Parenting is undoubtedly challenging, particularly when caring for toddlers who are at an age where they are somewhat self-sufficient but still require a great deal of supervision. As a result, it may be difficult to strike a balance between allowing them to accomplish things independently while ensuring their safety. However, our parenting tricks will demonstrate how to achieve this, and you’ll regret not learning about them earlier!
Playpen for the Tub
Taking a bath can be a challenge because typically, bathtubs are too spacious for little ones. Additionally, the toys children play with in the tub may easily drift off, prompting them to go after them, which can be hazardous in a wet tub.
The answer is not complicated at all! Just place a laundry basket inside the bathtub and it will serve as an improvised playpen. As a result, your kid can sit on their own in the water, and all their toys will be within reach.
Bib Hanger
To put it mildly, feeding a young child can be quite disorderly. Furthermore, it’s always a challenge to locate a bib or towel when you need one the most.
Nonetheless, it’s possible to affix a hook at the rear of your child’s high chair so that you’ll have a bib readily accessible. Although we cannot guarantee that this technique will completely eradicate the disarray during mealtimes, it will undoubtedly make it less overwhelming.
Use Sanitary Pads for Potty Training
The primary guideline for potty training is that once you inform a child they no longer need to use diapers, it cannot be undone. Nevertheless, accidents can still occur. So, how can you inspire your child to stop using diapers while minimizing messy incidents during the learning process?
Suggest using sanitary pads as an intermediate measure for children who are transitioning from using diapers to being completely potty trained. It is important to verify that the pads do not contain any fragrances or chemicals. Additionally, make sure to explain this to the child in a positive manner, emphasizing that it is a sign they are making progress towards the next step in their development.
How to Keep Pacifiers Clean
Make sure your children’s pacifiers stay sanitized while traveling by using takeout sauce containers instead of buying expensive pacifier holders. The containers from most restaurants are the right size for a pacifier and can be easily cleaned.
As a fun activity and a means for your children to take responsibility for their pacifiers, you could allow each of your little ones to decorate their own containers.
Repurpose an Old Crib
To be frank, baby cribs can be quite costly. Therefore, what options are there when your child no longer needs it? Disposing of it seems wasteful and reselling it can be challenging. If you are certain that you won’t require a crib anymore, you can repurpose it instead.
Transform your child’s crib into a functional workspace where they can enjoy creative activities, while also experiencing a sense of sentimental value for you as well.
Make Washing Hands Easier
Although teaching your toddler how to wash their hands can result in clean hands, it can also cause a mess in the surrounding area. To make the process easier for children, consider attaching a bottle to the faucet to help regulate the water flow.
By modifying an old lotion or shampoo bottle, you can create a temporary sink extension. This method allows your children to wash their hands easily, while saving you the trouble of cleaning the entire bathroom.
Pool Noodle Doorstopper
Although children who are not loud may still slam doors while playing energetically, this problem can be easily solved by using a doorstop. However, it is important to note that children may accidentally trip over a doorstop that is placed on the floor, which is why it is recommended to make a doorstop to be placed on the top of the door instead.
If you’re tired of hearing doors slamming, a pool noodle can be easily transformed into a useful solution. By cutting a gap in the noodle and connecting it to the door, you can repurpose this item and all those annoying sounds will be gone!
The Get Along Shirt
Although this parenting trick may generate mixed opinions, we are still willing to disclose it with you. In the event that your children are really having a hard time being in each other’s company, putting them in a shirt labeled “Get Along” can compel them to resolve their conflict. In most cases, the mere mention or display of the shirt can be adequate to prevent your kids from escalating their quarrel.
If you are not fond of this suggestion, there is another option that is not as drastic: Simply inform your children that they are not allowed to invite their friends over until they are able to establish friendly relationships with each other.
Create a Fort
It is quite usual for children to desire a private space or a fort within their home. Though there are several kinds of forts available in the market, they can be quite costly and occupy a significant amount of room.
Creating forts is actually quite simple, but we’re not referring to using only pillows and blankets. Instead, you can hang bed sheets on strings and make an elegant fort that would be fit for a prince or princess. After the children are finished playing in the forts, you can easily take them down and store them for use the next time.
Portable Activity Kit
Traveling is already a nerve-racking experience, especially when accompanied by young children. This is because, in addition to preparing yourself, you must also ensure that your kids have access to their toys whenever they request them.
Nonetheless, it is possible to prepare a mobile activity set in advance, enabling your children to access the desired activity section in the binder independently. This technique serves as an excellent means of keeping them occupied and well-organized.
