Mumsnet needs your best parenting tips!

[Justine (mumsnet)]

As part of the publicity for our forthcoming TV extravaganza - Mums the Word on Discovery Health (due on Nov 8th) - we are putting together a piece for the Guardian on mums' the top tips/ advice/ mantras from the parenting front line. It's supposed to be fairly light-hearted and witty - which is where you come in - and can be anything from something you wish you'd known much earlier to a really practical solution to an everyday parenting problem that you never would have dreamed would have worked before you'd tried it. The idea is to be a bit more colourful/ amusing than our usual daily tip on the home page so feel free to embellish a bit and use anecdotes. Many thanks in advance - can't wait to see them.

my mum gave me a poster that says

mothers of little boys are busy from son up to son down (I think it should be before and after personally !).

Serious tip - young babies get tired very quickly - and overtired baby is a nightmare.

You can never have too many pairs of wellies .

Don't buy a yellow potty.

Rediscover nursery rhymes- I can keep my dd occupied for ages anywhere by singing to her.

These are fab, hilarious and oh so true! Thanks. Keep em coming.

Wish someone had told me that pureed carrots stain

If you learn to think how much fun it could be, stuff like your child splashing in puddles and making mud pies when you've just got them dressed to see their MIL can be funny

Baby wipes are not just for babies, they also work on stains on the couch, polishing wood, cleaning shoes .. you name it baby wipes work and are the single greatest invention known to man

Other people find it weird that your child loves broccoli but won't eat a sandwich

Other people also think you're mean when you give your DS a piece of bread with nothing on it .. you'd be surprised at how a 3 year old can freak when you mess up his bread with stuff like butter or cheese

when babies cry they're tired, if they've just woken up and cry they're hungry, if they've just fed and cry they're bored, if they've just played and cry they're tired .. .and round and round and round it goes

To add to twigletts comment- baby wipes are excellent on leather sofas as well- never mind the expensive leather cleaner- there's nothing like babywipes for getting milk and sick etc off a leather suite

When weaning a child with reflux, avoid avocado at all costs (unless you are an 'Exorcist' fan)

Dress out of sight of your child unless you are comfortable with 'Daddy bits in purple knickers' and 'Mummy wobbly tits in bra' announced in a booming 2 year old voice in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

When out of the house, most eventualities can be catered for by carrying: four baby wipes in a nappy bag, a folded up stand-up nappy, a small packet of coloured pencils, a blank notebook and a small packet of smarties.

Tell your child that the proper name for dried fruit is 'sweeties'.

Children need boundries and you need child free time. Establish a bedtime and stick to it (within reason). You will ALL benefit.

Take the keys out of every door in your house.

A friend's two year old has recently locked himself in the bathroom, and had to be rescued by the firebrigade. (He enjoyed it, the parent's didn't...200 Euros for the fire brigade, and another 400 Euros to get a new door fitted!)

all this talk of vomit and no one has mentioned that the most effective way of getting rid of vomit smell is to use a solution of soda bicarb! (or a paste that can be vacuumed up when it is dried)

Remember that having the anarchism of a toddler to hide behind gives you a perfect free rein to do all those things in public you only ever dreamed about ... I performed Baa Baa Black Sheep in a pretty good soprano while standing on one leg on a bollard outside Tate Modern this week. Last week I did my rap version of Rock-a-bye-baby lying on the floor of the British Museum Great Hall.

Alas, I'm still waiting to be discovered ...

So that mad womna was you was it prefer not

Take all their clothes off at meal times when they start to feed themselves and have a straw handy to suck out peas shoved up nostrils.

following on from that one - no bib is ever big enough...

The addage that 'Mother knows best' is true and remember that you are the mother and no-one knows your child like you will.

Also - don't buy a huge pram with all the gubbins. I got by on a car seat that clipped into a chassis until DD was 9 months then switched to the cheapest lightest buggy I could find.

Of course if you have twins then .....

if breastfeeding, keep baby's fingernails short... they pinch.

if stared at whilst breastfeeding in public, offer you other boob to the person staring.. 'want some?'. they will stop staring.

Hoovers, hairdryers, car journeys are good for inducing sleep in small babies, not so good for parents at 3 in the am. [ wink]

Baby wipes are brilliant for cleaning in general. Keep a packet handy in all rooms.

When breastfeeding, make sure your other nipple has sufficient padding, unless you like the wet t-shirt affect.

buy ice cube trays for weaning

Spod- you didn't did you???

the breastfeeding one not the ice cube trays

Spod, what if they said yes please?