Parent Hacks

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 →

The Sharpie Sex Change

via www.gluesky.com It's a tiny hack, but that photo is worth a thousand words. And thank you, Vanessa, not only for pointing it out, but for letting me snag the post title I'm sure you were dying to use yourself.

Read more →

Cucumber-dill yogurt "teacup snacks"

via www.fixmeasnack.com My mention of Edible Teacups in one of the link roundups prompted Cindy to send me a link to this idea in her blog...which also reminded her kid Willy Wonka teacups! Cindy's post is part of a series she wrote about 101 ways to flavor plain yogurt.

Read more →

How to Make a Cheap, Low-Profile Wooden Bed Frame

via www.instructables.com Eric Wilhelm made this simple low-to-the-ground bedframe so his baby daughter could sleep on the bed without a long fall (if it ever came to that). Great idea for a toddler bed as well!

Read more →

Best of Parent Hacks: Gardening with kids

Kids and gardening! There are so many reasons to get your kids growing things, digging in the yard, or even sprouting a few seeds in a pot on the front step. Here are our best "gardening with kids" tips to get you started.

Read more →

Paint-on sunscreen!

Peace's sunscreen mishap turned into a wonderful hack! Keep this in mind as sunny weather (or Spring snowplay) approaches: While vacationing in Costa Rica we paid quite a bit for some spray-on sunscreen for my little ones. After only one day of use, we dropped and cracked the bottle and...

Read more →

Keep Tucks Pads in your purse to soothe bug bites

Ismara's on-the-go solution for bug bites: As we approach the mosquito season every parent probably knows that witch hazel can help with the horrible itch of these pesky bites. Well, my son and I are hot commodities in the mosquito community and we are constantly dealing with these painful irritations....

Read more →

Momversation: Sexual abuse: how do you talk to your kids about it?

Thanks to Jen for broaching the topic, and D for expanding upon it in the comments of this post, my topic for Momversation this week is talking to your kids about sexual abuse. I wanted to be able to open up the amazing conversation we've been having here with a...

Read more →

Turn a Kabaclip contact lens case into a sanitary earplug holder

Dawn's smart solution for keeping track of earplugs (especially expensive fitted ones): Just recently my daughter had tubes put in her ears for chronic ear infections. She now needs to wear ear plugs in the bath and for swimming until the tubes come out. One week after the surgery I...

Read more →

Fashion a bandaid out of leaves

Sounds like something from The Jungle Book or Lost ! Awesome. From Brock: While out walking with the family, my 4 year old son's finger started hurting (from him picking his fingernails). He wanted a band-aid (now!), crying was immenent, and we were a 15 minute walk back to the...

Read more →

When children ask "what's sexual assault?" -- how do you answer?

Jen has appealed to Parenthacker wisdom on painful but important topic.

Read more →

Skyrest Travel Pillow works well as a kids' travel footrest (no more kicking the seat in front)

Dave's got a great idea for solving the "restless feet" problem on road and plane trips: We know of the problems that are caused by children's feet dangling off their car seats. But there are few alternatives on the market and they are expensive and fit few vehicles. The Skyrest...

Read more →

Contain small-parts toy play with a tray, cookie sheet or roasting pan

Kobie's hack solves two problems at once -- mess and babyproofing: My daughters have recently discovered the delight of playing with HAMA beads (also known as Perler beads or fuse beads ). This is small beads that you stack in a pattern and then iron to form a picture. When...

Read more →