What's your morning routine?

[lpoeppelman]

We have 4 children (2 under age 3) and I'd like to know what your morning routine is to get out of the hotel room quick in the a.m.

I've heard the zip lock baggies are a good idea, but I'm wondering how we will all get ready and out the door when I want. Even just getting all the sunscreen on everyone will be a nightmare! How do you approach these crazy mornings???

 

[mom2aredhead]

My best advice is to do as much as you can the night before...

lay out clothes, shoes for everyone, pack/restock park bag, charge camera, video camera, maybe even shower/baths the night before, schedule permitting.

I've also stopped at the CS place in our hotel the night before and grabbed a few yogurts and bananas for breakfast so we didn't have to go in the morning.

And I always put sunscreen on while waiting for the bus.

(Disclaimer though - I only have 1 child, so I am not speaking from the experience of doing this for a large group )

 

[pixiefairy]

I feel your pain...lol. I have 5. 4 of them are aged 6 and under. I am going to follow the ziploc idea, and I'm enlisting my dh and eldest son to help get the gang ready to go. I have several early mornings planned, so I'm going to need everyone's assistance. I'm going to bring quick breakfast foods (poptarts, granola bars, fruit bars, dry cereal) to eat on the road, then we'll pick something else up if we are still hungry. I have that spray on sunscreen and a portable sunscreen stick that will be coming with us. My main plan is to get as much together the night before. Pack my messenger bag and diaper bag.....get the kid's belongings together, so we can dress and go. I'm hoping that it goes as seamlessly in real life as it does in my head...

 

[Mirb1214]

So what exactly is the ziplock bag theory? I'm leaving in 27 days with 3 kids and I need as many time saving tips as I can find.

 

[momto2inKC]

The best thing to do is to have everything ready to go the night before. I always lay everyones clothes out, re-pack the backpack, check that everything is charged/has fresh batteries. We also do showers/baths the night before. It just makes getting out the door so much easier. If we don't have breakfast plans, we make sure we have something in the room for the next morning. I will usually run to the food court and grab some fresh fruit and cereal while the kids are getting ready for bed.

 

[mom2aredhead]

Ziploc Theory 101:

Pack a complete outfit - clothes, underwear, socks together in a ziploc bag. Some people even label them as to what day to wear them - especially if there's a special occasion or if they do matching t-shirts.

Every day, the kids can just grab a ziploc bag and put on what's in it - no searching for clothes that match or rummaging through suitcases or drawers.

Bonus: Packing this way (provided you squish the air out) also saves room in the suitcases.

 

[Coconuts]

I haven't heard of the ziplock bag trick. How do you fit a whole outfit in one bag? How big is this bag?

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Have everything ready the night before. All clothes layed out, give the kids a bath the night before, have diaper bag (if needed) packed and have everything neat. (Neatness is just me! LOL)

Divide and conquer with teh parents. One parent gets in the shower, other parent starts the kids out. Breakfast is in the condo. Cereal, oatmeal, waffles. Kids eat and parent eats.

First parent is done getting dressed. SEcond parents gets shower while first parent gets kids dressed and eats.

Second parent is done and out the door.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I haven't heard of the ziplock bag trick. How do you fit a whole outfit in one bag? How big is this bag?

Obviously dependsd on the age/size of the kid and whether you're packing shorts and a t-shirt or pants and a sweatshirt.

But for summer stuff, I can fit a complete outfit for my 4.5 year old in a quart size ziploc. The trick is to tightly ROLL everything rather than fold it. The rolling actually cuts down on some of the wrinkling too.

 

[Coconuts]

Thanks for the tip. I don't know how many of you can do this, but even on our good days we NEVER are at a park for the opening. My kids are just too pooped every day to be up at 6 or 7am. We consider it a victory if we are out and in the parks by 10am.

 

[Ashlander]

We do the ziploc bags. I love them. It keeps me from overpacking and I don't have to fight with kids over what they are going to wear. They pick a bag and put on the outfit

I'm always the one up first and then I'll get my husband up. After I am ready we tackle the kids together. I always put on sunscreen before I put on clothes. That way I don't miss any spots and it doesn't get on the clothes. After the kids are dressed with shoes on they will pick out what they want to eat...usually some sort of breakfast bar or drinkable yogurt.

Do you know what would be a big help some mornings...if my husband could fix girl hair

 

[james'mommy]

I always make sure the backpack is repacked and the pin trading lanyard is reloaded and the camera is packed. As much prepacking the night before. I've never used the ziplock thing but I only have 1 child and DH likes to chose his clothes and mix and match. I'm hardly ever in charge of dressing (unless it's for bed).

