Controlling Morning Battles

First, i wouldn't reinvent the wheel. If he is used to the sticker chart, and it works, whats the harm in adding a couple categories? 1. Get myself dressed... etc.

Second, don't make the coat a battle. Carry it to the car and let him feel the chill... he will likely ask for it.

I walked my daughter into her kindergarten class once in a short skirt, tank and sandals... in February, when it was in the teens outside... Just to tell her teacher "yes, I was aware of the temperature, and no, I wasnt a neglectful mother... i was prooving a point through natural consequences." This outfit was my daughter's favorite, and she wanted to wear it everyday. We fought over it everyday. No matter where I put it she found it and would put it on for school. On this morning I said nothing, but simply got in the car. At the end of the day she walked straight to her room, changed clothes, and then brought me her outfit and asked me to hide it real well and to give it back when it was warm weather.

The other thing i thought of was a cape. Maybe he likes superman... ? Buy or make him a cape he would WANT to wear... easy to wrap around him for short trips to and from the car. You can put fun pockets in it to hide little toys for the grocery store... (and some to stick a hat and gloves in) that would make bundleing up fun.

Last, I think he needs a visual chart for morning routine. Cut out pictures and paste them on a clockface made out of posterboard or in a checklist format. Have him work through it for stars or checks each morning. Prep him the nigh before..."when I wake you tomorrow morning I need to see you...." Let HIM tell you all the things that have to be done before school...go over the list together before bed each night for a few weeks. You might not think he would remmber, but in the morning, you can hand him his list or remind him to look at it. Laminate it and give him a crayon to check off.... give him control of getting himself ready.

Have you tried taking him to preschool in his PJ's with his teeth unbrushed and no coat? It works wonders I hear. Be sure to tell his teacher/school that this is an issue in the mornings and that this is what you are going to try. You wouldn't want to get "reported" for neglect, lol. I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time they've seen it. But I bet your son would be a little more motivated in the mornings.
Let him choose to not do those things before he leaves the house, but he still leaves the house, that is NOT optional.
Good luck.

You could try a rebus chart with him. Have him involved with making it, every step of the way. A rebus chart is a picture chart showing what needs to be done in what order. Have him help you find the pictures online...or better yet..take pictures of HIM doing the things, print them out (just on regular printer paper works, or upload them to Walgreen's/Target or whatever is close...a few cents each and you can pick up later that day or whenever). Tooth brushing, getting clothes on, getting outerwear on, eating breakfast, etc. Then have him help you assemble the chart. What order do these things go in? What order does HE want to do them in?

Make it into a big chart that he can follow, maybe even use wipe off pens on to check off each day is he needs to? (like laminate with clear contact paper).

Maybe getting HIM involved in the entire process will help? A project for you both to do together...and a way for him to structure his morning.

I do this with preschoolers in my home childcare for all sorts of things (recipes, hand washing instructions, a breakdown of our day, etc). Some kids need the structure, some just like to check things off, or feel "grown up" enough to have their own schedule to follow.

Good luck!

I have morning battles with my 4 1/2 year old daughter when it's time to get ready for preschool in the morning. I also have my daughter sleep in her clothes because it is too difficult to have her get dressed in the morning. I tried a special princess reward chart and gave her choices of two different outfits but it almost always ended in a tantrum. I also sent her to school in her pajamas a few times but that didn't phase her either. I put an alarm clock in her room to help wake her up and for the first 2-3 mornings she would jump right out of bed to turn it off. I still set the clock but she ingores it and sleeps right through it. The first time it goes off I hit the snooze and turn her lamp on and tell her that it will be time to get up soon. The second time it goes off I hit the snooze and turn her overhead, bright light on and tell her that the next time her alarm goes off it is time to get up. The next time her alarm goes off I go in and make her get up - most of the time this doesn't go well. I try to be cuddly and sweet with her but she's not usually ready to get up and she's pretty grumpy most mornings. I've tried putting her to bed earlier but I can't make her go to sleep. All she has to do is brush her teeth and put her shoes on and we have a hard enough time getting her to do that. If she refuses to brush her teeth in the morning then I take something special away from her for one day and she isn't allowed any sweets that evening (not that she gets a lot of sweets anyway). The other day she refused to brush her teeth in the morning and I told her that nobody would want to be around her because she had stinky breath. I told her that I had stinky breath too and that I was going to go brush my teeth so my breath smelled better and when I came back to check on her she was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. Going to the bathroom is something I don't force my daughter to do in the morning. Most mornings she doesn't use the bathroom before she goes to preschool. She doesn't have accidents so this battle is not worth fighting over and I just let her have control over this issue. Putting socks and shoes on is a huge deal for my daughter. Just the mention of even having to put socks and shoes on can send her over the edge. We put socks on the night before and she has to put her shoes on in the morning. We started rewarding her with quarters every time she cooperates when asked to put her shoes on and brush her teeth. If she refuses or throws a tantrum then she doesn't get anything. On Saturday we get to go to the store and she gets to pick something to spend her money on. At the end of the first week she had $3.50 to spend and she was able to pick out some $1 Tinkerbell toys. I helped her count the money out when it was time to pay. She was so excited and after her first trip to the store to buy something she's motivated to cooperate and earn more money. This is also a great way to teach your child about money. Eventually we'll have to phase this out or at least move on to earning money for bigger chores instead of things that she should already be doing but it's helping us right now.

i have three little ones, and if it's something that has been or may be a "battle", i give two choices(both are acceptable to me). give yourself plenty of time, put him to bed in his pjs so he can get used to doing what needs doing in the morning... say "okay, johnny, it's time to get dressed. would you like to dress yourself or would you like me to dress you?". if you don't get a response, dress him. same with brushing teeth. don't let not doing it be an option. he'll eventually want to be a big boy and do this stuff himself. i'd just get stern that these things are going to occur every morning, you can do it the baby way or the big boy way.