Parent Hacks

Parenthacker's toolkit: stuff every parent needs

When sharing the link for the baking soda shampoo hack on Twitter and Facebook, I joked about how baking soda should be part of a collection of must-have multitaskers for busy parents: the Parenthacker's Toolkit. A flood of responses came back suggesting what else should be on the list. Here's...

Read more →

Wet hair, cold head? Wear a hat to bed!

Bring back the stocking cap! Tracy did and it kept her daughter cozy in bed while keeping heating bills low: My daughter took a bath before bed and was uncomfortable and cold because her hair was wet. Being that this time of year the heat doesn't always kick in as...

Read more →

Reclining high chair makes for hands-free snot sucking and medicine-giving

Kelly Rose's sick-baby-containment tip: My 11 month-old is battling pneumonia right now, so we've had to use a nasal aspirator and give him medicine, both of which he hates and struggles against. We have a high chair that reclines (Fisher Price Space Saver), so I put him in the high...

Read more →

Reading is fun (and crunchy!) with letter-shaped cookies

via flexibledreams.blogspot.com Look what Amy of Flexible Dreams is doing with Trader Joe's Cinnamon Schoolhouse cookies. I should say: look what her kids are doing! Smart and fun. Read the full post for more photos and ideas. Thanks for sharing this on the Facebook page, Amy!

Read more →

Tips for reducing terror at the doctor's office

For some kids, even the most routine doctor's visit is terrifying -- and traumatic for you. Here's how Alexandra helped calm the fear.

Read more →

Book giveaway: Rabbit's Year

via leechbabe.com Wise and wonderful Parenthacker Marita is giving away a copy of the picture book Rabbit's Year...a sweet story that teaches kids about Chinese New Year and about how to make friends. Click over to Stuff With Thing enter. (Thanks for the heads up via Facebook, Marita!)

Read more →

Vomit hack: Keep the training potty nearby

Vomit is an inevitable topic around here. Reading about kid puke may be gross, but it beats cleaning carpet and changing sheets in the middle of the night, right? Thank you for this, Shimona! I don’t know about anyone else’s kids, but for mine, it’s not very comfortable to lean...

Read more →

Bed bug prevention: Ziploc Big Bags or a sealed plastic storage box

As a follow-up to our discussion about avoiding bed bugs in used clothing, one of the suggestions was to seal second-hand purchases in a Ziploc bag before putting them directly into the wash. It occured to me that keeping a stash of Ziploc Big Bags in the trunk would be...

Read more →

Avoiding bed bugs in used clothing

If you're a buyer of second-hand kids' clothes, a lover of the "free bin," or a garage sale or thrift store shopper, you need to be wary about bedbugs. Bedbugs are making a comeback across the United States and can stow away in furniture, mattresses, clothing...just about anything. I'm not...

Read more →

Cartoon stickers on healthy snack packaging increase kid appeal

via www.snack-girl.com Sigh. I appreciate this post by Snack Girl, aka Lisa/@Snack_Girl_, but it also crushes me a little. Through no fault of Lisa's! Her post brings to light a study that shows, yes indeed, cartoon characters on food packaging -- even healthy food such as fresh fruit -- makes...

Read more →

Homemade flash cards help kids pack their own lunches

via nylonthread.blogspot.com Our recent brainstorming session on encouraging kids to eat their school lunches inspired this amazing project. Based on several Parenthackers' suggestions, Alanna was looking to teach her kids to pack their own lunches. She came up with this: flash cards. Remarkable. Read the full post at Tied To...

Read more →

Cook a mixture of brown and white rice in the same pot

For kids who are "sure" they hate brown rice, this method adds whole grains but keeps cleanup easy.

Read more →

Bandaids as temporary outlet covers

Ah, the creativity that comes from necessity. Amy's travel babyproofing hack: We rented a little cabin in very rural South Dakota over the holiday. Because it was so far away from any town we packed our food and most every thing else that we needed except...outlet covers for little fingers!...

Read more →

Cover healing umbilical cord site with a cotton nursing pad

Kim calls this the "rising moon." When I saw her hack in my inbox, I thought it had something to do with Twilight mania! Then I remembered the book is called New Moon, and that I'm not as connected to pop culture as a few other people I know. (Hey,...

Read more →

Make a photo collage of your kid's facial expressions

via blog.carynsaidyes.com Gorgeous idea from Chris at CarynSaidYes.com: catalog your kid's emotional states and facial expressions in the form of a photo collage. Thank you, @IrishGirl, for passing along the link!

Read more →