Mom morning routines are so important to set the tone for the day. Here are some habits you can start now that’ll make your days peaceful.
I don’t know how more blunt I can be about this…
How you start your day really matters.
If you wake up anxious, that carries over with you until you’re discouraged and stressed much of the day.
If you wake up at peace, that gives you strength and clarity for much of the day.
While there is no One Size Fits All morning routine, you can find something personalized to fit your life. You will eventually tweak your morning routines. To do that, let’s look at the goal of good mom morning routines.
Read: The No Nagging Morning Routine For School (With Printable)
Do you struggle with starting the day feeling as though you’re already behind?
Honestly… this was a huge problem for me.
It still can be.
When I’m pregnant and Feeling All the Feels or in a super busy season, I wake up already annoyed with everyone because I feel that the day has started off somehow later than it should.
When I’m ornery in the morning I become these types of mom:
Morning Routines That Help You Get Ahead
If you are a Type a person, feeling behind or overwhelmed is enough to make you lose a grip on your emotions. Here’s how to find a good morning routine that’ll keep you feeling in control.
Think And Plan Ahead The Evening Before
We are behind if we wake up to kids begging for breakfast before we’ve put on our clothes, brushed our teeth, or even thought about the day ahead… This won’t matter from time to time, but it’s a slippery slope if it happens every day.
When I don’t keep in mind what needs to be done on a given day, nothing gets done.
Whether this be basic chores the little ones do or errands you need to run, there are things that need to happen and thinking it through the night before helps.
My best days and mornings come from a little planning the night before.
Read: A Stay At Home Schedule That’ll Keep You Sane
101+ 15 Minute Projects
In just 15 minutes a night (while you’re in your pajamas!) take your home (and heart and mind) from stressed out to organized.
Get a Jump Start To The Morning
Whatever you do, your mom morning routines should help you feel more prepared for the day.
Whether you need to get up two hours or 15 minutes before your kids is up to you… but having a few minutes of time to yourself can be the difference between a reasonable mom and an angry one.
Depending on what you like to get done before the kids wake up, you may do any of the following things:
- exercise
- read your Bible, journal, devotions, etc.
- eat breakfast
- shower and get dressed
- prepare the kids’ breakfast
- work from home
- sit in silence
- stare at the wall
- enjoy the peace and quiet of an empty house
- read a novel
Decide what you’d like to get done before the kids wake up raring for attention, then give yourself enough time to make that happen.
Remember, you’ll have to push through the first few days and weeks, but eventually it’ll become a habit.
Read: The Stay At Home Mom Routine That’ll Keep You Sane
How much earlier than the kids should you wake up each morning?
Short answer: it depends.
How early you need to wake up depends on how early you go to bed the night before, how much you actually need to get done, and what amount of alone time you require to be a happy enough mom.
When I used to wake up 2 hours earlier than the kids it actually was worse for me because I got into a deep work zone and had to stop. That made me cranky.
Eventually I realized that 30 minutes or so was much better than 2 hours for me personally, so you’ll have to decide for yourself what works.
Read: Common habits of organized stay at home moms
Get a Clear Morning Routine (And One for the Kids)
One of the biggest things I’ve found helpful in our home is this: not allowing children to come out of their rooms until we come to them.
Each child has to wait in their crib, bed, or room until their alarm clock shines green, at 7:30 a.m.
Requiring your kids (not babies, of course) to stay in their rooms until a certain time does a few things.
- It encourages them to sleep later because they know as soon as they open their eyes they can’t start their day. This prevents dreaded 5:30 a.m. wake ups from becoming a habit.
- Also, it prevents little ones from getting into trouble before you’re up. It is not safe for kids to wake up and be roaming around the house when you are asleep. If they are quiet and you are a deep sleeper, you may not even know they’re up! It goes without saying they could get hurt, go outside, and try to do any number of unsafe things. Requiring them to stay in their rooms until a certain pre-determined time helps.
This routine as well as a few others (some morning tidy up routines the kids do on their own) help our mornings stay on track. When we stray too far, things are chaos. When we keep routines in place – even if they change with regularity – we begin our days in peace.
Read: A Morning Routine For School You’ll All Love (With Printables)
What are your “sanity boundaries?” Start there.
