25 Parenting Hacks That Moms Genuinely Feel Make Their Lives Better

Raising kids is no simple feat, so anything that can help make the experience smoother is quite welcome for most mothers. Fortunately, various communities have sprung up online where experienced mothers provide advice and support to new mothers. Moms who’ve used these tips claim they are time-saving and make daily life less stressful in the long run. If that sounds like something you can get on board with, scroll below for a list of the most genius parenting hacks suggested by moms.

#1 My best friend had a brand new baby. A brand new baby that DIDN'T SLEEP and she was beside herself. I showed up to her house and said "put a fluffy bath towel in the dryer" - when it was nice and warm I rolled it up and put it down by baby's feet in her bassinet. She calmed right down and SLEPT.

Image source: m2argue, Карина Суховерхая / pexels She slept so well she needed to be woken for her next feeding and then went right back to sleep with her little feet touching the warm towel. I can't sleep with cold feet and there's nothing like a warm fresh towel from the dryer to put a baby (or sometimes a grown-up) to sleep! ? It's a trick I have used many times.

#2 I have an "oh s**t" box in the truck of each car. Spare clothes for each kid, extra diapers and wipes, hand wash bottle, sunscreen, snacks, bottles of water (we get the metal ones from target so they don't get funky) and travel toys they've never seen before. I didn't think I'd need to use it much, but random difficult situations come up out of the house more often than I realized.

Image source: belzbieta, Sarah Chai / pexels

#3 Pretending his favorite heroes/characters had recipes for things like The Flash's favorite Lightning Lettuce™️ (Caesar salad)and Hulk Sauce (very plain guacamole), there were lots more along the way but I can't remember them all. Carrots make you jump higher like a bunny, you get the idea. I lied a lot and now have a 6 year old who is a great eater

Image source: Bmorehon, Nadin Sh / pexels

#4 Small laundry bags keep baby socks from getting sacrificed to the laundry gods. Socks go from baby feet, to bag. When it's time to do the wash, bag gets zipped and goes into the wash. All the socks stay together.

Image source: MakeMeAHurricane, Aljona Ovtšinnikova / pexels

#5 Probably only suited to a toddler but I try to remember to leave a banana in a conspicuous place when I want my daughter to have that as a snack and she will find it and and demand to eat it when she gets peckish. When I don't do that she'll get hungry and then ask for a snack she wants (biscuit/chocolate/ice lolly etc) and if I offer a banana she will be distraught.

Image source: tomtink1, Andrea Piacquadio / pexels

#6 This is my greatest hack. It is physiologically impossible to cry while drinking. Whatever the meltdown, whatever the cause, get them to drink water. If you need to, you can say, it's ok to cry but your tears will run out so you need to drink.the more you can get them to drink the longer they have to calm down properly and get over the shock or hurt of whatever happened.

Image source: janquadrentvincent, Sergey Makashin / pexels

#7 When my toddlers/little kids get hurt I ask them "did it hurt you or scare you" and at least half the time they think about it and decide it just scared them and they're ready to play again.

Image source: Okayifyousay, Yan Krukau / pexels Keep a bag of balloons around. Nothing turns a day that's spiraling out of control around like some sudden unexpected balloons for them to play with. I don't match and put away socks. All the kids socks go in a basket next to the shoes. No one has to run upstairs for socks when they need shoes on and I don't have to match and sort them.

#8 Our big one is taking pictures of the kids with a toy at the store when they like it. They haven’t cried over a toy in ages. If they bring it up a different day, I then consider getting it as a birthday/Christmas gift.

Image source: Mrs_Xs, Ron Lach / flickr

#9 I bought a laundry basket for each person and labeled it with their name. Laundry goes right into the assigned basket from the dyer and no more need to sort and have a million surfaces while folding. Also helps the kid learn to participate in folding their own laundry.

Image source: RubyMae4, Dziana Hasanbekava / pexels

#10 Keep the caps when markers dry out and you toss them out. Next time you can’t find one when cleaning up you’ll have some extras on hand.

Image source: Furbyparadox, Kindel Media / pexels

#11 If your kid refuses to do something you know they know how to do, do it wrong. They love to correct you! Won’t put your pants on yourself, sure, I can help. They go on your head, right?……cue child grabbing pants and showing me how it’s done.

Image source: Bebby_Smiles, Arina Krasnikova / pexels

#12 Make their bed with multiple layers of water proof mattress pad/cover and sheets so if they pee or get sick at night you can just pull off a layer and get them back to bed. I wash each kids clothes separately so I don’t have to spend the time figuring out which black leggings belong to which kid.

