50+ Insanely, Brilliant Parenting Hacks

Parenting can be difficult at times. Check out these simple tips and tricks to make life a little easier.







Cut a sticker in half and place it inside you child’s shoes. To get them on the right feet they just have to match the stickers up. {via– One Creative Housewife}

Place a fan in the opening of a duvet cover
to make an instant tent for your child. {photo source unknown}

 




Place a second spring-loaded shower rod
on the back side of your tub to hold kids toys. Use S-shaped shower hooks to hang the baskets.
{photo source unknown} 

 

Combing a mixture of water and fabric softener through doll hair will easily take out tangles. {via – Diy Home Sweet Home

Heat up two meals at once by placing a cup under one of the plates or bowls so that they can easily fit inside the microwave.{photo source unknown} 

 

Keep pacifiers
clean in your diaper bag by storing them in sauce containers. {via – Lala}

Install ababy gate
without drilling holes in your banister. Attach the baby gate to a couple 2x4s instead, then use heavy duty zip ties to attach the boards to the banister. {via – Beauty in the Ordinary}

Use an over-the-door shoe organizer in your car to organize kids toys while traveling. {via – Martha Stewart

 

 

Free back massage. Get your kids to give you a back massage with these diy t-shirts
. Musical shirt {via – Lalymom}. Car shirt {via – The Blue Basket}

Place a fitted sheet over the baby’s playpen
to keep insects such as wasps and mosquitoes away from baby while you do yard work. {via – Little Baby Watson

Use a straw to easily remove a cherry pit so that children don’t choke on them. {via – Diy Home Sweet Home

Place apool noodle under the sheet to keep kids from rolling out of bed. {photo source unknown}

Store stuffed animals in a bean bag cover
{via – Thread Riding Hood}

Stop your kids from using too much toilet paper and clogging up the toilet. The “You Shall Not Pass” mark provides children with a visual limit on how much toilet paper they should use. {via – The Virtuous Wife

Hairspray will remove permanent marker from many surfaces. {via – Diy Home Sweet Home}

If your child is afraid of monsters, make your own monster spray to keep them away. Just fill a spray bottle with water and let your child spray it anywhere monsters like to hide. {via – Happy Go Lucky

Place a curtain rod
between the bed or a dresser and the wall to create a quiet reading nook or a special play area. {photo source unknown}

Instead of using footstools which take up too much room and always get in the way, convert the toe kick under your cabinet into a vanity step drawer
{via – Ana White}

Keep track of medication by writing directly on the bottle. I would even suggest wrapping a rubber band around the bottle to hold a marker so that you always have one handy (I know how easy it is for those writing utensils to go missing!) {via – LandeeSeeLandeeDo

Once your child out grows their crib, encourage reading by converting it into book storage. {via – Diy Home Sweet Home

Bath your child in a laundry basket. Place the basket inside the bathtub before setting your child and their bath toys in it. This will keep the toys within your child’s reach and will also give them something to hold onto instead of slippery bathtub walls. {photo source unknown} 

A mixture of dawn, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda will get set-in baby food stains out of baby clothes. {via – My Life in Pink and Green