Muffin Cup Popsicle Holder
Popsicles can be quite messy, even for grown-ups. When children are involved, things can get even messier. To prevent the mess created by melting popsicles, you can use muffin cups as popsicle holders.
In this manner, your children can relish their delectable dessert without creating a mess in the whole house or on themselves. It’s absolutely okay if you also apply this technique for yourself, even when there are no children present.
Sandpit
Most people remember playing in sand as a crucial part of their childhood. However, not everyone has access to a beach or a park with a sandpit nearby. But fortunately, it’s still feasible to provide your kids the joy of building sandcastles and digging sand tunnels by creating one in your own backyard!
It is quite simple to make sandpits at home and they can be utilized for a long time. Apart from providing shade from the sun, these sandpits can be covered during the night to prevent unwanted creatures from entering. However, we recommend taking your child to the beach occasionally for a change of scenery.
Toy Storage
Many individuals keep their toys in non-transparent labeled plastic containers. Although it is not a bad practice, it may become disorganized as young children cannot read and view the contents easily.
By using zip-loc bags that can be used multiple times, your children can quickly identify which toys are stored in them, and then select the appropriate bag to open. This will result in less chaos for you and less annoyance for your little ones.
Toy Holder for the Car
Speaking of toy organization, one solution to keep your kids entertained during long drives is to attach a shoe caddy on the back of the front seats in your car. This way, your children can easily reach their toys, allowing you to focus on driving without worrying about keeping them engaged.
Furthermore, this would considerably minimize the quarrels among the children seated at the back during the journey as they can individually possess their own shoe organizers/toy collection.
Kid-Friendly Wallet
Encouraging children to feel valued during shopping can enhance their self-assurance and self-reliance. Nevertheless, entrusting your child with your money or credit card might present challenges. Alternatively, you could provide your youngster with a wallet that contains child-appropriate items.
In addition, this will aid in amusing your child during the idle wait in the store queue. You can also impart to them a lesson on money management through the use of counterfeit money from their pocket.
Seat Savers
It is a breeze to make your own seat protectors using an old T-shirt or any extra fabric you have on hand. These protectors can save your car seats from various messes such as spilled drinks, food or even bodily fluids, caused by your children.
Moreover, these seat savers enable you to assign particular car seats to each of your children, eliminating the constant disputes between them over seating arrangements. As a result, the car seats will be exclusively reserved for them.
Toilet Paper Line
Children often struggle to estimate the appropriate amount of toilet paper they require. Typically, young children tend to grab an excessive amount of TP, causing chaos, wastage, and possibly even blocked toilets.
Although you could constantly pester and supervise your kids, it is not ideal to argue with them about toilet paper. An effective alternative would be to install a line on the wall to indicate the appropriate amount of toilet paper for them to use.
Snack Box
Snacks are essential during long car rides, regardless of one’s age. Nonetheless, providing snacks to children without causing any damage to the car might require some acrobatics skills. Moreover, this practice does not promote independence in children when they have to rely on their parents to open their snacks.
How about this DIY snack box as a solution? It’s easy for your kids to handle as they can open and close it themselves and pick their own snacks without your help. As a parent, you might also find time to enjoy your road trip snacks.
No-Slip Pajamas
Although onesie pajamas are undoubtedly cute, they may pose a slip hazard for toddlers, especially those that lack treads. Thankfully, adding a non-slip grip to the bottom of onesies or socks is a simple and quick solution.
To prevent your kids from slipping while wearing a onesie, utilize hot glue or puffy paint. Additionally, you can customize the tread by incorporating designs or adding your child’s name for a personalized touch.
DIY Baby Spoon
While most parents have baby spoons at home, there won’t necessarily always be one readily available when out and about. If you find yourself at a friend’s house when your baby needs to eat, or you’re out traveling, you can use the back of a fork as a makeshift baby spoon!
The size should be quite similar to that of a baby spoon anyway, and it’ll definitely get the job done. Just make sure to clean it well before you use it. After all, we all know by now that “fed is best!”
Help Your Kids Tell Time
Although young kids can’t necessarily read a clock, that doesn’t mean they can’t be somewhat independent when it comes to scheduling. Put tape or stickers on certain parts of the clock, depending on what you want your child to understand, in order to help them tell time.
For example, if your kid knows that they can watch TV for one hour, you can put the sticker on the next hour mark of the clock. That way, your kid can see when the hour is up — all by themselves!
