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“Oh, if only this was easier!” Sighed every parent ever!
Parenting isn’t easy; from the moment you take the title of mom or dad, you begin a battle of wills with a little human who knows little and demands constant care. While parenting is a joy incomparable to any other, it’s also an exhausting and exasperating job. You will need parenting hacks that will make your life easier.
As much as we want to assume the little bundle of joy will grow into a lovely angel, more often than not, they grow into little terrors that we can’t believe came out of our bodies. As they get bigger, you will need more parenting hacks, basically, safety measures and more creative ways to accomplish routine daily tasks.
Parenting is hard, but necessity is the mother of invention was never more accurate than when you’re a mom. If you are asking, “How can I make parenting easier?” This article shares 14 parenting hacks that will make your life easier from myself and other moms who’ve been there before. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
8 Life-saving Parenting Hacks That Will Make Your Life Easier
Simple tasks aren’t so easy when you are dealing with children. Their cluelessness and hands that are still learning to hold tight onto things can leave a disaster in their wake. Try these handy parenting hacks at home for an easier time.
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#1 A Slide On the Stairs
Toddler and older children can be very restless, and sometimes you need something to keep them out of your hair for a few minutes. They also get bored very quickly and keep haggling for things to keep them entertained, especially when locked at home.
Make a slide for them on the stairs using sturdy carton boxes with pillows at the bottom. Children love the thrill of slides; this is bound to keep them entertained for hours. The squeals and screams will probably not let you get the elusive sleep, but you will have a few minutes to put your feet up. You will never regret trying these parenting hacks for first-time moms.
#2 Save Hand-wash with Rubber Bands
The last year has had everyone wash their hands more than any other in recent history. That also means that the hand-washing budget has scorched your pockets. Despite repeating yourself hoarse for the kids to use only a pint-sized amount of soap to wash their hands, they still flood their palms with half the bottle in every wash.
Well, you can save on soap by tying a rubber band on the bottom part of the hand wash straw. This keeps it from pressing too much down and dispensing too much sanitizer.
#3 Laundry Basket in the BathTub
Toddlers love to play with their rubber ducks and little rubber whales. However, all these toys keep swimming away to the bathtub’s farthest ends, which is frustrating for the toddler and the person bathing them.
To keep the bath toys within arm’s reach, put the baby in a triangular laundry basket in the bathtub with his toys. He will still be immersed in water, and his toys will have nowhere to run. You can sit by and relax as you watch him play without having to rise every few minutes to get the toys for him.
Related Article: How to Bathe a Baby Step-by-Step
#4 Temporary Tattoos for Baby’s Day Out
Any parent who has lost sight of their toddler in a public place knows the horror of not knowing even for a minute where the baby is. A child getting lost is every parent’s nightmare, and no child needs to live to see that day.
To make sure that your child is brought back to you if you get separated, get them temporary tattoos with their names, your names, and your number. Even if a child knows your number off-head, the panic and anxiety of being separated from their parents can make them temporarily forgetful. The temporary tats are life-saving parenting hacks.
#5 Create a Routine and (Try to) Stick to It
Taking care of babies is exhausting, and not having a routine makes it twice as hard. Babies are the worst bosses, and if you let them walk over you, they will stretch that chance and your patience to breaking point.
To keep things flowing smoothly, one of the best parenting hacks is to create a routine for the baby from infancy. Establish a defined eating, bathing, and sleeping routine. If you plan not to co-sleep, ensure that the baby is on their bed from infancy. Getting a three-year-old from your bed will be as easy as diffusing a bomb.
Let the child(ren) know that the stipulated times are strict and that they are expected to abide by them at all times. Make it clear that meals will always be eaten at the feeding chair or dining table, and sleeping time is non-negotiable.
Having a routine for the babies will give you time to rest. This is one of the most ignored parenting hacks that will make your life easier.
#6 Sprinkles for Color on Food
Most children want color on their food, and healthy food isn’t always appealing. The battle for children to eat their broccoli and lettuce dates back to the beginning of time; it isn’t time to end. One of the most effective feeding parenting hacks to get your toddler to eat their vegetables is by sparingly spreading some sprinkles on the food.
Sprinkles are an instant attraction for most children; they will motivate the children to eat. Remember not to put too much as they contain sugars that might not be good for the kids in large quantities.
Change your feeding techniques and give them the food when they are at their place of comfort. If it means the food will be eaten in the bathtub once in a while, so be it.
Related article: How to Deal with The Loss of Appetite in Babies
#7 Toothpaste for Permanent Marker Stains
Despite how many times you warn them, the children will almost always draw on the furniture. The permanent markers seem to have a magnetic effect on toddlers, and before you know it, your furniture has a new makeover.
These writings are such an eyesore, and we feel the need to explain them to the guests. Well, you don’t have to anymore. Use toothpaste to get rid of these marks on furniture quickly and less painfully. This is a beautiful household parenting hack if you have babies with itchy fingers.
If the child seems bent on drawing on surfaces, provide a central place where they can practice their ‘art.’ You can also repurpose things such as pizza boxes as a canvas to practice their future trade. Avoid severely punishing such behavior as it may be a skill they need to hone, although it needs to be directed and controlled.
