Parents, What Are Your Best "Child Hacks" ? (Reddit Stories r/AskReddit)

parents of Reddit what's the best child hack you've figured out to make your life as a parent easier not a parent better daycare worker and I learned this through reddit if a child is having a meltdown ask what color their shoes shirts pants whatever clothing they're wearing are that this distracts the child long enough to stop them in the midst of their meltdown because they haven't thought about what they are wearing I used this trick twice on a kid today who was just having a terrible day calmed them right down no apparent but when I was a child my mom would hide her four glass Birds little sculptures she had around the house my sister and I had to look for them we had to be very careful while looking so we didn't break them if we broke one we lost if we left drawers door cabinets open we lost you would think that we could tie and each find two birds but it never happened we would go to mom when we gave up and she would hide them all over again it wasn't until I was an adult did I realize that she never hid a fourth bird but boy did we spend a long time looking to get a newborn to burp sit them on your knee holding them under their armpits and move their upper bodies in a circle several times like a reverse hula move I guess I learned it from a neonatal nurse and it's almost infallible so much faster and more reliable than regular burping this saved me so many times it was almost like magic the baby would be crying painfully a high more urgent cry and I'd do this world a couple times Pat burp and instance islands it didn't work every time but most of the time when mine were younger say three or four and it was close to time to stop playing at the park or in the pool I always gave them plenty of warning using a concrete timeline that they could understand instead of saying we're leaving soon or five more minutes I would tell them something like okay let me see you jump in the pool seven more jumps and we're leaving sometimes the number was higher but never less than five less than five was always met with come on just one more which too usually wasn't allowed seven or more was always such a big number that they seemed to get their fill and were ready to go when it was time what if they do six jumps and then stops so you can't leave when my kids were little my wife worked at a health club and I would take the kids swimming in the evening we'd always pack their PJs for their clothes they'd change into after swimming that way they got out of the pool showered and changed into pajamas they didn't always go to bed right when we got home but they were always ready for bed when we got home it was my wife's idea my mom did the same nothing better than getting home and crawling directly into bed Dennis is where I teach them restaurant etiquette zero pressure and light on the wallet as an adult Dennis patron with no kids good for you no complaints it's a Dennis sorry for your kid has seen me drunk learn to say thank you and I'm sorry to them it makes you closer and helps your relationship with em no matter what age experiences are better than things waking up before them makes the day a lot easier find a way to see them when you're driving I'm really looking forward to the day when I'm waking my little one up in the morning rather than him slapping in the face at 4:00 a.m. the best advice I ever received as a parent it's all about the long game work really hard now to mold them into a decent and intelligent little people and you can worry less as they turn into more responsible respectful teams young adults it's a way to ensure quarter years later if you have a hard time getting them to eat their vegetables give them before the dinner because that's when they are hungry and will eat almost anything give them some carrots and cucumbers in a glass which is a great snack giving veggies first is an awesome idea I'll sometimes give him a bowl of salad while we wait for the meat to finish cooking and they will eat much more salad than they would if they were given it at the same time as everything else veggie sticks with hummus or other healthy dip are also an awesome thing to give them I had three kids very close in age at one point I assigned them each a day of the week they each got two and Sunday was the leftover whatever the question was the answer was whose day is it who gets to go first who gets to ride in the front who has to take their bath first I saved so many arguments with this I have two kids the eldest was born on an odd day the youngest on an even day we divided our days up this way hot and even days saw one on reddit where if you want to enjoy some time undisturbed tell your kids that you're taking a nap and when you wake up all of you are going to do chores together they'll want to let you sleep as long as possible to avoid doing housework so they'll leave you alone to actually nap or do other things like read but you just made me realize my parents outsmarted me every weekend of my childhood be mindful of how you phrase questions example instead of do you want a hot dog for supper ask what do you want on your hot dog if your kids are done it won't matter but it will help it most situations I told my kid