Raising kids isn’t exactly easy. One day, your child has sworn off veggies, and the next, they’ve decided they will never wear their coat again—even if it’s freezing, snowing, and practically Arctic outside.
Luckily, there’s a whole community of moms who are more than happy to share their genius hacks to make these moments a little less stressful. From squeezing in an extra five minutes of peace to dealing with the messes tiny humans leave behind, they’ve got you covered.
Scroll down to check out some of their best tips, and remember to upvote your favorites!
#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. 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.
You can trust the internet, especially supportive Reddit groups like Mommit, to serve up valuable parenting hacks when you really need them. To get even more helpful advice, We reached out to mom coach Anne-Marie Ferraro and Laura, the creator of the blog Worn Out Working Mum.
It’s no secret that kids can be a whirlwind, making it a struggle for many parents to find effective ways to get them to settle down. According to Anne-Marie, a professional nanny for over 20 years and now an expert mom coach, establishing structure and routine is key to managing their behavior.
“It makes them feel safe and loved,” she says. “When you create rules for your family, stick to them! Your child will respect and trust you. Setting clear expectations and following through goes a long way!” You can find more of her insights on her website and Instagram.
Laura, a mom of two, understands the excitement and exhaustion that come with parenting. She shares her honest journey on TikTok and Instagram, openly discussing the challenges of balancing motherhood, work, and household tasks. One of her best survival tips? “Always have snacks in the car!” Kids can turn cranky when hunger strikes. And if you’re racing through the school run without enough time to pull yourself together, she advises, “Buy two hats, one beanie, and one cap—and you’ll never have to brush your hair again!”
Laura also suggests a simple yet brilliant idea: buy two of your child’s favorite soft toys and rotate them. This way, you’ll always have one ready, which is a lifesaver if one gets dirty and needs a wash or if they forget it at home.
#2
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.
#3
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.
#4
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.
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.
Although life hacks can be fun, unsolicited comments can often feel burdensome. Laura is particularly weary of the saying, “They’re only little once.” “It needs to stop,” she says. “It’s the most unhelpful thing I see online. So while you might feel guilty for giving them fish fingers for the fourth day in a row or being the last parent at pick-up, remember that you’re doing your best.”
In addition to these frustrations, Anne-Marie believes that one approach that doesn’t work well with children is redirection, which involves distracting them from problematic behavior by suggesting a more positive one.
“In my opinion, redirection is actually a form of avoidance. It is our responsibility to correct inappropriate behavior,” she says. “If the child doesn’t know that what they are doing is not okay, they’ll repeat it again. This is where parenting comes in: lovingly but firmly saying no, getting down on the child’s level to make eye contact, connecting so they understand, and asking them to make a better choice.”
Anne-Marie also cautions against treating your child as a close friend instead of a parent. “It’s important to engage and have fun with your child, but when we call them our best friends, we blur boundaries and create power struggles,” she notes. “True friendship with your child develops when they become an adult!”
#5
Give your kid (between ages 2-4) a spray bottle and send them outside to water things. Enjoy 30 minutes of peace 😆
#6
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.
#7
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.
Despite the invaluable tips and tricks shared, the exhaustion of motherhood is inevitable and can be overwhelming. Laura, for example, never anticipated how difficult it would be to return to work after having kids. “Everyone talks about newborns, toddler tantrums, and teenage years,” she reflects. “But no one warned me about the hurdles of navigating career advancements or juggling drop-offs and pick-ups.”
She also points out that many moms today face their own unique pressures. “We are one of the first generations of mothers working in such high numbers—moms in paid work in the UK rose from 50% in 1975 to 75% in 2019,” Laura explains. “Our mothers didn’t experience these struggles, so they couldn’t sound the alarm.”
That’s why both Laura and Anne-Marie passionately advocate for moms to prioritize their own well-being. “Often, moms put themselves last, leading to burnout and even depression,” Anne-Marie warns. “Creating self-care routines is essential for their health and happiness.”
So, perhaps this is the ultimate life hack every mom should remember: you can’t pour from an empty cup. Prioritizing your own needs isn’t just good for you; it creates a more positive atmosphere for the whole family.
#8
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.
#9
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.
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.
#10
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.
#11
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
#12
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.
#13
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.
#14
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.
#15
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.
#16
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.
#17
Baby powder gets sand off skin when at the beach/ playground
#18
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.
#19
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.
#20
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.
#21
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.
#22
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.
#23
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.
#24
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. 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.
#25
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.
#26
If you go outside your house stays clean. Especially if you have kids like mine who are 3 times better behaved in public.
(Not that I care too much about the exact cleanliness of the house, but I can’t stand the fighting and whining that goes with playing inside.)
#27
Buy a foot measurer. You can get them online for like $10. So much easier to know you are getting the right size shoes. I can never tell when they try them on unless it is obviously way too big or too small. Also, then I can just size them and order shoes online.
#28
Once your kid is mobile: all toys (other than sleeping toys/lovies) go into stackable bins (with lids). For toddlers the selection can be random, but when they’re older you can sort/label. Bins will probably need to be fairly large to accommodate bigger toys.
Then the two rules of toys are: ONE BIN AT A TIME, and THE BIN CONTENTS STAY IN ONE ROOM. If they seem bored with the selection or want to leave the room, toss everything back in the bin. Don’t worry about internal bin organization: just toss everything for that bin in the bin.
The bins limit the total mess. It’s a level of cleaning toddlers can understand as long as you get them started (we make it sort of basketball with my kids, and they like cleanup time). It’s easy enough for older kids to self-maintain (with reminders).
It’s a little trickier with 2 kids, but the one bin/one room rule helps that.
#29
When you have a brand new baby have someone coat its butt crack with Vaseline or aquaphor right when you get to recovery. The meconium slips right off.
#30
This one might involve too much plumbing for folks but I got a shower head that had the main head and then a hand shower. Also got it an extra long hose and another magnetic mount for the other side of the shower and now I have a perfect little toddler height shower. So much quicker/easier then bath time and she just pops in with me.