Image source: keeperofthenins, Pavel Danilyuk / pexels

#13 An empty plastic container in the bath. That's it. That's the hack. Wash out the plastic tub your yogurt/cottage cheese/sour cream came in, and put it in the bathtub. Kid will find it during their next bath and take it from there. It's a bucket of endless fun for them.

Image source: arandominterneter, Denise P.S / flickr

#14 When babies get super messy in the highchair, just stick the whole thing in the shower, bonus points if baby is still in it. I know it doesn’t work for every house layout but I’m in a ranch style house and just pick up the whole thing, walk it to the shower and hose it down baby and all. She thinks it’s hilarious.

Image source: clever-mermaid-mae, MART PRODUCTION / pexels

#15 I have three daughters, each two years apart. I couldn’t keep up with whose socks and underwear were whose. So each child has a designated color sock and underwear. They also have their own specific color towel. So if I find a towel, underwear or socks left on the floor I immediately know whose it is.

Image source: ConcentrateOk6837, osseous / flickr

#16 Give your kid (between ages 2-4) a spray bottle and send them outside to water things. Enjoy 30 minutes of peace ?

Image source: No_Nail6818, cottonbro studio / pexels

#17 Teach your kids to drink water. Make that their go to. None of my three drink soda. Occasionally they get juice. I am not fanatical about it, they just learned water is best.

Image source: smash_pops, Ketut Subiyanto / pexels

#18 Baby powder gets sand off skin when at the beach/ playground

Image source: SpecialistTill56, Austin Kirk / flickr

#19 You can cook noodles in a rice cooker. You don’t have to wait for it to boil or watch the pot or stir it down. You just set it to steam for x minutes and walk away. And as a mom of three toddlers who eat way too many noodles, this realization, (that happened when my stove was broken) has been my new favorite hack and a total game changer.

Image source: thatstrashpapi, Devika / flickr

#20 I wear a server apron everyday. I know some people are too stylish for a hack like that but I got some really cute ones on Etsy. When I fly it’s like having an extra carryon and in day to day life it is so easy I am not trying to dig through a diaper bag. I keep my phone, a pen/sharpie, a cloth, snacks, a small toy. I got the idea from seeing Japanese mothers in smocks.

Image source: SupEnthusiastic, Ketut Subiyanto / pexels

#21 Making myself food and not offering any to the kids is the best way to get them to eat. ? I started only making breakfast for "myself" that's like 8 eggs and 3 sausage patties. Sitting down to eat is like chumming the water, they start circling immediately.

Image source: TurkDiggler_Esquire, Katerina Holmes / pexels Get a cheap little plastic shelf for a bath toy. My kids always play coffee shop and need a surface to put their "lattes" on that's not the side of the tub bc they spill it immediately Idk if this is a hack but I stopped folding kids' clothes, just as a rule. I don't notice any more wrinkles but I do save a ton of time.

#22 Adding to this, for the TV I use the sleep timer built into the TV. Then I tell them when times up the show turns itself off… something about me not being the one to push the button on the remote has led to easier acceptance with less bargaining.

Image source: GearlGrey, Ksenia Chernaya / pexels

#23 This is a toddler/preschooler hack. When your kid demands something in a store, tell them you’ll take a photo and send it to Santa for consideration. This has saved me many meltdowns.

Image source: lil_ticket, Phil Nguyen / pexels

#24 Get a glow in the dark Halloween bucket for each kid to use as the puke bucket. We used to just have one but the whole house got norovirus one week and now we have one for each human. It's so much easier to find when sick in the dark and they think it's funny.

Image source: Mrsfig09

#25 Set timers to limit whining. “Ok, I’ll give you a little more time but once you hear the timer go off that’s it and I don’t want to hear any arguing.” That goes for playtime, or screen time or whatever.

Image source: West-Veterinarian-53, Artem Podrez / pexels Give finite choices and don’t be open ended about things. Don’t say “do you want to get dressed?” That gives them the opportunity to say no, and then get mad when you don’t honor their answer. Say “ok it’s time to get dressed, do you want to wear the red shirt or green shirt today?” Or something of the sort. Give them a choice so they feel like they have control over something but make sure they’re between 2 choices you can live with. My son always said “I’m hungry” at bedtime, so vegetables were his only options. Soon enough he would just ask for a bowl of “Trees & ranch” while we read a book at bedtime.