If you’re an introvert with a house full of kids, you may need to wake up significantly earlier than your kids just to have some peace and quiet.
Are you an extroverted mom who loves being around others? You may only need a bit of time to get ahead of the early demands of the day.
Every mother is different, and many of our boundaries are as well.
Think about the things that you need to be okay. Here are some examples of some things mothers might want or need to feel at peace during her day.
- Time alone
- A tidy living area
- Meals planned out (maybe even thawed out or prepped)
- Lunches packed
- Work
- Household admin (bills, lists, grocery orders, automatic deliveries, etc.)
- Time alone with your spouse
- Drinking coffee
Take out your journal and prayerfully consider… what do you need done in the morning to be okay for the rest of the day… then do that!
Morning routines are truly helpful, just start where you’re at
For mom, morning routines really cement how the day will go. Starting off harried and behind leads to anxiety and stress.
Starting off the day enthused and at peace means… no matter what the day brings, you’ll feel in control and able to handle it.
Morning Routine FAQs
You’ll want to go easy at first. If you aren’t used to getting up early you may just hit the snooze button! I’d try waking up 20 minutes earlier than normal, and adding in something you enjoy. A nice cup of coffee or a devotional. After a few days, get up 15 minutes earlier and add another ritual in.
Typically you want to do things here that help take care of you and help you get ready for your day. Don’t add so much you get into “project mode” and resent your family for waking up. This may be self-care, getting ready, exercising, or even just sitting in silence.
You can write it down on a simple sheet of paper or even use some mom checklists. The key is to have a few things listed down you can refer to. Especially if you are half asleep. Keeping it in your phone may also work!
The key is to write down what you are currently doing and where you want to be. Write down the new routine you’d like to aim for, then keep it somewhere handy in the morning. Right by your alarm clock will work!
What is important is that you don’t start the day behind, feeling frazzled, resentful of your children for waking up, and in a bad mood. If a morning routine will help you get up, get in a good mindset, and get started on your day then it’s super important, yes!
101+ 15 Minute Projects
In just 15 minutes a night (while you’re in your pajamas!) take your home (and heart and mind) from stressed out to organized.
Yes, so many good tips! A friend just mentioned that she doesn’t get her toddler until a set time each morning. I was used to going to get my daughter the moment she woke up and realized now that she will quietly lay, rest, or play with her stuffed animals until I am ready to come get her at 7:00.
I’ve also heard so many places about getting up before your kids, so I started w/just 15 minutes before my LO wakes and just increased to getting up 45 min before and I love it! From a person who loves her sleep, I was surprised by how worth it it was.
I was also looking at this course the other day! With your coupon I’ll have to see if we can fit it in the budget so that I can participate!
Rachael, Yes even 15 minutes is freeing :) I hope you can join!
What if your toddler doesn’t play quietly in bed? Mine will call and cry for me until I come get him. It wouldn’t be so bad except we live in an apartment and I don’t want to wake the neighbors, and he wakes the baby. He’s always been an early riser. We’ve worked really hard to get him to sleep past 5:30, but now it’s 6-6:30. I give him a snack before bed. Any tips?
6 or 6:30 is definitely an improvement to 5! Some kids are just early risers, but that will extend later as times goes on and they get a bit older. How old is he? I’d say work with him on this. Talk to him over and over about how he can wake up and play quietly, put some soft toys in his crib or near his bed if he has a bed. I’d just focus on it for a bit. I totally know the feeling about going straight there because you don’t want to wake neighbors and you don’t want to wake the baby either! Does he room share with the baby?
This is just what I’ve been searching for to get some sort of order in our home. I stay home with our 3 kiddos ages turning-4-next-week, 2 and 5 months. So excited! Thank you, Rachel!!
Woohoo!
This is so perfect! Just what I need. I have 3 little ones ages 4, 3 next month and 5 months and I work full time nights and get home after they wake up and we just moved 1 month ago so everything is in chaos and I am trying to find a routine but really struggling.
Oh girl, you are in the thick of it! Yes we’ll be glad to have you :)
I love the idea of having some “me time” in the morning, but I’m a deep sleeper and do t notice when my kids get out of their beds in the early mornings and end up in my bed. How do I keep them in their rooms until 7:30am? I guess I wake up at 7am, if they are in my bed, take them back to their rooms until 7:30? (They do have their clocks that have the morning wake up colors.) I’m open to a few suggestions. Thank you ??