How to Distribute Medicine
Taking medicine can be scary at any age but especially for kids. However, like with most things, the anticipation is often worse than the actual medicine itself. So, how do you get your tot to take their medicine without too much of a fuss?
Simply put it into your child’s bottle without making a big production about them needing to take their medicine, and they may not even notice! Let’s be honest — a comforting bottle most definitely helps the medicine go down!
Bottle Storage
When you have kids, it can often feel like your entire house has been taken over by diapers, blankies, and pacifiers. While that’s simply part of parenting, there’s a way to calm the chaos at least a little bit.
Instead of having your kitchen cabinets filled to the brim with baby bottles, you can hang them in a shoe caddy. This will save you valuable kitchen space and it’ll still hold the baby bottles just fine.
Baby Carrier Handle
Some baby carriers are just more comfortable than others, and depending on what type of carrier you use, you may find your arms red and raw by the end of the day. No worries if your baby carrier doesn’t have any cushioning, though, because it’s really easy to DIY!
You can cut a slit into a pool noodle and wrap it around the handle of the baby carrier in order to create some cushion for your forearms. And voilà, no more sore forearms.
Get a Massage
Parenting is tough and you don’t get a whole lot of time to relax when you have kids. That being said, there are some harmless ways to trick your kids into letting you chill a bit.
This racetrack shirt is the perfect way to get a massage from your children while they’re happily playing. You can DIY this shirt, if you’d like. Simply choose an old t-shirt that you don’t care about and draw a racetrack on the back of it using fabric markers. Voilà!
Put Tape on Toy Speakers
Children seem to have this magical ability to never get bothered by any level of noise. They can blast music on full volume and dance away, while everyone else suffers from a migraine.
Rather than fighting with your kids over how loud they can turn it up, simply put clear tape over toy speakers. The tape will mute the sound a bit and chances are your kid won’t even notice the difference.
Soap With Toys in It
Once your kids are old enough to bathe on their own, it can become an issue as they often don’t want to. Some kids may find showering to be boring or they don’t yet understand its importance.
An easy solution is to buy your child soap that has a toy “trapped” inside. In order to get the toy, your kid will have to use up all the soap, meaning they’ll have to take lots of baths!
Mark Medicine Bottles
It’s easy to forget stuff, especially small details when you’re raising kids. Sometimes, you genuinely just can’t recall if you’ve given your little one their daily dose of medicine and you don’t want to run the risk of accidentally giving them too much.
A simple solution is to mark down the days on the medicine bottle itself, so you can keep track. This way, you can also know how much is left and never worry about being late to get a refill.
Never Lose Baby Clothes Again
We all know that one sock will magically disappear when you do the laundry. It’s pretty tough to keep track of small items of clothing, which is why there’s such a prevalent theory of the washing machine eating them.
However, when it comes to kids’ clothes, all of them are tiny! So, how can you make sure that they won’t get lost in the shuffle? Simply put them in a mesh bag! You can have one bag for each kid in order to ensure that all their items stay together.
Baby Proof Electrical Outlets
Electrical outlets can be a bit tricky to babyproof because you often need to be able to use them. Sure, you can purchase an outlet cover that’s easily removable, but you can also DIY babyproofing if you find yourself tight on time — or money.
Cover up the electrical outlet with a band-aid, tape, or sticker, and simply remove it as needed. This is especially useful if you have loved ones coming over with their kids but your house isn’t ready for little ones.
Kiddie Dish Rack
Kids love to play house, especially with toy kitchens. However, it can be tough for children to visualize an efficient way to organize their toy dishes, which can result in a huge mess and things getting lost.
If you give your kids a dish rack, though, they can store their toys properly and their kitchen items will last longer. Bonus points for the fact that this will also teach your kids the proper way to put away dishes, so they can help out with real dishes when they’re older!
Make Painting Less Messy
As much as we would love to offer a magical solution to make painting with kids mess-free, we’re not wizards. However, there’s a solution to make the mess more manageable and teach your kids about tidiness.
Use an empty egg carton as a painting station, to store the brushes and paint colors. This will keep your tots’ art supplies much more organized and may help decrease the need for clean-up afterward.
Juice Boxes
It’s astonishing how many people don’t know this trick to juice boxes! This kid-friendly drink was designed the way it was for a reason, not just for aesthetics.
Rather than having your kids hold the juice box from the middle, which will undoubtedly end in juice spilled everywhere, have them hold their drink from the flaps at the sides. We suggest lifting the flaps up for your kids, though, so that they don’t get confused as to which corners need to be raised!
