Life hacks. You can find one for just about anything these days. And they are such a blessing for time-poor parents.
Social media is full of savvy parents ‘living in the year 3000’ while we all muddle along doing things the way we were taught to do them.
Sometimes, the parenting hacks are so simple you’ll slap yourself for not thinking of them first.
Think Outside the Box with These Fun Parenting Hacks
1. Keeping floors clean at snack time
A mum going by the TikTok handle @Elcreate shared a video of her ingenious way of keeping floors clean. She sits her baby in a portable highchair and puts the highchair in a large storage tub. Any mess her baby makes falls into the tub for easy cleaning. Commenters said it was an excellent way for parents to relax, for their baby to have autonomy, and for easy mess clean-up.
@elcreate Until he outgrows it, this is working a trick #NoMoreMess #parentinghack #fyp #weaning #selffeeding #babyweaning #babiesoftiktok #babytiktok #babyhack #babyhacks #foryoupage #fypシ #fypage #fypシ゚viral #trending #trendingvideo #trendingsong #trendingtiktok #trendingtiktoks #viral #viralvideo #viraltiktok ♬ original sound – Elcreate
2. Ultimate snack hack
Mummy blogger Jan at The Jen Life shared an Instagram of her snack hack.
She described having kids at home all day meant they were boredom snacking a lot. And she, like many of us, doesn’t have the luxury to spend a lot on snacks.
She got three different colour containers, one for each of her kids, and put their drink bottle/ cup for the day in there, plus their snacks for the day. Once the baskets were empty, they had to wait until dinner for more to eat. She said they have to think if they really need the snack or not. Some people in the comments said this would also work for anyone working at home, or adults who also ‘boredom snack’.
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3. End claims of favouritism
Often, parents just can’t win. Especially when it comes to chores or who gets to pick the family movie or board game/activity and even who goes first in the board game/activity.
Using a blank dice with everyone’s names written on it, or a random generator app. This takes the control (and responsibility) out of your hands. it’s up to the luck of the draw.
if you use a random generator app, the person whose name is called is left off the next random generator until everyone has had a turn.
If you only have two kids, one can have the even days and the other the odd. I think back to how many arguments this would have solved in my life. *sigh* Hindsight, right?
4. Keeping monsters at bay with a ‘Monster Spray’
This is one of those genius parenting hacks, creating your own monster spray it only requires a spray bottle and some essential oils. Use water, or water with lavender or an essential oil, to make a ‘Monster Spray’ and enlist your kids to decorate the bottle. If they fear there’s a monster in the closet or under the bed, spray the area for a peaceful night’s sleep.
5. Reusing old bedside tables for Lego storage
Sand down and paint an old bedside table in your child’s favourite colour and attach some wheels. Superglue a Lego base to the top, and use the drawers for different-sized Legos or other building blocks. The table can be wheeled anywhere in the house, and it’s an easy way to start teaching kids about being responsible for their own things.
6. Cleaning toys using the dishwasher
Durable plastic toys can be cleaned in bulk by putting them in the dishwasher or in a mesh bag in the washing machine. TikTok cleaning guru @mama_mila_loves this hack. She also has some other great parenting hacks that only cost $5.
7. Protecting little ones from hot sand
An oldie, but a goodie. Love the beach but don’t want your crawler to eat the sand? Take a fitted sheet with you and use your bags to hold it open on the sand. This makes a safe space for your baby to enjoy the beach with the family and not eat or be burned by the sand. Just remember an umbrella or shade cloth, too!
8. Layering the bed to protect against accidents
Bedwetting is not the funniest thing to deal with. It’s frustrating as a parent and embarrassing as a kid/tween. It has many causes from physical to psychological. And no one wants to get up in the middle of the night to change a wet bed. An easier solution is to layer fitted sheets with sheet protectors between the layers to protect the mattress. If an accident happens, you can take those layers off instead of spending the middle of the night remaking a bed.
9. Reducing mould and mildew in bath toys
The last and best of our parenting hacks! Use a glue gun to seal the hole at the bottom of your kids’ bath toys. This prevents water from getting inside and mould or mildew from growing in them. This is especially good for kids who like to put things in their mouths. I shudder to think of how my kids could have ingested mould when they would squirt the water in their mouths. Eek!
10. Clever First Aid storage
Take a Kmart photo & craft storage box, available in two sizes, and a label maker and use each smaller box for things like Band-Aids, pain relief, alcohol or iodine swabs etc. It’s a simple storage solution that takes up minimal space and is super organised. With four people in my house who menstruate, the smaller box is the perfect size to store Advil, heat packs, pain relieving massage oil, chocolate (it might not be scientific, but it works) and other bits and pieces.
@kaylamorgan261Kmart Storage Hacks! First Aid & Medical Box ❤️♬ Send Me on My Way – Vibe Street
11. Puppy Pee Pads
Hands up if you’ve ever put your baby on a towel, naked, for tummy time. I have, especially in summer when even I would like to run around naked, it’s so hot. It’s great for babies to ‘air out’ after being cooped up in nappies for hours. But then you’re left with more towels to wash.
Using puppy training pads means you can let your bub have some naked tummy time and not worry about washing towels if they pee. They’re also handy for on-the-go nappy changes.
12. Tummy time hacks
Tummy time is an important part of a baby’s physical development. But not all babies love it.
One way to get a few minutes, multiple times a day is to flip your baby on their belly after changing their nappy, in front of a mirror, while you quickly put the soiled nappy in a bag. A couple of minutes at each change adds up.
Another idea is to have tummy time near a window and hang a see-through bird feeder on the outside window and fill it with food. They’ll be so entranced by the birds, that they’ll forget they hate being on their tummies.
Remember, there’s no perfect way to parent, and these parenting hacks are just ideas to make your day run a little smoother. Make sure if you use plastic tubs or spray bottles that they don’t have sharp edges, and always supervise babies when playing or eating.
Happy parenting!