Crystal, that’s one way, yes! Another is to help figure out what it will take to keep them in their rooms until their clocks go off. To really work at it for a week or so with reinforcements and/or rewards for tracking progress. Once they “get the hang of it” they will do it easier. Now, mine do sometimes come out and do random things and I can reference the clock and they go back. Of course, you could have the wake up time be any time you choose, there’s no right or wrong time!
I love the article!
I’m a first time mom of a 6 month old, and just trying to figure out a good rhythm for the house. In order for me to get everything done in my morning routine (with a little ‘me time’), my baby would ideally be in her crib until 7am.
Right now she tends to wake up between 6:30am and 6:45am. I hate to admit it, but it’s just early enough to get under my skin, and as a result I am cranky all morning (as I’m barely getting sleep at night due to baby waking in the night).
Do you have any tips to keep a 6 month old in the crib an extra 15-30 minutes?
Jessica, I am with you on getting cranky. It’s all consuming to have little ones – so lovely but so all consuming – and often those extra 20 or 30 minutes really matter. If you go in when she wakes up and put a few stuffed animals or safe toys, will she play quietly? Is she sitting up yet? Also, when she wakes up does she immediately cry?
Hi,
As soon as my little one is awake. I turn the lights on with my handy, but dimmed and put some music on the Baby monitor. He (11 months) will stay around 15-30 minutes alone rolling and playing with his toys. We‘ve been doing this for months, in the beginning 10 minutes only, but now is totally ok. I habe the time to have a shower, make the bed, put cream and so on.
For awhile I woke up SO stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, exhausted. It was awful. My kids are now 7, 5, and 3, and It has gotten better. They play in their rooms together (semi-quietly) until I get up around 8. I feel bad because it’s at least an hour and when I get up they are “starving”! My biggest struggle is that I need 8-9 hours of sleep to feel okay, and once they go to bed it is hard to make myself go to bed. I just enjoy the peace and quiet so much. In the morning, even if I were to wake up at 6, my oldest daughter would hear me and sneak out of her room. I guess I need a wake up clock so she knows to stay there til a certain time….this would be so good for our family, although my husband is a night owl so the earlier I go to bed, the less I see him! So complicated!
You have to keep your own boundarise and if that means they play a bit before you serve them breakfast then you need that for our mental health. If you need 8 to 9 hours (I do!) and you only sleep 6 a night soon you’ll be mentally ill. No two ways about it. Keep doing what you have to do!
I guess I meant, if I could start the day peaceful and calm and “ahead of the game”, that would be good for our family. I am stuck in a cycle of stress and overwhelm that leads to depression and anger. Ugh!
I love your blog though!! It’s just hard to implement for me. I’m SO not Type A at all.
Kassia, I can see that, if you aren’t Type A at all then a lot of what I talk about can seem OVERWHELMING in itself. I’d recommend focusing on your one problem area, the one thing that isn’t’ working and that affects everyone, and work on that first :)
Hi there, how do I change my email address on your emails?
HI Carolyn, email cs@amotherfarfromhome.com and we’ll get your email all fixed :)
I struggle so much with a morning routine. I get into it for a couple days, and then something happens that I get off and loose the flow.
I know I feel better when I have time to wake up before my kids do. But thats unpredictable.
Going to be rereading this.
Jessica, you know what I’d encourage you to do? Find some things you already love to do in the mornings and do those just regularly. Taht way you aren’t adding a lot of things at once!
My kids are 6, 3, and 9 months. My oldest has always been an early riser. He will now wake up between 6-6:30am, an improvement for him! When he had his own room he would turn the light on, use the bathroom, and build legos until 7am (or later!). It was glorious, especially with a brand new baby and a 3yr old who naturally sleeps until 7 or later.
Now, 6&3 and together. My oldest has huge fears of being alone so he will not go into the playroom to build. Sometimes I’ll send him downstairs to do an activity that he likes. I can’t wake up before 6am and keep my sanity! But it’s hard to expect him to lay in the dark for upwards of an hour. This just ends up with me being so cranky to be up early and paranoid that the baby will wake up in our well-traveling sounds House. Any ideas?