her ears turn red when she tells a lie now she covers her ears when she lies she is almost 7 and it still works kinda reminds me of how my dad told my sister that eating bread crusts gives you the ability to whistle she ate her crusts religiously after he started telling her that but still can't whistle she found out the truth when she was like 15 and told someone she didn't think she started eating crusts early enough in life for it to make her able to whistle and they were confused as Frick when your kid sees something they want like a toy or game and you can't don't want to buy it tell them to put it on the list if they're the type of kid that will follow through then you have a handy list for Christmas or birthdays if not then they'll forget about it helps avoid arguments in the store because you aren't really saying no my mom did this to me and apparently it worked a little too well there were times I wanted something on my Christmas list but it was cheap enough she had a little extra money to get it that she would offer to get it for me then but I didn't want it then I wanted it put on my Christmas list if you threat from the consequence follow-through 100% of the time kids will test boundaries at every age you just have to make it appropriate for their age group if you throw sand again we are leaving the beach you must leave the beach if you don't clean your room no screen time tomorrow no screen time the key is to make the consequences not impact you to the point that you don't want to follow through since it will ruin your day to a hard line to toe but boy do boundaries and Trust work let your baby watch you fall asleep if it's their bedtime don't play on your phone or read a book they are following your lead so be boring close your eyes and be still and quiet and they will learn to - this is what I have to do to get mine to sleep he stares at me so intently if I have my phone in my hand and he can't see he knows but as soon as I close my eyes and settle down he goes right to sleep if they are cranky put them in water I have teenagers this is still the method that I use even having them wash their hands or face does wonders to be fair I do it with my husband too so really I guess it's just works for humans I feel like you're the mom who carries a small spray bottle in her purse my kids didn't understand the difference between different days for example we'll go to the store in three days sir my husband started calling it sleeps now we say we'll go to the store in three sleeps also offer a choice do you want to put your shoes on first or brush your hair first it short-circuits their tendency to fight you and makes them feel like they're making their own decisions which they are make sure the options listed are ones you're ok with though I do the choices thing with my niece's it always made sense to me to talk to them like that nobody likes being told what to do very rarely does the elder 1:9 catch on and refuse and even then she caves after I say you got a pick one bud those are the options did 100% helps that their parents are shitty and actually parent their kids if you have a toddler who likes to get naked when they are supposed to be sleeping you can cause the beautiful footie pajamas and put them on them backwards with the zipper on their back and then they won't be able to get them off baby straitjacket TM my wife and I came up with a short unique whistle that both kids knew meant come here to us works in malls water parks are just to come in and clean up for dinner fellow parents were amazed by this teach them early my dad did this with me and my sisters I remember one time we were at a neighborhood party and I was swimming he whistled while I was underwater I heard and popped up he was standing with the laufes friends showing off that he could get my attention whenever he needed to la Seine bedding waterproof sheet sheet waterproof sheet sheet no changing wet beds in the night just pull off taut layer and change child best advice we ever got from our doctor babies don't have a good circadian rhythm and rely on us to set one for them pick a time that you're going to go to quiet time basically turn out lights TV often door volume down do quiet activities sit still etc we did this with our first child and it became the center of our evening routine now my son is three and knows that when the clock says seven zero zero it means settle down time and helps to turn the lights out a routine is key our kids did great transitioning from one setting to another like home and school on vacation etc I mean they're little a whole toddlers a lot at the time but that's expected with toddlers I'm a kid traps it works for all ages I have an early riser an enthusiastic 5 a.m. early riser for many years things are better now during those tough years my invention came to fruition and a job child is a factor as well as placement of the traps with little ones you need traps all over the house and the key spot is right outside the door placed after the child goes to bed this is what all those shoes boxes you have our best recycled for inside the box you will place a number of surprises that can entertain the child really it can be anything that will not harm them it could be several rolls of