  • Easily wash toys in the dishwasher. Pretty much any toy
    that is waterproof can go in the dishwasher. If your child likes to put
    toys in their mouth then skip the dishwasher liquid and use vinegar as a
    safer alternative.
  • You can wash little swimmers. Since little swimmers do not soak up liquid like regular disposable diapers, you can turn them inside out and toss them in the washing machine to reuse again. *Note: You will only be able to wash them a couple times before the layers start to peel apart, after that it is a good idea to toss them. NEVER wash regular disposable diapers.
  • Plastic Easter eggs
    are the perfect size for holding snacks in your kids lunch box and they are reusable! 
  • If your child is going through a dozen drinking glasses a day, designate a single plastic drinking cup to each child then glue a couple magnets
    to the back and store them on the fridge. 
  • Hang a tiered fruit basket from your shower rod to store kids bath toys.
  • To remove a splinter from a child make a past with baking soda and water and apply to the splinter. Cover with a band aid and wait several minutes for the splinter to pop out. 
  • Remove urine stains from a mattress. Mix 8 ounces of
    hydrogen peroxide, 3 tablespoons baking soda, and a small squirt of dawn
    dish soap. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and spray the entire
    stain. Wait for the stain to dry (about an hour) then vacuum up any
    excess residue.
  • Place worksheets and printable activities inside sheet protectors and use with dry erase markers. Your child can simply wipe the sheet clean and write on them over and over again.
  • Place a silica pack inside pumpkins after they have been carved to help them last longer.
  • Keep apple slices from turning brown in your child’s lunch bag. After slicing the apple, put the pieces back together and secure with a rubber band. Doing this will keep air from getting to the cut side and keep the apple fresh.
  • If you have a picky eater that refuses to try new foods just add a dash of rainbow colored sprinkles. Sprinkles make everything fun! 
  • Glitter doesn’t have to be a pain to clean up. Just use a lint roller
    and roll it over the spilled glitter.
  • Put a stop to that nighttime cough. If your child has a cough that just won’t go away, rub vapor rub
    on the bottom of their feet and put socks over them before bedtime.
  • Keep sticky Popsicle messes to a minimum. Before you give your child a Popsicle, poke a hole in the center of a cupcake liner
    and slip it over the Popsicle stick. The liner will catch any drips from the Popsicle as it melts.  
  • It’s never fun to find used Kleenexes scattered around the house when your child is sick. Use tape or rubber bands to attach an empty Kleenex box to a full one. The empty one acts as a mobile trash bin for your child to toss their used Kleenexes into.
  • Make your own inexpensive watercolors from dried out markers. Fill a small jar with water, remove the lid from your dried out marker and place them upside down in the water. Leave the markers in the water overnight and in the morning you will have your own watercolors. 
  • If you have a sick child, place a vinyl table cloth other the couch or chair they are laying on. The fuzzy side of the table cloth will keep it from slipping around on the couch and the vinyl side is easily washable to keep germs from spreading.
  • If your traveling with babies or toddlers, bring a role of painters tape
    to place over any outlets to temporarily baby proof a hotel room.  
  • If you have more than one child, use a dot method to keep track of which clothes belong to each child. With a permanent marker draw one dot on your oldest child’s clothes, two dots for the second oldest, and so on. Once your child outgrows an outfit, just draw an extra dot and pass it down to the next child.
  • Use a glue gun to close the holes in kids bath toys
    to keep water from getting inside the toys. When water sits inside a toy for long periods of time it will grow mold and can lead to sickness.
  • If your kids like to pull the straws out of their cups and make a mess, use a crazy straw
    instead. Insert the crazy straw upside-down so that it will be harder for little hands to yank it out.
  • A cheap thrift store camera bag
    makes a perfect alternative to a diaper bag. Most of them have tons of pockets inside and out to organize all of those baby essentials. 
  • Those of you who have been through the potty training stage with your child, know how much of a pain it can be to clean up after a bed wetting accident in the middle of the night. Here is a trick. Line the mattress with puppy training pads
    and place a fitted sheet over the top, then place another layer of puppy training pads followed by another fitted sheet. If your child has an accident in the middle of the night just take off the first layer.
    The top layer of pads will soak up any liquid and keep the bottom sheet dry so that your child can crawl right back in bed. Place the soiled sheet in the wash and toss the soaked puppy pads in the trash and your all done. 
  • Make Tooth Fairy money by gluing glitter to a few dollar bills.
  • An inflatable kiddie pool
    in your living room can provide a safe place for baby to play. You can also take an inflatable pool to the beach to keep babies and toddlers from stuffing handfuls of sand in their mouth.
  • For an easy way to give an infant medicine, cut a hole in the tip of a pacifier
    and place the medicine dropper inside.
  • If your child shoes are extra slippery use a glue gun to create a few lines across the bottom to add extra grip. 
  • Place a Command Hook
    on the back of your child’s high chair to keep extra bibs within arms reach.
  • Phone numbers can be hard for little kids to memorize. Next time you are out and about with your child, place a temporary safety tattoo on their arm.  
  • Keep your kids from wasting all the hand soap. Wrap a rubber band around the neck of the pump bottle. The rubber band will stop the pump from pumping out a ton of soap so your kids will end up with just the right amount.
  • Cut a few inches off the end of a pool noodle, then cut a slit down one side. Slide it over the edge of a door to keep kids from slamming the door shut.

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