 

[TexasTodds]

When we went in January I didn't completely do the ziploc thing, but what I did that helped me was I got the big (2 1/2 gallon size) ziplocs and labeled one with each childs name and one each for DH and me. Then, in that bag I put each person's socks and underwear, and the kids PJ's also, and then when we were at the resort I was able to put those bags in the TV cabinet drawers, and be somewhat organized. I also designated two suitcases for the kids, and packed half of the clothes for each so that I only had one of the kids suitcases out and open in the room at a time. I also brought another suitcase just for shoes (I brought 2 pair for each of us so they could breathe each day!!) and left that in the closet area, along with ours. I will say at the moderates the sink area really is nice and large, which makes it very nice trying to get a group out the door in the morning.

I also agree with all of the prior posters about packing bags and setting out clothes the night before. The kids were so tired at night that once they were bathed, they quickly fell into such a deep sleep that we were able to move around and get things together without disturbing them, and THAT made mornings alot better!

If the kids did wake up before DH and I were ready, at least they could start getting the clothes on and just eat a banana or granola bar and relax. Not acting rushed (even if you really are) seems to be the key since kids do pick up on that.

 

[bartleby1]

We do the ziploc bags. I love them. It keeps me from overpacking and I don't have to fight with kids over what they are going to wear. They pick a bag and put on the outfit

I'm always the one up first and then I'll get my husband up. After I am ready we tackle the kids together. I always put on sunscreen before I put on clothes. That way I don't miss any spots and it doesn't get on the clothes. After the kids are dressed with shoes on they will pick out what they want to eat...usually some sort of breakfast bar or drinkable yogurt.

Do you know what would be a big help some mornings...if my husband could fix girl hair

This made me LOL! This is an ongoing argument in my family! I have an 8yr old girl and a 3yr old girl and DH still can't do a simple ponytail!


To the OP, we do the ziploc bags too. I use a gallon size for each kid and the big ones (2-1/2 gallons??) for me. DH doesn't use them. Works great though. Throw a bag at each kid and they can do the rest.

Also, I get up first and get myself ready. If mama ain't ready it just never works. We do breakfast in the room - granola bars, donuts, cereal, bananas, etc. That way, the kids can eat while we're getting everything ready to go. DD8 starts doing sunscreen on her legs and arms and we finish her up where she can't reach. She also helps doing sunscreen on the two younger kids. Last year was the first time for us without diapers, bottles, baby food, etc. and that makes a huge difference in time saved. However, when my kids were younger, I made sure the bottles were washed, made, and packed the night before. Also, I repacked the diaper bag the night before (diapers, baby food, snacks, LOTS and LOTS of wipes, etc).

Overall, the biggest time savers for us are the ziploc bags and eating in the room.

 

[jennifer293]

Here is what we do:

Kids are bathed the night before, hair is detangled, brushed and teeth brushed..Good Night little ones!!

I am the first one up ALWAYS!!!

I go take a shower, get dressed, fix hair and face (god help us all if I did not do this..lol).

I lay out the kids clothes

Lay out DH's clothes

Wake DH up and have him take his shower

Wake the kids and get them dressed, I apply sunscreen, then fix their hair and put on shoes.

DH gets dressed

We eat something for breakfast ..teeth get brushed again (nobody likes morning breath.. )and off to the parks we go!!!

 

[Elmo888]

Spray sunscreen is great! You still have to apply a lotion to their faces, but then just put them all in line and spray (I like the Neutrogena cool spray with helioplex).

 

[SplashMountainMama]

We never use the spray sunscreen at home, but we used it at Disney just for the ease of getting them all ready. We used the ziploc bags for our summer trips when we knew it would be hot everyday, but couldn't do it as easily when packing for our Feb. trip when we weren't sure what to expect for the weather. I do make sure everyone knows what they're wearing the night before so there's no questions/arguments in the morning. We do quick, easy breakfasts in the room. We don't always make it to the park right at opening, but we manage to get close enough that it's worth all the effort. We also try to have at least a couple of days where we aren't rushing to get to the parks right away just to balance out the early days and minimize collective grumpiness from lack of sleep (mostly me and DH!)

 

[Ratpack]

The ziploc bag things works great. We are a family of 5 and we lay out the day's clothes the night before and all kids have their bath the night before. I am usually the first one up and get a quick shower, then wake DW and the kids. DW gets ready while I make sure the kids are dressed. We always keep juice and snacks in the room for breakfast so every grabs those in the morning, usually as we are exiting the room, and they are done eating by the time the bus arrives. Sunscreen is usually applied at the bus stop or on the bus if using the lotion type. All in all, we are usually out the door within 30-45 minutes from waking up. But we do this everyday, even at home (except ziploc bags obviously), so it isn't much of a change for us.