Mumsnet users tell Disney Junior their best parenting hacks

[EllieMumsnet]

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No matter your child’s age, if you have tips for encouraging them to help around the house, how to overcome fear of the doctor or dentist or knowing the little things to remember every time you step out with the family, Disney Junior UK wants to hear them.

Here’s what Disney Junior UK has to say: “A child is the greatest gift you can have but we know being a parent can be stressful at times. Our shows like Vampirina and PJ Masks, aim to spark little conversations around everyday problems that can sometimes be difficult for parents and children, and provide fun solutions for them. Disney Junior UK has now launched a new Parenting Hacks podcast with Helen Skelton to bring together parents, experts and special guests to explore tips, tricks and ways to provide more support to busy parents.”

Have you found the best ways to turn household chores into games? What’s your best trick to stop a supermarket tantrum? Do you have a life-changing laundry hack that has been passed down through generations? Perhaps you have tips that will help other busy parents at meal times? Or what about the little tricks that you’ve learnt to encourage your child to use their imagination?

Whatever your best parenting hacks are, share them on the thread below. Everyone who comments will be entered into a prize draw, and one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

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We encourage them to help us so by saying do this and you can earn this... They soon understand if they want to do what they are asking for. Not a tip but strong & loving parenting which simply works.

try to reward them for showing responsibility

Create a story hero or heroine for your child, who is like them in some way. Tell them stories about their character to inspire or reassure them. 'Katherine The Brave' does it for my daughter!

I have heard from almost every parent that their kids don't eat food properly, do not like certain fruits or vegetables but not in my case. If my child doesn't like Banana I don't forcefully make them eat. I decorate it in the plate by making faces or their favourite cartoon characters that they don't even realize they are eating banana. They always want fun in everything they do. So be creative with your children

Routines have always worked really well for our family.

Also encouraging our children to help with chores and cooking etc, which now means they both have some very useful life skills.

The art of negotiation is the hack of parenting!

Every time you go in your room put 5 things away! I have to remind them everytime but it does help keep their room a bit tidier.

My hacks have mostly been pinched from Mumsnet which is a great place for ideas and discussion. My DD was taken to the dentist from being a babe in arms when I had my appointments so no problems & she loved the sticker choice, & little samples of toothpaste. Putting toys away became a game of learning to count together.

Positive reinforcement!

If one twin is being particularly naughty I try and reinforce the positive behaviour of the other twin encouraging the acting up twin to get involved, which they always do as they can't resist and then I lavish praise on them both so they know it's the good behaviour that gets the attention.

Give your children your time and your love, let them know they can always come to you with their problems and that together you will work on solving them.

I play a tidy up song to encourage my 3yo to tidy up her toys. She loves it and it works a treat.

It's so easy to come up with parenting hacks. A few hours ago I was visiting my partner (we don't live together) and her daughter wouldn't eat the crusts on her bread. She is 7 and obsessed with minecraft so I told her "eating crusts makes you smarter and better at minecraft. Why do you think i'm so great at minecraft? I always eat my crusts".

2 minutes later she had eaten all the crusts

Tidy up songs, routines for bedtime, egg timer tablet time!

I find star reward charts help and then when they get a certain number of stars they get a treat.

For a quiet life just before Christmas I gave them a piece of paper and told them to write their list to Santa, kept them quiet for nearly a hour!

To all ways tell the truth and to own what they did.

When ever they did something naughty, mine where told if they told the truth they wouldn't be in as much trouble than if they lied. And the truth all ways comes out.

When they where little, depending on the 'crime" if they told the truth they wouldn't be in trouble if it was a small thing and if it was a bigger thing I would all ways explain that I was proud of them for telling the truth but sometimes there will be still be punishments.

My boys are now 9 and 13 and whilst they have their moments, I can count on them telling the truth and something that school all ways comments on.

Be honest about everything, they won't trust you if you lie! I've always explained things properly at their age level if any questions are asked!

Involving the child with things that you do around the house just makes it a normal part of life. Helping tidying up or getting things off the supermarket shelf keeps them involved and helps them learn. It is just as much quality time as playing or reading. It might take a bit longer to get anything done, but it is time well spent!

I turned the chore of pairing washed/dried socks wash into a game - throw them all into a big pile pile on the floor and the kids race to see who can get most paired up!

Make chores into a game or challenge (I bet I can wash up quicker than you can dry up etc).

biggest thing for us to make sure things like chores and supermarket trips don't come as a surprise. Reminding DS beforehand that "remember, after tea you'll need to do xxx" means he hasn't got into his head that it'll be playtime leading to inevitable disappointment when it isn't.

Positive reinforcement works well

Involvement in as many tasks as possible - shopping for example - makes a huge difference to behaviour - just a bit of responsibility helps enormously in many other ways too.

For supermarket shopping I always let them choose one of the family meals each week and they then need to find all the ingredients we need. I also use the scan and shop facility, the kids take turns in using the scanning gun, shopping is loaded straight into bags in the trolley and it’s usually done without tantrums (theirs or mine).

when our Dcs were younger that was the easy time getting them to do tidying up etc. They were always enthusiastic especially when it was turned into a game or part of our routine. Teenage Dcs are different entirely, still working this out