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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Girl I just went through this last year, I feel you. My husband was out the door around 7, I had a newborn, 4 yr old and 6 yr old. It took us a couple of weeks to figure it out. My 4 yr old was reaaaally difficult - combination of anxiety/adhd where she got angry if she felt rush but took forever to do anything, but she insisted on being the one to choose her clothes otherwise it was war. My 6 yr old wasn’t so controlling but probably also has some elements of adhd. I feel you on having to stay on them to stay on task. My nanny arrived at 9, and bus came at 8:10, plus 4 yr old was in preschool.

In my case I could have had the nanny come earlier - and I was on maternity leave so she only came a few hours to help around house / watch baby. But I felt silly and wanted to give it a shot. It turns out my third baby was the chillest baby ever (is yours?) and my 6 yr old was super helpful (interacting with the baby, bouncing the bouncer). We missed the bus for like 2 weeks and I had to load everyone in the car for two separate drop offs lol…but then we finally got a routine down. I learned to time feeding the baby a bottle of pumped milk (nursing took too long) to when the kids were eating breakfast - so I’d follow them around to ensure they got dressed and brushed teeth while holding the baby, and helped them get breakfast before feeding. Feeding was the last thing we did before we walked to bus stop; and then after bus stop we hopped in car to daycare. Once I went back to work I left the baby at home w nanny before I dropped off big kids. I felt like I lived a whole day before I even sat down to my computer.

I had a winter baby and we’re in Chicago, so I had one of those car seat blankets that tucks inside and a car seat cover. Thank god for the stroller that clicks on and off with the car seat! I have fond memories of hauling her into daycare and having 10 little faces peeking at the baby - she was always asleep.

Now my third just turned 1 and I still mostly do morning routine by myself, but now my 5 and 7 yr old ride the bus together - game changer![/quote]

OP here, thank you, this is helpful! Right now I pump and get ready at 6am if the baby is sleeping (because to your point nursing takes too long while I’m getting the kids out the door), before the other kids wake up and the baby gets pumped milk for the feed around the time my oldest leaves for school.

6yo simply requires a lot of supervision and reminders to stay on task. He is impacted by his adhd, and on a weekend slower timeline, he can get up and get dressed and eat in a leisurely timeframe. Not the case on weekdays where I have 45 minutes to get him woken up, fed, dressed, cleaned up and out the door.

Dont know yet if #3 is chill (less than a month old) but #2 is.

To the people snarking about how this isn’t so hard and it’s not hard with hired help, my nanny requires a lot of micromanaging which is one of the reason our childcare setup needs to change. One of the reasons we have kept her this long is because she can accommodate early hours, which is helpful bc DH works early. I am on mat leave but when I am not, I am still the one doing a lot of the work to get the kids out the door and she will not be able to handle the transition to 3 kids. I’m managing fine with the small extra help she provides in the morning, but expect I will need to hire a different nanny, and most cannot get here as early as our current sitter. I’m also not complaining - I’m asking for tips I may not have considered. If I hire a new nanny id be solo in the early morning, and trying to get a sense of tips to make it work smoothly. And yes, I do have a first child “problem,” though I wouldn’t call him a problem. He has adhd and requires more scaffolding and accommodations to get out the door at 6 years old than a neurotypical child. [/quote]

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