AS FAMILIES get ready to 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. In London, that figure jumps even more, with kids in the capital taking the longest to get into the car, making parents 18 minutes late on average.

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.

London children are the most likely to make their parents late for work, with 16 per cent of Londoners reporting that they are late every day because of the morning routine. As a result, London parents are also the most likely in the UK (25 per cent) to dread the daily task of bundling their loved ones into the family vehicle.