfort, etc.) But at the same time, it feels terrible to drag your little one out of bed any sooner than necessary.

I could use some extra tips, myself.

[joanie]

oops

[Indigomama]

I feel your pain. You definitely need to find where the battles are and eliminate them as best as you can.

Like dressing.... a common trouble spot. I'm almost embarrased to admit this, but I used to dress ds at night before he went to bed, and sometimes he went into day care with pj's on, and sometimes he went into day care with the same clothes from yesterday. I just gave up, because for four or five months I literally couldn't get out the door. He's 2 1/2 now... he's fine... got over it.

And thankfully, everyone at his day care knowing his stubborn personality didn't seem phased by it either

Everything else... in the car the night before except lunch/drinks, which were already packed in a bag in the fridge that I could grab and go. I leave shoes/coat/socks in the car to dress when we get to day care, as by that time, he's so happy to get out, he'll do anything.... and we live up north in the cold... that's why we have garages

[StillForest]

Thank you!

Thanks so much for all your replies and all of the good ideas. I have to get much more organized than I've been.

This week I'm going to get more serious about making her lunch and snacks the night before and keeping as much in the car as I can.

I'm finding that music helps us a great deal. I've been putting on tunes in the livingroom and I can dress her while she dances around I'm also doing more of a vaudeville style/running routine. Music, motion, and humor all help.


I'm glad to hear that this stage will/might pass ;-)

[Chelly2003]

My mornings are pretty fast.....

My DH leaves at 5:30, between that time and 6:30am - I get everything together and get dressed myself.
I then wake up ds, and get his little lazy butt dressed IN BED. Then its potty time, I wash his face etc... while he is sitting on the pot (he can't run away) then we grab our stuff and out the door by 7am!