Parenting Hacks from Real Babywise Moms. Tips to make parenting life easier. Shopping hacks, medicine hacks, discipline hacks, childcare hacks, sharing hacks, showering and bathing hacks, chore hacks, toy hacks, organizing hacks, travel hacks, and more.
Post Contents
- Shopping Parenting Hacks
- Grocery Shopping
- School Shopping
- Medicine Parenting Hacks
- Discipline Parenting Hacks
- Childcare Parenting Hacks
- Sharing Parenting Hacks
- Showering/Bathing Parenting Hacks
- Chores Parenting Hacks
- Toys Parenting Hacks
- Sippy Cups Parenting Hacks
- Organizing Hacks
- Independent Playtime Parenting Hacks
- Traveling Parenting Hacks
- Related Posts:
Shopping Parenting Hacks
Grocery Shopping
Amanda said: Grocery store pick up! Worth every extra penny. (For this season of life anyway)
Anita said: Or better, grocery store delivery!! They even bring them inside and put them on the kitchen bench
School Shopping
Rhianna said: School supply shopping. All 4 school age kids (ages 4-10) carried their own hand basket at the store and put their school supplies in it (some read their own lists, others came to me to ask what next) and then at checkout we bagged it by kid and labeled the names, then it’s already divided by name so i don’t have to sort it. It felt great to keep things divided that way!
Medicine Parenting Hacks
Brandy said: I just found out children’s Tylenol is the same dosage per 5 mL as infant Tylenol. (160 of acetaminophen per 5 mL) They just put infant in small containers and jack up the price.
Sharleen said: My little one has struggled with congestion! We put baby Vick’s on her chest and her feet before bed which helps with the coughing. We also do saline nasal drops before each feeding when she’s really bad and before bed. We also had her sleep in a rock and play to have her head slightly elevated- or if she’s in a crib you can prop up her mattress a little on one side. If the coughing gets really bad at night you can sit with her in a steamy bathroom. It’s so tough when they are so young and coughing
Charly said: One thing my sister-in-law does (her son has asthma and when he’s congested, his sleeping stresses her out) is put half a cut up raw onion in his room at night. It helps clear out his airways so that he can breathe better
Kristen said: Baby vicks [for congestion] … a thick layer on the bottom of her feet then cover with socks. It works!
Discipline Parenting Hacks
Jessica said: Husband told our toddler the story of the 3 little pigs, these three little pigs didn’t listen to mommy and Daddy about how to build a house…yada yada…big bad wolf. You get the idea. So for the past week or so Every time Cooper disobeys or we need to get him to listen, we just say “Big bad wolf!”.
And he’s been very receptive to it, surprisingly. Won’t work forever…but for now its great
Childcare Parenting Hacks
Deidre said: Swapping childcare with a friend – I take their kids for 3 hours one weekday morning, they take mine for 3 hours another weekday morning. Maybe 2 days out of the month total. No money is exchanged, and both mommas get some things done without needing to worry about kids! And bonus playdate for the littles
Sharing Parenting Hacks
Jess said: Great sharing problem solver my sister shared with me! Kid A has a toy that Kid B wants. Kid B asks for a turn and Kid A tells them how many minutes until they can have a turn (at 3yo the max is five minutes). This is GENIUS. Kid A doesn’t feel like they are being “forced” to share and Kid B knows when they will get a turn. We honestly don’t even need to set a timer usually because toddler minutes are so much shorter than real minutes.
This has been a GAME CHANGER on our weekly pizza nights with two other families who also have preschool age kids
Angela said: I would use this strategy in my toddler and preschool classes when I worked in day care. Works like a charm! I would narrow it down [for younger children], like say, “Suzy wants a turn when you’re done. Will you be done in two minutes or three minutes?” It will work best when you limit choices, but still gives the child control over when she will be done and she won’t be surprised when the other child has the toy.
Showering/Bathing Parenting Hacks
Jennifer said: Showers!!!!!!!!!! No baths 
🙌🙌. Holy cow changed my life. Get a handheld and throw them in. Happened by accident with the 2nd at 7mo I put him in, the 1yo wanted in and we never went back… just make sure they can’t put stuff down the drain 
😂 Soon as they could sit they moved from the kitchen sink to shower (5boys). Doesn’t require the same supervision, they learn to clean themselves faster, aren’t bathing in dirt, no watet out of the tub, can splash all they want, the list goes on…
Pam said: Our master shower bench is full of empty plastic OJ bottles, milk jugs, ketchup bottles, measuring cups, etc. My 2 boys love filling the jugs and pouring them out during the shower!! Let’s me focus on bathing myself and them!
Valerie (that’s me) said: We use a handheld showerhead and do a lot of showers with them, also. It is much faster and easier than a bath! Even if my child wants a bath, I wash the child with the handheld sprayer and then fill the tub up.
