15+ Parents Who Found Smart Ways to Deal With Toddler Chaos

Ever feel like your toddler is a mini tornado? You’re not alone! But some parents are leveling up their game! From turning mealtime struggles into fun to outsmarting tantrums, these ideas prove that parenting doesn’t have to be pure chaos. Curious how they do it? Read on and steal these clever tricks for yourself!

• I have a four-year-old, and as many of you know, most toddlers make the Energizer Bunny look like a sloth. So, I came up with a game or “job” for her: When I’m in one room of the house, I give her a big kiss and ask her to deliver it to her mom in another room. She then runs off to her mom, delivers the kiss, and receives another one in return to bring back to me. She loves the game and keeps it going for quite a while. @NeoClemerek / Reddit

• My mum used to have us run “races” around Nana’s house, and every time she’d either say, “Oh, I forgot to use a stopwatch; you’ll have to do it again.” or “That was fast, but I bet you can do it faster.”
  Later, I found out that the “stopwatch” was an old, broken pocket watch she’d found in a drawer. Also, Nana was a doctor, so another variation of the game was us running laps to see who could get the “best” result on Nana’s heart rate monitor. @werewere-kokako / Reddit

• I remember being so tired one day that I invented a game called Mommy Is a Rock and let my toddler crawl all over me while I lay on the floor with my eyes closed. 🤣 @photoexplorer / Reddit

• My mom used to play “the wet cloth game” with us. She’d wet a facecloth and chase us all around the house and yard with it. If she caught us, she would rub the cloth on our faces. Totally fun, no need to purchase supplies, and kids are tired out after. It’s one of many very fond memories from my childhood. @madamevanessa98 / Reddit

• My neighbor had five boys, all of whom would resist washing their hair. She’d tell them, “Okay, you don’t have to wash your hair; just wash your scalp.” They’d comply without complaint every time. @jimmyjazz2000 / Reddit

• Whenever my 2.5 year old needs a little encouragement eating her veggies, I’ll start moving real slowly, like pretending to lose steam, and ask her for some “broccoli gas” (or whatever she has on her plate) to get me going again. Once she takes a bite, I return to normal speed. It’s been a couple of months since I started doing it, and it hasn’t failed me once so far! @unclefuz / Reddit

• Anytime my 3-year-old is having a meltdown, I ask her if she would like to “blow out the candles,” so I raise my hand and pretend to “light each of my fingers.” She then needs to take a deep breath in and blow out each of the candles. Then one by one I put down each finger after she blows them out. After she blows them out, she is always back to her normal self, and the meltdown is over.
  She thinks it’s such a fun game, but really I’m just trying to get her to regulate her emotions, take a deep breath, and calm down. @savvybabyxox / Reddit

• My newly turned four-year-old recently got lost in a public space. It was the scariest 7 minutes of my life. While looking into GPS trackers, I stumbled upon a Reddit tip on how to teach my kid my number: change his tablet password to my 10-digit cell number. I’ve also explained to him that if he is ever lost, he should find a mommy and tell them my number.
  He learned that number so fast! Just wanted to share because I think this could help a lot of families. @greenpepperonion / Reddit

• We were at the mall the other day, and both of our toddlers decided to lose their ever-loving minds. I usually just swoop them up and carry on, but this time I was overstimulated and just let my spicier gal lay there on the floor near the escalators. One fun thing that usually helps calm my non-spicy girl, and occasionally the spicy one... I tell them I’m gonna squeeze the tantrum out of them. Count down 3, 2, 1, SQUEEEEEEZEEEE! Is it all out? No? 3, 2, 1, SQUEEEEZEEEE. Did we get it all that time? Oh, a little left, again! SQUEEZEEEE. Repeat until you’ve squeezed all the tantrum out. Good luck with your research! @xxchellebelle / Reddit

• This worked for a short period of time but was great while it lasted: a toddler refusing to sit on the potty. Put a drop of food coloring in the bowl of the potty and be like, “Maybe you could pee blue!” and like, just really sell it hard. The toddler gets hyped to pee funny colors, pees on the food coloring, and here is the surprised Pikachu face. @I_Like_Knitting_TBH / Reddit

• I got a bright green spray bottle, applied vinyl that says “Anti-Monster Spray” on it, and filled it with water. I spray it under his bed and in his closet whenever he tells me he’s scared of the dark. Works like a charm. @mineabird / Reddit

• “You CAN fix the broken banana. If you eat both pieces, it goes back together in your tummy!” I’m surprised it worked once. It’s been working for months now. @Empty_Dance_3148 / Reddit

• My favorite trick is to teach them a “safe spot” in the car, especially when you have multiple kids to get out of car seats. My kids stand by the rear wheel on whichever side I need and put their hands on the well in their “safe spot” until we’re ready to move. Helps keep them from running into traffic/parking lots. @Llamallamacallurmama / Reddit

• I invented a game called “Go Touch.” I say, “Go touch...the fridge,” and he runs to touch the fridge. Then I tell him to go touch something on the other side of the room, and he runs over there. I try to choose things that are far from each other. Sometimes he suggests his own things to touch; sometimes he comes across another toy and stops to play with it. The best part is that I can sit in one spot while he runs everywhere. Can be played indoors or outdoors. @bedlamunicorn / Reddit

• I blame transitions on the clock because I can be on her side against the clock. Like, “The clock says it’s naptime! I wish we could play longer, but the clock is saying time for sleep!”
  She doesn’t have big emotional reactions to the clock the way she does to me, so she’s usually more agreeable. @menwithven76 / Reddit

• Running errands with my 3 kids feels like it goes on forever. By the end, everyone is cranky and exhausted. Instead of dragging them by the hand, I’ve found a simple trick that keeps them moving. All I have to do is say, “Follow the leader!” Then my husband will walk ahead and do a silly walk, start marching or singing. They follow right behind him and usually get into it, copying him. Even if he’s just walking fast and I tell them to chase him, it works.

And this man found a way to deal with his stepdaughter’s "chaos“—he was tired of hearing, “You’re not my dad,” and made a tough decision that creates some stir in his family.