As a new parent, facing the challenge of caring for a baby can often feel overwhelming. However, even when battling a lack of sleep and overload of stress, there are many simple tricks to make parenting just a little easier.
- Soothe teething. Trying to comfort a teething baby is one of the most frustrating parts of
motherhood. This hack will help you ease your baby's pain easily. Put a little apple sauce in the middle of a washcloth, roll it up, and freeze it. Pacifier pops are another great way to soothe painful gums--place a pacifier in a ice cube tray filled with water, breast milk or formula and freeze to make mini-pops that are easy for your baby to suck.
- Dealing with middle of the night cries. Struggling to get a decent night's sleep because you jolt awake every time your baby so much as whimpers? Try the "pause technique"--when you hear baby begin to fuss, wait several minutes before getting out of bed and going into the nursery. Often your baby will fall back to sleep.
- Remove spit-up from furniture. Eliminate spit-up messes with a simple baking soda and water paste. Wipe up as much of the spit-up as you can, and then spread the paste on the entire stain. Allow it to dry overnight and then vacuum it up.
- Give baby a bath in a basket. Keep your baby safe from slips or injury during bathroom with a plastic basket. Place the basket in the sink or tub before bath time, and then place baby inside with his or her bath toys. The basket will keep baby from moving too freely and will also prevent toys from floating away.
- Protect playpen from mosquitoes with a fitted sheet. Keep baby's outdoor play time mosquito free with his simple hack. Place baby in his or her outdoor playpen and stretch a fitted bed sheet over the top of the pen to create an insect-free baby haven.
- Put a bib hook on your highchair. Keep your baby's bib collection handy and organized with a convenient bib hook on the back of your highchair. A plastic adhesive hook can easily be attached to the chair for accessible bib storage.
- Use cookie cutters to lock cabinets. Has your baby's curious hands begun to pry at cabinet doors? Until you are able to get child-proof locks, slip cookie cutters over the handles to keep them secure.
- Administer medicine with a pacifier. Can't get baby to take medicine from a dropper? Widen the hole in his or her pacifier, and insert the tip of the medicine dropper into the open end of the pacifier. Since baby associates the pacifier with comfort, he or she is more likely to accept the medicine disguised in the pacifier.