Mum puts children to bed wearing next day's clothes and says it 'works wonders'

The morning routine can be a nightmare for sleep-deprived parents as they attempt to get everyone up, dressed, fed and out the door.

Mum-of-two Lisa Lamond, a star of Australian renovation show House Rules, revealed her rather unusual trick to save time in the mornings as she shared the parenting tips she wishes she had know beforehand.

The before-school routine can prove particularly difficult for the mum and her husband Adam, as their two young daughters, Arabella, 3, and Ruby, 2, strive for independance.

“My daughters like to dress themselves from head to toe,” Lisa told Whimn . “On days I’m working in particular, I don’t have a spare hour while they pull up one sock.

“So the best piece of advice I’ve been given is to dress your kids the night before in the clothes you want them to go out in.”

The next day she simply wakes them up, changes their nappy, puts on their shoes and they head out of the door, adding: “It works wonders for me and where I’m at in life at the moment.”

Lisa also recommends negating the hassle of the weekly shop with two young children in tow by taking advantage of online supermarket delivery and says she always leaves Sunday as a family day to spend quality time together.

As well as mornings, bath times are often challenging, with Lisa describing them as ‘the bane of my existence’.

Using her negotiating skills, the mum and her offspring came to the agreement she could wash their hair if they were allowed to fill the bath with slime. Seems fair.

With one of her daughters becoming attached and struggling with having to go to kindergarten, Lisa says she devised a morning and evening routine, printed out with words and pictures to follow along, helping the little one to preempt what’s to come when she’s feeling anxious.

She also urged fellow parents not to compare themselves to others, admitting at one stage she wouldn’t go out because she thought she couldn’t control her daughters and felt embarrassed.

“We all have our own pace and ways of coping,” she added. “But I got over it and learned how to diffuse the situation.”