15+ Tricks That Parents Absolutely Need to See

Most parents out there are trying to be good moms and dads and have full-time jobs. According to psychology, every parent is capable of experiencing parental burnout. That’s why we, as parents, need all the help we can get, so we’re bringing you some of the best parenting hacks to help ease the workload.

• My wife and I came up with a short, unique whistle that both kids knew meant to come here to us. Works in malls, water parks, or just to come in and clean up for dinner. Fellow parents were amazed by this. Teach them early. Biff_Bufflington / Reddit
• Scatter interesting kids’ books around (nature books, kids’ encyclopedias, etc.) where your kids tend to settle in the morning. They may just automatically start looking through them. DiyCaptain / Twitter
• 1. Your kids want to play cars. 2. You say you’ll be the parking lot. 3. You lay on the ground and shut your eyes. Please share this with all other tired parent friends. jalicedev / Twitter

• I have to admit I’m guilty of sometimes being so tired that as soon as my daughter starts counting for hide and seek, I bolt to the least likely bed for her to check, get entirely under the covers, and close my eyes and just try to get in 30 seconds of sleep. AdviceMammals / Reddit
• Any food my kids didn’t like was labeled turkey. They are 12 and 8 and only just realized fish isn’t turkey. They would always wonder why turkey has so many different flavors and how they like some but not others. Unknown author / Reddit
• The only “hack” that I’ve ever found useful enough to use consistently is baby powder at the beach. The way it helps remove sand is spectacular. cbinette84 / Reddit
• When your baby won’t bend their leg to put on one-piece pajamas, tickle the bottom of their foot. They bend their leg, and you can quickly put it in the leg hole. Derzickntenzing / Reddit

• Get in the habit of putting your purse, wallet, phone, shoes, and whatever in the back seat, so you don’t forget to drop off your kid at daycare before you go to work. nukemama / Reddit
• Parenting hack: When giving your kid unhealthy food, put it in a smaller bowl, so they think they’re getting more. RYGdance / Twitter
• 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. Unknown author / Reddit
• I had 3 kids very close in age. At one point, I assigned them each a day of the week (they each got 2 and Sunday was the leftover). Whatever the question was, the answer was whose day it was. 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. Governmentman43 / Reddit

• My baby needs me to sing to calm him down, often when pacing circles around our tiny apartment. I discovered tonight that I can hum to him and eat chocolate at the same time — game changer! Shevebon / Reddit
• My dad hack: We wrapped my wife’s bday present in plain white paper and my kid got to paint it! mrfishman3000 / Reddit
• Double-layer the bedding in the crib — mattress protector, sheet, mattress protector, sheet. So if your kid has a blowout in the middle of the night, you can strip the first layer, and you don’t have to worry about putting new sheets on. rognabologna / Reddit

BONUS: Celebrity tips

• Kristen Bell: “’Hands on the circle!’ The phrase we say as we jump out of the car. ’Hands on the circle’ (the circle is the gas cap)was invented by my brilliant sister in law, and has thus far kept all kiddos safe from any oncoming traffic while I unload the trunk.”

• Sarah Gellar: “My daughter was doing this thing lately where she was asking me for a cup of milk and not drinking it. So I told her that every time she’d ask me for a cup of milk and not drink it, I would take a quarter out of her piggy bank. Someone has to pay for that milk.”

Please share with us in the comments the parenting hacks you like to use with your kids. We love reading your stories.