Storage Boxes for the Car
If shoe caddies and snack boxes aren’t appealing to you, there’s a third option for organizing kids’ items in the car. You can repurpose an empty wipes container to hold your child’s toys and snacks for a long car ride.
What’s nice about this method of storage, is that your child can pack the box themselves and decide, independently, what they want to bring on each trip. Plus, they’ll easily be able to carry this box around on their own and access it by themselves.
Watermelon Sticks
Watermelon is pretty much the perfect snack. It’s healthy, kids love it, and parents can enjoy it, as well. The only real drawback to this food is that it’s incredibly messy. Part of the mess comes from cutting watermelon into the traditional triangles, which can be difficult for children to manage.
However, if you cut them into sticks, it’ll be a lot easier for your kids to take a bite without dripping juice everywhere. This method may even be helpful for adults!
White Noise Playlist
If you’re having trouble getting your little one to sleep, white noise may help. However, not everyone can afford a pricey white noise machine. Luckily, with the beauty of the internet, it’s truly no longer necessary, as there are white noise playlists on both Spotify and YouTube.
You can create your own playlist, as well, and control the length. This way, your baby will sleep soundly with the white noise and you’ll sleep soundly knowing that your wallet is still full.
Use a Onesie the Right Way
Just like with juice boxes, many people don’t know the true reason for the onesie’s design. The envelope folds on the shoulders are there so that you can pull the onesie down off the child, rather than up and over their head.
If your kid has had an accident, then please trust us that pulling the onesie down is most definitely the way to go here. Now we know — onesies aren’t just adorable but they’re functional, too!
Baby Bottle Holder
Children can often struggle to find a grip on their bottles, due to the size of their hands and most bottles’ shape. That being said, it’s important to teach young children to hold their bottles and drink on their own.
The trick here is to put the bottle inside a squishy ball, which will be easier for your tot to grip. Of course, you may still need to help them hold it steady, but this method will at least provide some sense of independence.
Put Stickers in Your Kid’s Shoes
One of the daily tasks that children struggle with the most, is which shoe goes on which foot. A great way to help your kid with this tricky task is to cut a sticker in half and put the left half of the sticker in the left shoe and the right half in the right shoe.
Your tot may not be able to tell which shoe looks like it’s the right or left but they will know how to make their sticker look whole!
Baby Proof With Cable Ties
Babyproofing with cable ties is just as effective, and a lot easier, than getting a professional to babyproof and undo it when the kids grow up. For example, instead of nailing a baby gate to the banister, you can secure it with cable ties!
This is super easy and quick to do or undo on your own, which makes it the perfect solution if you have friends or family coming over with their kids.
Fix a Loose Tank Top
Kids grow so quickly that it’s sometimes impossible to keep up and make sure that all of their clothes fit perfectly. While some parents know how to sew, not everyone is so inclined, so here’s a simple trick!
Clip it with a barrette! Your child can pick out the barrette they like, and it can be presented as a stylish addition to their outfit.
Teach Kids to Help Out
Teaching your kids to help out around the house is just as beneficial for them as it is for you. You can make chores fun, rather than an argument, by turning them into a game! You can time your child to see how quickly they can get all the dirt into the designated square.
If you have several kids, you can even hold a competition to see who can get their section of the floor clean the fastest. These are just examples but the possibilities are truly endless.
Baby Shower Cap
A common issue during bath time is when shampoo gets in the child’s eyes. Luckily, online stores have recognized this problem and found a solution. This baby shower cap will keep your kid’s eyes safe, so your tot can actually enjoy their bath.
If you’re tight on money, don’t worry, because this is fairly easy to DIY. You can even decorate them with fun colors and patterns, so each child has their own, unique shower cap.
The Best Way to Swing
Kids can spend hours playing on the swings but it’s pretty unlikely that a parent will want to spend hours standing there, pushing their child on the swing.
The solution here is to tie a string to the end of the swing and then sit down, put your feet up, have a drink, or whatever else you want, and use the string to swing the swing. The best part is that, now, you don’t have to worry about accidentally getting hit by the swing!
Play Video Games ”With” Your Kids
Every parent needs some time to themselves, every now and then. That being said, finding the opportunity to do your own thing can be pretty impossible when you’ve got kids around. Basically, if your children see you playing video games, they’ll always want to join in!
By giving your kids unplugged controllers to play with, you’ll be spending quality time with your family but will still be able to actually progress in your game. Everybody wins!