Chores Parenting Hacks
Dana said: My husband runs two businesses and said “if I’m doing all the work, I’m not making any money.” That little tip changed everything. I was running around like a crazy person trying to do everything myself. He told me to delegate. So I did! Now my kids (3yr-7yr) help with dishes, laundry, cleaning tubs and toilets. We take a little time every day and we all work to get things done. It’s been great!
Toys Parenting Hacks
Jennifer said: No toys in bedroom either, room together and make a room the playroom. Clean up once a day (at end). When we had a smaller house we used a section of the living room, although i realize not everyone is okay with that decor 😂 we are pretty ocd so it was picked up pretty well. I think it is one of a couple things that saved us from bedtime routine troubles- which outside of maybe 1-2weeks total with all 5 kids, we have never had.
Carol said: I did a toddler sensory class for a year with Ds1, and at the end of each session they taught the toddlers to clean up. So even today we say to Ds1 “it’s dinner time, time to clean up” and he’ll put his toys away. So we’ve never had any issues. We live in a 2 bedroom apartment as well and dh is always putting things away and getting Ds1 to help.
Sippy Cups Parenting Hacks
Jennifer said: We have a lot of kids (5) so one minor thing that has saved us time has been color coding water bottles. They always have the same one, same color, starting around 12-18mo. Just bought like 3 of the same and always know who left it out, who doesn’t have theirs, who left theirs in the car, etc. Never fighting over who gets which one. https://www.muddcreek.com/nalgene-grip-n-gulp…/…
Then when they are in kindergarten they get to pick a new color of hydroflask and get 2 (which sounds expensive but the oldest has literally used the same two for going on 3 yrs now).
Organizing Hacks
Maria said: This is kinda random, but I love using clear page protectors and writing on them with dry erase. I do meal planning, grocery list, “school work” for my 4.5 year old, and cleaning schedule by sticking in a generic form in a page protector and then writing what I need to write and then I can erase it off and use it again. You could also laminate.
Independent Playtime Parenting Hacks
Tracy suggested you have a child lie on the bed and read books for “independent playtime” while traveling.
Susana said: If I find a safe spot (small room without dangers) I try to do it if I find he needs it. I tell grandparents and other people he is doing room time and they have been ok with that. I only do about 30-40 minutes that way.
Rochelle said: Tip for ind play time went dropping a nap with a child who still uses her crib… Make the room child safe and put up a baby gate, but here’s the big thing ***put their pillow and blanket on the floor*** so if they are tired they can relax and rest… The first day we did this with my daughter I found her curled up with her books and blanket on her pillow. She made a little nest. She stayed awake, but she was really happy. (Age 18 mos.)
Traveling Parenting Hacks
Abby said: Lots of snacks for the 2 yo, movies or shows, books to look at or new little toys to play with. I’d leave right away in the morning and stop for a longish lunch to let the 2 yo burn off some energy, and then hopefully get good naps from both in the afternoon. We just got back from a 17.5 hour road trip (each way) and had a 4.5 yo, 3 yo, 2 yo and 1.5 yo and really only stopped for lunch and maybe one extra potty break. With a baby you will need to stop for her feeding times, but it hopefully won’t add 4 hours on to your trip.
Laura said: We did a long ride with our 2 yr old. Went to Dollar Store and got a bunch of little things for her to play with. The equivalent of 1 toy/hour. Also google “car activities for toddlers”. There’s tons of easy ideas that I found supplies for at Dollar Tree as well.
Jess said: If it’s nice where you’ll be traveling, see if you can Google a park on your. Getting out and stretching legs even for just 15 minutes can really help! (Twelve hour road trip vet here). If it’s not, chick fil a and some McDonald’s still have indoor play areas to accomplish the same goal (and do diaper changes!) This in addition to bringing loads of toys and some kids music CDs <— these have also really helped on our long trips
Carrie said: I just drove by myself from VA to GA with my 11year old, 8 year old, 5 year old, 2 year old and 8 month old twins. It’s doable. I left at 3 a.m. The little ones all fell back asleep and we drove until our daily wake time of 7:30. Stopped at a restaurant to eat breakfast and for me to feed and diaper change the twins. After that we stop every two hours to get out and snack/stretch. We enjoy listening to books on CD or fun, upbeat children’s music. The twins had their car seat toy to play with and my 2 year old pretty much listened to music or the audiobook or played with a stuffed animal. Honestly, leaving at 3 a.m. Made it totally doable!
Rachel said: Movie for the toddler to watch, new $ store toys to play with during the trip, a lunch stop with a play place and my favorite road trip hack- gel window clings of different designs. My little ones love to put them all over the windows during a trip!
Beth said: A tag or tag junior pen can seriously help a ton on long car rides. You can find them on eBay pretty cheap. Our DVD player broke 45 min into an 8 hr car ride and amazingly the boys kept busy with books. Which was good. I had no capacity to deal with more given we were on our way home from a month in the NICU with the third.
