‘What’s a parenting “hack” that sounds ridiculous but actually works?’ – 17 surprisingly effective tips for mums and dads everywhere
10.
‘Kids not eating well? Feed them healthy snacks when you go places. I swear they are always hungry when they leave the house! If you have a cooler with only fruits and veggies, that’s what they’ll eat!’
-OlderAndTired
11.
‘If they’re being obstinate, lean into it and make it silly so their mood shifts.
‘Example: “I don’t want to brush my hair!”
“What do you think would happen if you never brushed your hair? It would get soooo tangled, and then a bird would move in! How many eggs would it lay in your hair?”
“Five million!” And then hopefully giggles.
“Five million eggs?! That’s too many! We’d better brush away that birds nest before you end up covered in bird poop!”
‘There’s a book, “How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen” that’s full of these little hacks.’
-rl4brains
12.
‘When my kids were little little and wouldn’t eat the food me and my wife cooked, my wife and I would act like we were going to eat it and then ask them to hold it while we did something.
‘9/10 they’d eat it. They’d love it more if we were like, “hey you ate my food!” and they’d laugh and run away.
‘Joke’s on you. You fell into my trap.’
-dudeimjames1234
13.
‘Give them false choices, where you are happy with either choice and they both meet your actual goal. It gives them a sense of agency.
“Would you rather brush your teeth first, or change into your jammies first?”
“We have to head home in a few minutes, would you rather start getting your shoes on, or do you want to find them now, and you can carry them while I carry you to the car?”
‘Etc.
‘Thought it was ridiculous when I first heard this in a parenting class. With my two kiddos, it worked exceptionally well.’
-karimf
14.
‘Whenever mine bumps his elbow, stubs a toe, etc. I’ll ask if he wants me to put a spare one on. When he says yes, I tell him to close his eyes, I gently squeeze his arm, leg, or whatever part I’m “replacing”, make a click noise, and gently squeeze and make another click noise when I put the “new one” on. 9/10 times, it immediately feels better.’
-Ghost17088
15.
‘For babies and toddlers, double-wrap their beds.
‘Mattress protector -> Sheet -> Mattress protector -> Sheet
‘So, when they have a Diaper Blowout or Potty Accident or Crummy Tummy Vomit overnight? Instead of having to spend a bunch of time dealing with stripping and remaking the bed at 2am, you just yank off the top layers and… presto! It’s all ready for them again.
‘Means that they’re kept awake for a couple minutes to get their diaper changed (or whatnot) and then back in bed before their brains even register they were awake.
‘Plus you aren’t trying to get the stupid sheets on while you are still half asleep. Just yoink the soaked ones off, toss them in the bathtub or washing machine or wherever, and you and your kid are back to sleep in no time.’
-MonkeyChoker80
16.
‘Make screen passwords important phone numbers. Kids will learn them very quickly if it lets them unlock the iPad.’
-Negative0
17.
‘When my kid was little and we were trying to expand their palate I bought a fun looking notebook, numbered the pages and every 10th one had a star. Then I bought star stickers and this became my kid’s “culinary critic” notebook.
‘Everytime they tried a new food they would either write the name or draw the food and give it between one and four stars. When they filled out a page with a star symbol they got to choose from a menu of special treats (a trip to the bowling alley, baking cookies with Mom and Dad, etc). They almost never refused to try anything once we started the book.
‘It worked because 1) if they rated something low they knew we wouldn’t ask them to try something too similar 2) it gave them a semblance of control, after all they never had to try anything it just meant they didn’t get to fill out a page in the book 3)I had read a study that kids like fast, tangible rewards shortterm + working towards bigger rewards long term.
‘ Getting stickers and to draw/write at that age was a big, fun thing AND being able to physically see how far away from the big reward they were was a huge motivator.’
-Conscious_Writing689