Mom Hacks – Volume 2

Welcome back friends to another rendition of Mom Hacks. As my son grows and I learn something new every day about being his Mama, I am continuing to find tricks that work for us and really help us out. Some come highly recommended by others and I am grateful for the input and others are systems and details we have figured out for ourselves. Enjoy!

Sunlight dish soap for stains

This trick came to me from my best friend and her mother and like what you may also be thinking right now, I thought “this must be crazy talk”. Now, now people, this truly works. Between baby spit up, poop blow outs and now food and grass stains, this stuff works wonders for your laundry. Put some of the yellow dish soap directly onto the stain and run some warm water over top and give it a good scrub. A majority of the stain will come out right then and there, but after tossing into the wash with everything else, amazement! The stains will be gone!

Put all of the baby eating accessories together in one place

This just makes things easier for yourself. With everything in one place, it’s less searching around for what you need during meal times. I have a large bottom drawer in my kitchen that houses all bottles, our baby bullet with accessories, plates, utensils, wash clothes, bibs, you name it! And with it being so low, when my son gets to an age where he can help himself, it is all easily accessible to him.

Separate toys by floor/room

This can all depend on the size of your home, but by separating toys between rooms or even floors, I find it makes things new and exciting to play with again and again. We keep a basket of toys in Calum’s bedroom, in our living room on the main floor and also in our basement family room.

Frozen baby cloths for teething

Now this is a game changer. While most teething toys are made very safely now, they can add up in price and they warm up very quickly. The same baby cloths you would use for bath time or after eating to wipe them up, can be used for this very purpose. Take any baby cloth, run it under some water (I recommend filtered water) ring it out so it doesn’t become a solid block of ice, and place it in the freezer. We keep a small baggy of these ready to go and they work instantly when we have a teething meltdown. As they melt, the baby can suck the water out of it and get some hydration, a win win!

Black out shades for the nursery

Darkness helps signal sleep time for anyone, but especially for our little ones. They sleep during the day and often go to bed before the sun has gone down, and black out shades are a huge help. They are made in all kinds of shapes and sizes, even black out curtains are available. And they are much more affordable now, so that always helps the budget.

Baby proof early

Calum became fully mobile around 7 months old. He started with rolling everywhere around 5 1/2 months, which quickly turned into an army crawl and then once he was fully crawling, his speed was incredible and we are still trying to keep up with him. He is pulling himself up onto everything, so anything at his height has been moved and/or replaced with baby friendly items. Before anything dangerous can happen, start assembling your baby proofing. Electrical outlet plugins, baby gates, drawer and cabinet locks, do it all. These little humans get into everything.

Ignore sizing on kids clothes

This may not come as a shock to women as our sizing charts from store to store or brand to brand can be so different and completely out of whack. Same goes for children’s clothing apparently. Every baby grows so differently, it is best to just use sizing as a guide and not a definite.

Prep and freeze homemade baby food

Since Calum turned 6 months old, I have been making all of his baby food and purees at home. Recently, I had to have a procedure done that would prevent me from keeping pace with my regular scheduled food prep for our little guy. So I had to plan ahead. And while my husband is completely capable and willing to do all of this himself, my Mama mind wouldn’t allow me to not be fully prepared for my family. I batched a variety of purees and foods and used ice trays with covers to store them in the freezer. Now there are plenty of options to choose from. I just wish I had started doing this much sooner.

There you have it, another bunch of tips and tricks I have learned along the way of this journey called Motherhood. Hopefully you can use a couple of these to help yourself and your little ones.

Melanie xoxox