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??!

If your child happens to burn their hand trying to keep it under cold running water is next to impossible, instead putting ice cubes in a small bowl of cold water for them to play with (supervised) means they are likely to keep it there for a lot longer.

Vest trick genius....wish I'd known years ago...son now 17!

Ditto Rubyflint

potato I assumed that by "rigid" pp meant the trick my baby DD does where she screams usually because her daddy tried to make her wear clothes and wouldn't let her kick around naked and gets so cross she tenses all of her leg muscles and balls up her fists (and shakes them at you like a caricature of an angry old bloke). When that happens she won't bend in the middle AT ALL and standing her up works quite well!

Calpol (any medicine) mixed with icing sugar - spread on top of a fairy cake

tear a tiny corner off a packet of milky buttons and give to toddler. Takes them ages to fertle them out and the white chocolate doesn't make a mess. Use this one for Doctors waiting rooms or public transport - can give you half an hour's peace

edible glitter sprinkled on top of broccoli

put creams on skin when they are asleep - my son hated having cream on his eczema

Ooh recall yy to sleeping cream application, I also cut DD's nails when she's sleeping, so much easier.

Agree to the nails while sleeping!! I spend ages filing them carefully instead of attacking her with the bail scissors while she's fighting me!

Baconyum I second the incontinence pants ( or granny nappies as I like to call them). They were my saviour in labour when my waters had broke and postpartum for weeks after. Much easier than messing about sticking towel a towel in knickers when you are sore. Just rip off to change.
We're great with my second when I had a section too.
Midwife thought it was amazing. Had never seen before. No one had recommended, I just had a moment of inspiration at the supermarket.

prefold wilful toddlers so you can avoid the need to karate chop them across the middle to get them into their carseats

it's hard to describe but if you imagine a newborn sleeping in a tight pile with their knees up, that's the shape you are aiming for

scoop them up, your arm under their knees, and the other round the back and under their arms, sort of roll them in towards you in a tight hug, removing the arm under the knees, fling open car door, lean over car seat and sort of drop them in.....so long as you keep the knees up they cannot spring themselves out.

works well in a two door car if you can step into the space behind the front seat

Talc inside a swimming hat makes easier to put on.

Or when actually in the pool - turn inside swimming cap inside out, fill with water, hold above dc head and plop it down on their head, goes on a treat! (Difficult with girls with long hair obviously, as they normally have to hold ponytail up, but short hair is fine)

Just had my 3rd and my trick is to always use a mix of Greek yoghurt with regular (cheaper) flavored yoghurt. For toddlers it sticks to the spoon and has less sugar in it.

Love the sticker trick. Dd figured it out and did it herself when we were driving up to Canada. Also, if FF always rinse the bottle as soon as you have finished feeding. It's so much easier to clean them in the dishwasher (we have a sanitize cycle but I think any hot cycle will do).

Recall - just had a moment reading your calpol tip, thinking "why would you do that?" and then realising it was to make them take their medicine, rather than as an alternative cake topping. I'm blaming nappy brain.

Pulling up to traffic lights on red everyone in the car bets how many seconds before they turn to Amber then everyone counts until they do and the closest wins For peace in the car and to help the smallest learn their numbers. Worked for dd (now 21) and ds (17)...

My boys loved exciting slug and snail safaris in the garden after dark armed with tongs, a torch and a small bucket of salt water each. The winner was the one who collected the most. Dad's job was to take the slugs to a new home (well that's what we told them). 😉

Saracen!

That is BRILLIANT!

I'm a bit upset by slug massacre. I'll live but sad for the slugs.

Menopausal rubbish, it's never too late! I learned the vest trick on here a couple of years ago aged 57 and have just put it into action on a grandchild. I've never before been so excited about changing a nappy.

at placemat king SummerRosie!

For burping the baby I pretend the baby is riding a horse, sitting the baby on my leg, holding them under the arms. The burps come out very quickly. DH is 6'3" and he stands up quickly. For the first he would run up the stairs.

For burping though, sometimes you do need to rub and hit the back. The rubbing is more effective than the slapping IME.

With DS, he had awful colic/reflux and I used a diaper with the leg around his neck. The curve of the diaper caught nearly all of the liquid and it was absorbed easily. It was a huge time saver, especially at night as both the feeder and DS would need to change clothes.

prefold wilful toddlers
love it!
All these tips are too late for me - but hoping for grandkids...

At the supermarket if your little one is holding on to an item they've become attached to then pick up another one to be scanned. It avoids a lot of stress for all.

Saw this too late to try on my DDs but looks amazing - how to stop newborn baby crying:

You can try soft sleep bras to wear breast pads at night - no issue with leaks or mastitis. Lensinoh pads are the best - I often use them for more than one day if I have not had a leak. They are worth the extra cost as they absorb MASSIVE amounts without any problem and stick well.

sharing, sticker genius!