Parents spend four days of the year getting their children out of the house and into the car

AS FAMILIES start the morning routine once again, parents will spend four days of the year getting their children out of the house and into the car twice a day, according to new research from SEAT.

Time spent on the daily routine makes almost a third of parents (30 per cent) late for work at least once a week, with mums and dads a daily average of 11 minutes late because of troublesome tots.

The additional time spent is mostly taken up by children taking too long to put shoes and coats on before heading out of the door.

Parents report that toddlers aged between two and three are the worst culprits when it comes to getting into the car quickly and easily, with nearly half (47 per cent) agreeing that the ‘terrible twos’ are the most difficult to marshal.

The job of getting children out of the house and into the car adds, on average, 20 minutes to the routine while one in 14 families reported it takes up to 40 minutes longer to start their morning journey since having kids.

Among the other most likely things to make leaving the house difficult are the task of getting children strapped into seats in the car, last-minute toilet trips and struggling with the large amount of child-related paraphernalia that need to be loaded into the car for each trip.

Incentives offered to children to try and smooth the process of getting under way are common tactics used by parents, with more than a quarter admitting that they offer sweets, favourite music being played