Let's hear your "why didn't I think of this before" parenting moments

[geekymommy]

DD (will be 3 in August) was home sick yesterday. She kept asking us to give her medicine, as she does not yet understand why taking too much paracetamol is bad. We had been trying to explain to her that too much medicine is bad. Then yesterday evening, DH used the mouth syringe we were using to give her medicine to give her a little paracetamol mixed with water. (She can drink medicine from a cup, but didn't want to this time) After she finished that, she asked for more. He gave her plain water in the syringe, which she happily took. I thought "why didn't we think of this before?" It would have worked a lot better than trying to explain to a sick toddler at 2am why taking too much medicine is bad.

Let's hear some of your parenting moments like this.

We've been fighting at nap times since 18months after 2 months it occured to me to just stop and just tell him 'if you want a nap get in the pram' and he does just that if he needs a náp he gets in the pram if not he doesn't.

Stand up nappy changes.

Snacks and only his snacks on a shelf in the fridge he can reach. Cutlery for him in a lower drawer and water where he can get to it.

That and when ever possible dress and let him pottle around the garden, and that having his own tools makes him hapy to help rake, sweep, shovel, move wood, paint etc which means we can get on with actually doing the jobs.

I have three boys and have learnt the following...

Just buy black socks, don't bother trying to keep pairs together.

Feed toddlers ice cream in a cone for pudding for ten minutes of blissful peace. They are absorbed in scoffing and you don't need to wash up the dishes afterwards.

Invite 4-5 kids for tea after school at once. It may be two hours of hell, but the pay back will be x 5 play dates, when you can enjoy 5 days of no school run. Win win!

If one wants a drink, they all want a drink - including the baby.

A baby will not melt/combust if she is left to cry for five minutes whilst you shower etc

A dummy is a necessary evil for most breastfed babies - unless you like the baby permentantly attached to your nipple.

A child will be far happier scooting than walking so a micro scooter is a wise investment

Dcs weren't so keen on savoury purées when weaning so use to alternate one spoon savoury and one spoon yogurt/fruit which meant dinner was finished double quick.

Excellent thread.

My dd is 9yo this is what I have learned!

Most things are a phase - this goes for pretty much everything. Don't assume because they don't like something this week that they will still not like it next week

My dd has sensory issues and I had a complete lightbulb moment when I realised this after reading something on fb about it feel guilty in hindsight as always just thought she was overly fussy/ sensitive!

Always take something for them to do when in a restaurant or waiting anywhere (this is slightly easier now that dd will play on my phone!)

The little ride on machines are always broken (saves having to deal with a tantruming toddler when you say no)

Various shops are always closed (toys r us, smyths, McDonald's)

I also didn't realise about the vests until baby no3

Always wear the same perfume, after shave or body spray from day one.

If you go out for the evening and have grandparents/babysitter spray them with the same scent. A baby who wakes up restless can sometimes be calmed by the 'smell' of their parent.

Sounds mad but it has worked for me. Honest.

Keep any pictures/paintings they've done on a drawer. Fold in half, write inside and use as birthday/thank you cards etc for grandparents etc. I got away with this for years as grandparents thought the picture had been created especially for them. Everyone's a winner!

Wear a big colourful scarf. Covers the stuff they smeared on you, turns into a breastfeeding coverup, extra baby blanket, toddler sarong (in case of accidents), pushchair sunshade, playmat, peepbo game and bag for random stuff picked up. Possibly not all in the same day though.

When dd was getting twitchy about starting preschool at 2.5yrs she asked if I was coming in with her and I said "no way! Mummies don't go to preschool, it's just for children!!!!" This made her giggle thinking how silly it was for mummies to go to preschool and has worked at most other events where I have to leave her.

When you need a lie down, playing Doctors/ hairdressers will give you that opportunity (as long as you don't mind being messed with a bit!)

Oh!

don't make afuss if they fall over and havent' really hurt themselves a "Oppsydaisy" or "up you get then" does wonders. Mine all pick themselves up and carry on.

You can pretty much always tell when they've actually hurt themselves. so when it's a small pain a "do you want me to rub it better" or a pretend giant slobbery kiss often makes the 'pain' go away.

:)

Cut the feet off sleep babygros to get another month out of them.
As they get older make everything into a competition - who can get dressed first, who can get the most spellings right etc
Treats don't have to be extravagant, our kids love all piling into our bed on a Saturday night for popcorn and and a film.
For Gods sake if you travel more than ten minutes by car buy a headrest dvd system.

I told my daughter that she didnt like coke a cola and when we went out or she went to a party she just said I don't like that can I have water ? worked a treat and she is in her 20's and no fillings ! unfortunately it didnt work so well with her younger sister who came home from a party and announced Mum guess what I DO like coke it tastes nice ! I had to mutter really?

I set up an email account for our daughter, every picture I take is sent to her along with stories etc, not only will I never lose a photo this was, she will have notes, pics etc of all of her life and a useable email address when she is older!

Also my dd2 loves having her hair brushed, not so keen on sitting and reading - I'll brush your hair while you read, stop if you stop -half an hour later of calm reading then ready for bed!!

Haven't read the thread.

My epiphany was this - BABIES CRY WHEN THEY ARE TIRED AND IF YOU LEAVE THEM TO IT THEY GO TO SLEEP.

No idea why I wasn't told that in advance!

Babies don't need to know that food can be eaten hot ... I thought that was such a good idea ... But now DD (8) will only eat tepid food. And complains about having to do the washing up in hot water. If you want your child to be your slave help in the house, introduce warm water early ..

Everything is a phase!!!!
When weaning or feeding a toddler they don't do dinner then pudding like adults. Mix up dinner and pudding to help eat a complete meal if they bored.

The most useful one I heard (on here iirc) was if you have a reluctant teeth brusher pretend you can see their favourite characters in their mouth...for example, oh I see Elsa back there (toothbrush in and quick brush) I wonder if Anna is the other side, etc, etc. It really does work wonders with preschoolers and made life so much easier!!

MadAunt that's genius! Obvious but not so bloody obvious that I had thought of it!! My DD isn't keen on reading but loves having her back scratched!

Brilliant thread! Trying to come up with something to add... Learning lots though!

Who is the eejut who said that children need baths every night? If they are not dirty, no bath. So much less messing around. More time for a cuddle and stories.

Always. Sit. Down. To eat. The time I have saved by only having crumbs on one area of the floor!

A variation on Madaunt's trick. DS was a reluctant poo-er. If anything more interesting was going on he would just hold it in and say he didn't need to, which led to soiling and even constipation.
So bribery happened in the form of reading him a book aloud "one page, one push" when he was sitting on the toilet. Worked like magic!