The two parenting tricks that I learned years too late.

[SharingMichelle]

1. Give them music and headphones for long car journeys. Shuts them right up. My eldest is 10 and I've only recently learned this.

1. Peel the negative space off the sticker sheet and your small child can peel off the stickers independently. Without ripping them. Yes, even cheap stickers. WHY didn't anyone tell me this one??!

Who takes a hot water bottle swimming?!

You can lick sand out of their eyes on the beach. Revolting but better than sore scratched eyes. And yes to talc for dusting off sand from hands etc.

You can buy reusable puree pouches for fruit and save a fortune instead of buying ella etc.

Washable nappy wipes also brilliant and thrifty.

Wipe barrier cream eg vaseline on newborn bottom to make meconium sticky first poo easier to wipe off.

Stickers
DP is on his fourth child and the envelope vests was news to him last week.
You can sandpaper burnt carpet, takes off the melted bit just leaving fibres, might be a little lower than the rest of the pile but much less noticeable.

When it comes to winding babies, I've never been convinced that all that jiggling and patting is any more helpful than simply holding the baby in an upright position for a while.

Therefore, if you cosleep, then after feeding the baby you may be able to get away without winding her properly. Prop baby in a sitting position with her back against you, holding her upright with your arm. Go back to sleep. With luck, by the time your arm relaxes and she topples over into a horizontal position, she'll have had her belch(es).

placemarking

If you're breastfeeding and have leaky boobs at night, don't bother wearing a top as it will only get soaked anyway, and who wants to sleep in a wet shirt? Lie on top of a bath towel and put another one across your chest to absorb the trickles so they don't tickle you annoyingly. If even that gets soaked, you can quickly swap it for another - easier than changing a shirt in the middle of the night.

On a similar note, at night or when slobbing around the house, if you are troubled by sore hard breasts then put a t-shirt on and go braless. The friction of the shirt against your nipples can cause you to leak milk, which eases discomfort and prevents engorgement. Wet t-shirts are a small price to pay for avoiding mastitis.

Have a pack of nice huge incontinence towels on hand for after the birth. If you have a heavy flow in the first few days after giving birth you will find those "maternity towels" are a joke, hardly any better than normal sanitary towels.

The last thing you need when you are recovering from childbirth is to be changing extra bedsheets or getting up extra times in the night to change your maternity towel.

Ooo I've always done the sticker thing, even when I was a kid myself. Can't believe I've done something right! Lol

I like the music and headphones thing. I've done too many long journeys with constant bickering in the back of the car. Sod the i spy games, they never last long enough anyway. I'm getting sets of headphones. Thank you :-)

I'd recommend incontinence pants not just pads for :
Post birth
Post mc
Diarrhoea (you or the kids)

They're very comfy and if you're ill/weak just throwing away rather than accumulating laundry that may need hand soaking is much easier.

For vomitty people (children ok enough to cope with this and adults)

Plastic carrier/small bin bag lined with news or kitchen paper, again just throw after use or cheapo tea towels

Re swimming hot water bottle a bit cumbersome I used a couple of those cracky hand warmer things.

That post also reminded me (and again top tip for adults/older kids too)

When putting your stuff away in the locker make sure towel/shampoo/conditioner on top so you don't get other stuff wet hunting for em!

When the baby goes rigid while screaming, stand it up. Less blood rush to the head, tires them out quicker, and stimulates leg growth and core strength. We think this is why DD is nearly 6 foot.

If you are using squeezy paint put a piece of kitchen roll in the container/ paint pallet first. Then when done throw away without any need for washing up (for a primary school teacher this saves a lot of time and wet children- when they try to wash up . Also works with paper towels)

Ds loves to play with pull down light switch in the bathroom so he regularly is distracted by that whilst we brush his teeth. That or hold him upside down but think that might just be him being odd! Like the song from earlier we regularly sing to keep us same!

When you need new clothes for your DC, take an item of their clothes with you so you can compare sizes ie these trousers are too short so the new ones need to be longer. Takes the guess work away

Here's a few more!
parenting hacks

The monster spray (just water) one is also great if children are scared at bed time. Can also be calm down spray or silent working spray!

Ooh yes the talc trick I only learnt last year but i always keep some in the car incase we go to the beach. Rub it all over them and they are nice and clean well not sandy anyway

Put the shirt you have been wearing all day in the cot with your baby and then if they stir in the night they think you are next to them. Sounds skanky but works a treat - thanks sil!

When painting, use empty egg boxes - shaped bits for different colours and flat bits to put paint brush down. Then throw when all done!

When you have older kids, give them the most challenging jobs in the house instead of the easiest. They are less likely to rebel, because it's interesting. They get more praise and admiration and feel better about themselves. You end up with someone quite competent who can handle most anything.

So, instead of getting them to hoover or empty the dishwasher, have them cook the family dinner, use the internet to diagnose the cause of the alarming noise the washing machine is making, do the family supermarket shop, replace the flooring in the kitchen, research a cheaper utilities deal by looking at gas and electric schemes, or plan the rail journey for your family's day out.

Saracen- sleep bras? Breast pads?!

As for walking round with Tshirt rubbing on sore nipples....

One I learnt on here (it isn't rocket science though, really!) is to put toddler's duvet sideways and tuck the ends in at each side, to stop them falling out! Still using it for 2 yo dd.

Cross posted with Saracen but blimey, your last post re: older children is GENIUS!

The sticker one and the L for left ones are genius, thanks. I've just told the second one to dp, who doesn't know his left from his right

When you take a small baby swimming, take a dressing gown for yourself to wear while you dry and dress the baby so you aren't freezing cold. Also good if you need to feed the baby by the side of the pool.

RubyFlint my variation on that is used when I want to summon my teenagers downstairs - I switch the router off and wait. It doesn't take long.

Mine is that baby vests have those weird necks so you can pull them down and off when they shit up their backs. Was on my second child when I realised this. Really - we have three children, the oldest is fifteen, and I didn't realise that. Bit too late now

When the baby goes rigid while screaming, stand it up
When the baby what? If my kids went rigid if be calling a paramedic

LittleHouse ha ha yes I shall nick that one for when DD is older