cardboard toilet paper block a couple of figurines weird stuff again nothing that can harm them with smaller kids that get into everything you need these all over the house so that when they open a drawer are all covered it's the first thing they find and instead of ripping the tape out of your classic VHS tapes or ripping your comic collection to shreds they go through all the all the things in the kid trap you do need to replace items in the boxes frequently as the child gets older more art supplies should be included drawing materials crafty things pieces of clothing books games stickies it really works don't give them stickers I hate stickers until they learn to forage that's code for feed themselves good luck when I was around four I would wake up at an ungodly hour to watch chip and dales rescue rangers like my mother who was wonderfully artistic would leave a drawing outside my bedroom door and I would do my best to copy it every morning for her I would then watch my cartoons my mother would get a bit more sleep and then I would go rouse her and show her my copy I draw and paint now as my hobby have a baby who turns away as you're about to wipe their face wipe your own face first the nonverbal communication allows the baby to understand what's happening might not work out first but keep at it the child will start to let you wide let them be messy sometimes I'm a neat freak so this was hard for me at first doesn't matter what kind of home you have just put them in the tub with those bath paints or tape some trash bags to a kid table or the ground and let em paint don't worry about the mess they will have fun and it's building good memories this one is kind of mean but a when one of my kids want something I'm eating I just say you don't like this remember bubbles seriously magical for especially long car rides or traffic or just for fun keeps and bubbles upfront cuff holder ideally turn on the a/c or fan held bubble wand up and instant stream of happiness I found myself doing this alone in cranky traffic jams and opened the windows to spread the mirth and glee also have tiny bubble bottles liked wedding favor sized and easy to share with others in need out and about one any food they didn't like was labeled Turkey they are twelve and eight and only just realized fish isn't Turkey they would always wonder why Turkey are so many different flavors and how they like some but not others too starting as soon as they can walk ask for help for just about everything and they will help and enjoy being needed and when they do tasks and ask for help help them they will always help if you teach them to do it as a family instead of an individual task clean house yes please three biggest one of all listen to them everything they say to you is really important to them no matter how stupidities and learn what they like even if it's boring this comes in handy when they're older teach your kids to read very early read to them as soon as you bring them home but really focus at age two start making them read back to you at 3 make it fun when you give a kid the love of reading at an early age the rest of school is usually a cakewalk they are ahead of the curve in many ways and if they love reading they always have something to do and if you buy them a book when they are good and make a reward out of it you don't need to wait for another Harry Potter to come out to get them to read my mother did it with our children I did it with mine it works teach them how to express their feelings and validate them when they do yes this is tremendously important when my eldest now five was a toddler we started giving him a five-minute warning for bed because otherwise he would lose his mind five-minute warning can be five minutes or an hour but now the kids are way more mentally prepared when we tell them it's time for bed and it's a breeze 99% percent time when you go grocery shopping with a small child park near the cart Corral you don't have to play the awkward game of choosing to leave your child in the cart or the car when returning the cart make them feel a sense of control by giving reasonable choices do you want to walk to bed or be carried do you want to wear the blue shoes of the red ones would you like cheese or a banana for snack also baby sign language do that crap you have been visited by the wealth rat subscribe in 12 seconds and he will share his wealth with you if you are new to the channel you can subscribe I publish new videos every day until then check another video or don't either way have a great day you magnificent people [Music]

Channel: Updoot Everything

Views: 53,998

Rating: 4.912827 out of 5

Keywords: #updootst, updoot, reddit, r/askreddit, askreddit, ask reddit, r/, \r, r\, best of reddit, reddit stories, reddit story, top posts, funniest posts, funny, funny posts, funny reddit stories, funny askreddit, reddit funny, askreddit funny, askreddit stories, reddit stories 2019, people of reddit, sub, reddit cringe, memes, comment awards, dankify, toadfilms, updoot everything, updoot reddit, chill, story, stories, parents, child hack, kids, easy parenting, easier parenting, parenting

Id: 0uEZd3Pu2ao

Length: 15min 40sec (940 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 23 2019