Please share your 3yo morning getting ready routines because holy h*** I’m exhausted

[christiandad]

@newby1985 Interesting. This works (for us) for food too. Sometimes if my kid is screaming at dinner that he doesn’t want his food I will put a small piece of cheese or bread (more desired foods) on the plate and he will eat it and just keep reaching for the real dinner afterwards.

 

[danyyyy101]

@christiandad We call these “gateway foods”! It is a thing for us too.

 

[liveforandlovechrist32]

@eeasuper Yes! Something I did with my LO is creating bingo cards of things he had to look for on the walk to the bus/bus ride. Each Bingo could be one item from the dollar store at the end of the week.

 

[eeasuper]

@liveforandlovechrist32 Oh I love that!!!

 

[priya12]

@eeasuper This is a cute idea!

 

[onefreespirit]

@priya12 Ms Rachel did an Instagram post where she said that the clothes her son wears to bed are the clothes that he wears to school the next day. We’ve tried this and our 2.5 year old really likes it (and it’s much less stress for us). I know she’s going to bed in clean and comfy clothes and the next day we don’t have to deal with picking out clothes & getting changed (aside from a diaper change) before we leave the house. Before bed, she’s happy to get in clean & comfy clothes again. I hope this works for a long while for us because it just makes it easier all around.

I do put her hair up and her shoes on while she’s eating breakfast usually because shoes on right before we leave is super stressful for her (and then me too!) and she’ll only let me put her hair up when she sees the benefit (like she doesn’t want to get yogurt in her hair).

 

[heinz]

@onefreespirit Agree to this. My son was the same way, took forever to get him dressed in the mornings and it turns out he is sensitive to certain clothing textures and is particular about what he wears. I gave up the fight and just let him wear pj pants to daycare and tried to make sure he’s at least in clean clothes. Also this age I found to be hard for getting out the door to daycare just… in general. Even though we had a solid routine.

My son would also get upset if I opened the door first, did anything before him when we left the house - meltdown city. Then once he was able to better articulate what was going on, it became clear he had anxiety separating from me because daycare means separating from mom. But once he’s there he’s fine. it’s just a tough one to deal with. Now that he’s 4 I’ve noticed getting out the door isn’t so bad. We still do the tomorrow clothes thing!

 

[rprimus]

@onefreespirit Yes, this has been amazing for us! I was so surprised and sad when people attacked her for it in the comments.

 

[ayryil]

@onefreespirit Ok we’ve been having this problem for two weeks, and I kind of jokingly said we should try this….but if Ms. Rachel does it….I’m willing to try anything at this point.

 

[harrypotter]

@onefreespirit We do this and it destressed mornings so so much.

 

[kelldobs]

@onefreespirit I want to do this but she is always a mess after breakfast. Oatmeal is her favorite but she ends up covered in it.

 

[denalea]

@kelldobs Have you tried one of those long sleeve shirt bibs? They look like they have a lot of coverage. Not sure if your kid would be a fan but it could be worth a shot

 

[hannah2000]

@onefreespirit This sort of happened by accident for us once we switched the crib to a bed. My daughter would wait for us to leave the room and then change her clothes by herself! I can never get her to dress herself in the morning but if she wants to do it by cover of night, by all means.

When she first started doing it I would change her in the morning but now I don’t bother, she is dressed. I just add some weather appropriate touches if needed.

 

[onefreespirit]

@hannah2000 That’s awesome!!!

 

[faizahamed]

@priya12 Sometimes including her in the routine rather than making her the product of it can help! Or at least that’s what I’ve found with our daughter around the same age.

Offer two pairs of pants. Which one does she want to wear? Same with shirts, socks, shoes, etc. Giving her a bit of control can help her want to be a bit more compliant.

Have her help pack her snack and water bottle in her bag, etc. it might not be as time efficient as if you were to just to do it all, but it can help ease the resistance and conflict at every step of the routine, which is what I find mentally draining.

 

[sscablao]

@priya12 I use our neighbor across the street who goes to the same school and says she’s going to beat us if we don’t go.

Lol works 90% of the time. The other “that’s okay she can go first.

I can usually temper by also saying, if we leave early, I can read books to her in the car - or she can pick the music in the car.

I’ve only had to drag her kicking and screaming 2x.

 

[ginger18]

@sscablao That's great, lmao. I use that with my older when he doesn't want to go upstairs to take a bath... hey, number 2 will beat you number 1... this approach has a very high success rate.

 

[cutin]

@ginger18 Be careful, the book Siblings Without Rivalry (how to talk authors) specifically warns against setting siblings in competition with each other, even for harmless things like getting dressed, going upstairs.

Their twist on the technique (because kids of this age LOVE competition) is to have them get in competition collaboratively against something else, like a timer or a parent.

 

[ginger18]

@cutin Thank you for the warning and the suggestion.

 

[sscablao]

@ginger18 It works great for a lot of things.

I do wonder if I’m making her too competitive. She loves to be the leader but will usually offer someone else a turn if I gentle remind her.

Riding bikes? She’s gotta be first.