#8 Jewelry with Phone Numbers
It’s vital that your children know your phone number off-head, but it might be a little hard for them to memorize them at first. Although we don’t expect it to happen, it’s a good thing to prepare for the unlikely occurrence that your baby might be in an emergency and they’ll need to call you.
To keep your number available at all times, make beaded jewelry for your baby with your number on it. It can be a bracelet or a necklace with colorful beads and numbers. This way, your baby doesn’t have to memorize the numbers; besides, you also get the peace of mind of knowing they can reach you at any time.
3 Parenting Hacks to Control Bad Behavior
Babies don’t need to learn bad behavior; they are just wired to do bad all by themselves. While ‘sparing the rod and spoiling the child’ is an excellent way to combat misbehavior, sometimes you will need to employ more tactful parenting hacks to keep them on the straight and narrow. Here are a few ways you can control bad manners without calling the cops on your two-year-old.
#1 Don’t Punish Behavior You Want to See
You have been giving your toddlers a hard time feeding themselves for the longest time, and they just can’t seem to get it right. They get their food from their plate to their mouth without any mishaps. What do you say? “Why can’t you do that all the time?”
Or they stop throwing a tantrum, and you say, “So, what was ALL THAT about?”
Parents do this very absentmindedly, without even realizing that they have failed to acknowledge the excellent behavior but instead shamed the child for doing the right thing. If you have desired a particular behavior change and your child achieves it, even slightly, encourage the child and make them feel proud. Don’t make them feel ashamed for all the times they failed when they could ‘clearly do it right.”
#2 Information over Commands
“Clean up!”
“Get to bed!”
“Finish your carrots!”
“Put on your jacket!”
“Stop hitting your sister!”
“And oh, for earth’s sake, I said clean up!”
Sometimes, we fill up a child’s day with so many commands that it’s exhausting. Progressively, the child might feel like they aren’t good at anything and stop trying altogether. Instead of trying to give them commands, make them aware of their environment with information. And then wait to see what they do with that information.
“Your room looks quite messy.”
“Your vegetables are still untouched.”
This helps them with their thought process, and they can interpret implied communication. This parenting hack will make your life easier, keeps your voice from getting hoarse, and your brain from imploding.
#3 Give a Deadline When You Need Something Done
In most cases, we want our children to stop doing something “now.” Often, you’re met with grumbling and rebellion because they were right in the middle of something, which, if asked, they’d like to finish.
When you need the babies to move on to a different activity, give them a heads-up and reasonable time to finish what they are currently doing. It can be a few minutes or whichever seems appropriate to you, but it will be more productive when they realize that you care for their interest as well.
If they are playing and it is time to brush their teeth, give them five minutes to finish the game before they get their little teeth cleaned.
3 Parenting Hacks to Save on Time
Parenting feels like a never-ending marathon with little time to breathe. When you’re working with tiny humans who don’t have much sense of time, everything feels like a race against time. Try these parenting hacks will save you time – and your sanity.
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#1 Turn the Clocks Ahead
For the children who are always late and can also read time, get creative with the clock. Turn it ahead 10 minutes, and you’ll always have people leaving at the time they should.
If they can’t read time yet, create an alarm that snoozes every 10 minutes or 5 minutes to let them know how much time they have left. This also serves as a reminder to move on to the next activity when the alarm goes off. This will ensure that there’s no one brushing their teeth when everyone is already buttoning their shirts and ready to go.
#2 Prepare Everything Beforehand
Do not underestimate the power of a lost sock to drive you insane in the morning. Keep everything ready the night before to ensure that you will not be looking for anything when it’s time to go. This parenting hack will make your life easier, especially if you have school-going children.
#3 Make Getting Ready Fun
All the screaming and howling while tripling over trousers on the knees can take the joy out of getting ready to leave. Make it fun by making it a game or a competition. Use the alarm to see who finishes first and give a small token for winning.
FAQs
- How can I make parenting easier?
To make parenting easier be a good role model to your kids, have a consistent routine, make time for your kids, reward good behavior, and make communication a priority.
- What is the secret to great parenting?
One of the secrets to great parenting is to allow your child to be themselves. Be firm, but not too harsh, and look at their strengths and allow them to make mistakes and learn from them.
- What is the most successful parenting style?
There are different parenting styles but the authoritative style seems to work best. You need to communicate clearly according to the child’s age to teach them discipline and how to respond to different situations.
- How do you raise a well behaved child?
The best way to raise well behaved kids is to train them to follow a consistent routine, communicate, encourage them to be independent, be firm, and praise and reward them when they do right.
Final Thoughts
The best parenting news is that babies grow so fast. The worst news is, they grow so fast! These parenting hacks will make your life easier and help you get joy out of parenting.
Simple activities such as feeding, sleeping, playing, and walking aren’t so simple when you’re a parent. You need special parenting hacks and skills for you to just get through the day without breaking a bone. You will also probably be juggling more than one thing at the same time, and you’ll be dropping more balls than you can imagine. Just drop the balls that don’t mean much and keep the ones you will treasure forever as a family.
Take it all in stride; you’re doing a fantastic job already. Did you try any of these parenting hacks? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
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