A mum-of-eight has shared the hectic routine she goes through every evening to get her children fed and ready for bed – and it often needs to start as early as 4.30pm to get everything done.
Chloe Dunstan, from Perth, Australia, posts videos of the family of 10’s home life on YouTube, gaining more than 230,000 subscribers who follow them through their daily lives.
The mum had three children by the age of 22 with her husband Rohan, but in a whirlwind of a few years to follow they added triplets and then welcomed twins to bring the number to eight.
Chloe, now 27, recently shared a clip to show the family’s “night-time routine” which might inspire other parents to finally crack the evening struggle.
The stay-at-home mum begins preparing a pasta dinner for the family at about 4.30pm while the twins take their final nap of the day and her older children clear away piles of toys in the playroom to leave it spotless.
The kids then sit down to eat at about 6pm while she feeds the baby twins, with the mum explaining herself and Rohan will sometimes choose to eat later instead.
It’s then time for the children to all take it turns to have a bath or shower and change into a full set of matching pyjamas, while Chloe bathes the two babies in the sink.
(Image: Chloe Dunstan/Instagram)
Everyone then lines up to have their hair brushed and flock to the bathroom to brush their teeth before sitting calmly on the carpet for Chloe to read a bedtime story.
Once it’s over, they all head to bed where the older boys are allowed to carry on reading and Chloe puts the babies down, giving her and her husband an hour to relax together and get a bit of work done, before beginning all over again the next day.
The mum said: “It’s definitely gotten easier over the years with the night-time routine as all bar the twins can now dress themselves.
“With the triplets there for a bit when they were young, it was a lot of work.
“But I think with big families you have to do whatever works for you,” The Sun reports.
Do you have any tricks to make your children’s night time routine easier? Let us know in the comments.