Fedorov Kostiantyn - Life hacks for parents: practical hints for making life with kids easier

CONTENTS

Welcome to Life Hacks for Parents, an indispensable guide to help you successfully traverse the ups and downs of being a parent. From home safety and first-aid hacks to cleaning and food hacks, and everything in between, within this book you will discover more than 130 ways to make your life that little bit easier, whether you have a newborn or a teenor both.

Perhaps you need to remove some of your childs artwork from the wall, or you want a natural way to soothe your baby when theyre teething, or maybe youre just desperate for some fun activities for the holidays that wont render you bankrupt. Its all coveredand the best part is, youll most likely have the necessary ingredients at home already.

Life Hacks for Parents is here to take the strain out of parenting. So read on and learn how to be a hacking heroyour children will thank you for it.

Newborn babies are magical and delightful, but nothing can prepare you for exploding diapers and being up at all hours for feedings, not to mention the challenges of dealing with any of these things on the go! This chapter offers some handy hacks to help you through those fuzzy first few months.

ONESIE EPIPHANY

So your little ones diaper has gone nuclear and poo has made its way up his back. You want to change him, but the idea of pulling a soiled onesie over his head fills you with horror.

Fear not! Those little shoulder flaps at the top of the garment are not just for decoration, theyre designed to allow the head opening to become wide enough for you to slip the onesie down along your babys body, so you can avoid spreading the mess. Simple yet a lifesaver, especially when changing a newborn up to ten times a day.

Alsou Shakurova/Shutterstock.com

MECONIUM MELTDOWN

Speaking of poo, heres a handy hack for cleaning meconium (newborn baby poo) off your precious little ones behind. Meconium is like tar and if youre strictly following the recommendation that for the first six weeks you should use only a cotton cloth and water on your babys backside, it can take a while to clean.

But there is a substance that is harmless to newborn skin that will make light work of this job: olive oil. Just rub a small amount of olive oil onto your babys bottom after each diaper change for the first few days and the meconium will wipe away with ease.

CRADLE CAP COCONUT REMEDY

Babies are prone to dry skin, particularly cradle cap. This layer of crusty skin on the top of their head can stick around for a long time.

Rather than heading to the nearest pharmacy, try using a little coconut oil on the affected area and then take a fine-tooth comb through the crusty layer after the coconut oil has set in (or wash it off with a washcloth). Not only is it harmless if ingested, but its gentle on your babys skin. Coconut oil can also be used to soothe insect bites, eczema, and diaper rashand it smells good too!

STAIN PROTECTION

How many times have you gotten ready to go out, only for your small person to unexpectedly accessorize your outfit with vomit or poo? Its an occupational hazard when youre a new parent.

So try this hack to save your clothes. Get yourself a lab coatyes, those things you used to wear when performing experiments in chemistry at school. Wear it after you get dressed, while still dealing with the kids, and then take it off as soon as you have your freedom. That way, you can keep your clothes immaculate, rather than being known as the crustiest parent in town.

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CRIB CHANGE

This is a common-sense hack for changing your babys bedding in the nightan unavoidably frequent occurrence with a newborn.

It can be such a production finding replacement sheets and mattress liners while youre half-asleep and trying to soothe a baby at the same time. The simple answer is to double up on the bedding. After you have placed a mattress liner and a sheet down, place another mattress liner and sheet on top, so you only have to remove the top two layers, causing minimum disruption.

TEETHING RELIEF

Teething is an uncomfortable experience for both children and their parents. Heres a simple hack to soothe sore gums. Make sure your hands are clean for this one.

When your baby is teething, all they want to do is chew! Allow your little one to chew your fingers. Another simple thing to do is rub their gums with your finger, as the pressure will soothe them.

BOOB CUBES

Freezing breast milk in an ice-cube traypreferably one with a lidmakes it easier to defrost quickly and the cubes are ideal for mixing with baby food when weaning. Also, in a standard ice-cube tray, each cube amounts to one ounce (28 milliliters) of milk, so you know how much your child is having. Once frozen, transfer the cubes into ziplock bags (write the date on which you froze them onto the bag) and defrost one or two cubes in the fridge when needed.

Do not repeat the words boob cubes in public places.

DRINKS ON TAP

When youre out and about, it can be tricky to find a place to heat up your bottle in a hurry. It normally involves going to a caf and asking nicelybut what if youre in the middle of nowhere? This simple hack does the job.

Place a bottle in a travel mug and add hot water to the mug to keep it warm, so its ready to use as soon as you need it.

Child safety in the home is paramount once your little one starts to roll, crawl, and toddle like an excited meerkat. These hacks offer low-cost and ingenious ways to eliminate potential dangers in the home.

NONSLIP SLIPPERS

Once your child starts to toddle you need to buy supportive footwear to save them from accidental tumbles, bumps, and scrapes. While your toddler might love wearing them, slippersespecially if you have wood or tile floors at homecan be precarious. This hack eradicates the need to fork out for expensive slippers with grippers.

Make your own simply by taking an existing pair of slippers and applying blobs of glue onto the soles with a hot glue gun. Once dry, the blobs of glue do exactly the same job as grippers.