20 Parenting Hacks That Will Make Your Life Easier

Being a parent can be tough, especially when your kids don’t listen to what you say and throw tantrums or make a mess. During such times, you get to your wit’s end because you don’t know what to do. Luckily, we have a few hacks that will help you manage your parenting much more efficiently and handle your kids much more peacefully. Let’s look at a few below.

Video: 12 Parenting Hacks That Will Make Your Life Easier

20 Best Parenting Hacks Ever

Here are 20 life hacks for parents which you can use with your kids. They will get you at least 10 minutes of personal time back in your everyday life which you would have otherwise spent hassled and running about.

1. The Dot Method to Label Clothing

If you have multiple children and keep getting confused about which clothes belong to whom, just use a simple method of marking their clothes with dots. One dot for the eldest child, two dots for the second one, three for the third and so on. Trust us, this will save you a lot of time during laundry and will help you know at a glance which clothing needs to be pulled out for which kid.

2. Use an Inflatable Pool As a Baby Playpen

A good one among parenting hacks for babies, if you are working and need to keep an eye on your baby so he doesn’t hurt himself or get into mischief, there is no need to pay a fortune to buy a playpen. Instead, just use an inflatable pool and put your baby inside while you bustle around.

3. Use a ‘Scary Monster Spray’

If your little one can’t sleep at night because he is scared of monsters coming to get him, just fill a spray bottle with water and put some monster stickers on the bottle. Spray it at night in front of your child and tell him that you are ‘scaring the monsters away’. This will help him sleep without fear.

4. Get a Baby Scooter or a Stroller

This will help you make your walks in the park along with your children a little more fun and will help you get to places with them faster. You can also get in exercise this way as you need to run to keep up with them.

5. Temporary Tattoos

To avoid your kid from getting lost in a crowded place, you can give him a temporary tattoo which can have his name and your phone number just in case he does. This is a safety contingency for your peace of mind. You can also have him wear a bracelet with his name and phone number if you are not a fan of pen ink on your child’s skin.

6. Turn Lotion Bottles Into Faucets

A great idea to help your children wash their hands is to use an old lotion bottle as a faucet extender. If your kids are too tiny and can’t reach the faucet, this is an excellent hack until they grow up a little and gain a little height.

7. Turn Chores Into a Fun Game

If you’re having a hard time getting your kids to help out in chores around the house, turning the chores into a fun game to play can help you out significantly. It will make them more encouraged to pitch in and get all the chores done in time. Additionally, it helps them learn the chore so that they can be accustomed to performing it in the future.

8. Use Sprinkles Liberally

If your kid refuses to eat vegetables like broccoli or other healthy foods, using coloured sprinkles on the food can help it look more attractive and appealing for your kid to eat. Just don’t overload the food with sprinkles, that’s all.

9. Use Vinegar for Small Burns

Kids are always getting into some accident or the other. If your child has undergone a minor burn at home or while playing, soak a paper towel in some vinegar and hold it against the burn till the skin cools down. This will ease any pain and avoid a blister forming. A great home-remedy hack.

10. Use a Rubber Band on Locks

Use a rubber band to keep your bathroom doors from getting locked when they swing shut. This will help keep your children from accidentally locking themselves in the bathrooms at home.

11. Limit Liquid Soap Using Rubber Bands

Another rubber band trick, this is a way to keep your kids from using liquid soap liberally and wasting it. Tie the rubber band around the pump nozzle which will dispel less liquid soap than normal.

12. Tighten a Loose Tank Top

If your kid is wearing a tank top which is falling off her shoulders and you have no way to keep it up, you can always use a bobby pin to clip the back straps together. This is a good hack till you get your child a new tank top, or stitch the loose one to make it tighter.

13. Use a Medicine Dropper Inside an Open Pacifier

When your child needs to take oral medicine, a way to make the process less scary is to insert the medicine dropper into an open pacifier and let your child intake the medicine from there. He can simply suck on the pacifier. No more crying when he sees the medicine dropper.

14. Re-purpose Your Kid’s Old Crib

A fun and sustainable way to recycle your child’s old crib is to turn it into a workstation with the help of a little woodwork. This will keep the crib from taking up space once your child becomes too big for it. It will also add a new piece of furniture to the house without spending much.

15. Recycle Old DVD Covers

You can turn an old DVD case into a colouring pencil box with the help of paper and a few pencils. Decorate it colourfully with the help of your kids. It makes for a great arts and crafts activity you can do with your kids.

16. Make a Kid’s Hammock

Use some fabric and a table to create a hammock for your kids. Since they won’t weigh much, you don’t have to be overly worried about the hammock falling, and your kids will love the idea. This will keep them occupied when you are busy.

17. A Changing Table Hack

It’s always a problem when you don’t find a changing table around when you need it. In fact, many public men’s bathrooms are not equipped with a changing table which may pose a problem for dads carrying their babies. You can make a changing table bag where a bag opens up into a table that lies flat on your lap, with the strap wrapping around your waist to prevent it from falling. The bag can also hold diapers and wipes. You can make it at home with online guidance, and it is a great way for parents to change their baby’s diapers anywhere.

18. Prevent Slippery Floors

Having slippery floors at home can be a hazard for your little one who will be running around here and there. A good one among parenting hacks for toddlers is to add a touch of 3D fabric paint to the soles of your baby’s socks, booties or onesies. This makes them slip-proof, and you can be relieved that your baby won’t slip and fall anywhere in the house.

19. Popsicle Hack

Anyone, adult or child, who eats a drippy popsicle will not be able to avoid a mess. In fact, kids will not only smear it all over their face but also mess up their clothes. A great way to avoid this mess is to stick the popsicle through an upright cupcake holder. This will make sure that the drippy mess collects in the holder and not on your kid’s apparel.

20. Keep Your Stroller Tires Clean

As a parent, you might get really tired cleaning the dirt and grime off your baby’s stroller tires after a walk in the park. A great hack to avoid this hassle is to slip some shower caps on the tires before you store it away inside. This will prevent the dirt from getting on other things in your closet and will also solve the pesky problem of scrubbing every time.

Parenting is a roller coaster, and sometimes you might feel that you have no time to even catch your breath. Incorporating a few of these hacks in your daily life can help reduce stress significantly, and also help you have some fun with your kids. Many of these hacks involve spending time with your children doing some activity, so bonding can also happen as you get to spend quality time with your child. Children are always curious, so be sure that they will participate wholeheartedly in any fun activity. So use these hacks, have fun and enjoy parenthood.

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