For many parents, the words ‘tired’ and ‘busy’ take on whole new meanings once they have a howling newborn in their arms. No wonder time-saving parenting hacks are so popular!
Here are some of our favourite tips from the new book Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids.
1. Use a lint roller to remove debris from the bottom of a nappy bag.
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For the next couple of years, you’ll live out of your nappy bag. What starts as a neatly organized tote inevitably morphs into a catch-all for crumbly snacks, forgotten bottles, dirty clothes and random toys.
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Betweeen washes, swipe the inside of the bag with a lint roller to catch crumbs, fluff and other flotsam.
2. How to get trousers onto a baby
Ever try to get floppy or kicking baby legs into a pair of trousers or pajamas with no crotch snaps? Given how many nappy changes you have ahead of you, this baby-dressing hack is good to know.
Instead of struggling to scoot the trousers over the ankles and up the legs, place your hand inside the bottom of one trouser leg and pull it over your forearm. With your baby lying down, grab his foot and peel the pant leg off your arm and onto his leg. Repeat with the other leg.
3. Clip your baby’s fingernails while they’re in the front carrier.
Baby fingers are tiny. Baby fingernails? Minuscule. And they must be trimmed! Frequently! With a sharp metal clipper! While attached to floppy baby hands!
Hold your baby in a front-facing carrier while clipping their nails. They’ll stay calm and relatively immobile, and you’ll have two hands available to snip with precision.
4. Mark the hot tap with a red ponytail band.
As your toddler gains bath experience, they’ll want to experiment with those tempting handles, knobs, and taps. Remind them to avoid the hot water tap by wrapping it with a red ponytail holder. ‘Don’t touch the red’ is easier to communicate than ‘Don’t touch the H.’
5. A dry flannel keeps soap out of kids’ eyes
Even the ‘tearless’ variety of shampoo stings. Avoid the problem altogether by holding a dry flannel over or above your kid’s eyes as you rinse the suds out. No more tears, for real.
6. Use a pillowcase as a cot sheet.
If your newborn will spend the first few months sleeping in a cot, forgo the tiny sheets. Instead, slip the mattress into a standard-size pillowcase and firmly tuck any loose fabric underneath.
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7. Exercise balls make great bouncers for fussy babies.
Is your exercise equipment lying neglected? You’ll get back to your workouts soon enough. In the meantime, hold your fussy baby while gently bouncing on a fitness ball or mini- trampoline.
8. Flatten the toilet paper to slow its rotation.
Potty training involves more than just learning to use the toilet. Kids also must learn to use toilet paper: how much to tear from the roll, the proper scrunching technique, and the mechanics of wiping.
Toddlers don’t have the manual dexterity to control the spin of the toilet paper roll, so a lot of it ends up on the floor in a messy heap.
Before you put the toilet roll onto the holder, squash the roll flat. The uneven skipping will slow the spin.
From Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids by Asha Dornfest (Workman). Illustrations by Craighton Berman. Copyright ©2016.
