40 Baby Hacks That Will Help You Tons as a Mom
Taking care of a baby is fulfilling, but it can also get overwhelming pretty fast, as every mom comes to find out.
Most people offer to assist new moms, seeing how she still needs care herself, however, this phase doesn’t last forever and soon you’ll have to settle into a schedule where it’s you and baby (and hopefully daddy too!) alone.
At this point, there are tips, baby hacks if you will, that will simplify this time and make your (new) motherhood journey fun and an easy one.
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40 Baby Hacks Every Mom Should Know
1) Use a breast pump and bag to express and store breastmilk. This will come in handy if you need to run to the store and leave baby for daddy.
When I first became a mom, my breastmilk refused to flow and I watched in frustration as my daughter, Isabella, got leas than her stomach need at each feed.
Thankfully, I turned to some foods and supplements to boost breastmilk production. This, along with the vigorous pumping I was doing, got this breastmilk flowing soon.
Stored breastmilk lasts for 3 -4 days when stored in the fridge and up to 6 months when kept in a freezer.
A good breastfeeding pump, manual or electric, is a must-have and something every mom needs.
2) Turn any water bottle into a baby bottle using a Green Sprouts Spout Adapter for Water Bottle. These items are a lifesaver and will produce a baby water bottle when you need one.
3) Use breastmilk popsicles to soothe your baby when he starts teething. These popsicles are safe, easy to make (using breastmilk and a popsicle mold), and can be introduced when a baby gets to six months.
4) If you find your baby’s bibs are never together or easily within reach then a command hook will come in handy at this point.
With this, you can have baby’s bibs all collected and hanging at the back of a door or behind a high chair for easy reach.
5) Get your baby to sleep faster by using blackout curtains. Alternatively, you could turn your regular curtains into blackouts by hanging or clipping blackout liners onto the rods.
6) Use Gripe water for a gassy or colicky baby. Isabella was quite gassy and would cry to no end. It took a while to ascertain what the problem was and I got Gripe water on the directives of my gynecologist.
Gripe water isn’t just great to eliminate gas but also works for hiccups and colic.
Related: How to Make a Baby Poop When Constipated
7) Wear your baby on you using a baby wrap carrier. This way you can still get stuff done around the house without worrying about baby.
Your baby also gets to see and spend some time with you too!
8) Get your baby to fall asleep in 40 seconds by gently stroking a soft tissue across their face.
This baby sleep hack was made popular by Nathan Dailo on YouTube who got his daughter off to la-la land in just 40 seconds using a soft tissue.
9) You can also make your baby fall asleep faster by singing to them. If you sang a lot to them while in the womb, they would already be used to this and this would create the calming effect they need to fall asleep.
10) Or you could just use a white noise machine which works just as great.
11) Keep your baby’s pair of socks together by bunching them together. What I do is stuff one into the other, that way when I see one, I know I’ve found the other.
12) Store pacifiers in souffle cups when going out with your baby, that way they are easy to reach and you don’t have to spend time searching for them.
13) Get your baby’s bottle clean in a jiffy using soap, baking soda, and hot water.
14) Diaper rash creams are great for eliminating diapers on your baby and you can get one of the most effective diaper rash creams for this purpose.
15) Or you could just smear a thin film of coconut oil over your baby’s bum. Coconut oil is soothing and its antibacterial property works to eliminate rash, eczema, or any other skin irritations your baby might have.
16) You could also make your own homemade diaper rash cream by combining Mylanta and baking soda to make a solution.
17) You can get a ton of baby freebies as a mom, sometimes just by creating a baby checklist.
18) Get a triple-leak-protection diaper to keep your baby dry over the night, or just double up on diapers if you are out off.
Just ensure the second diaper is a size bigger so it fits over the first.
19) Attach toys to the baby wrap to keep your baby entertained as you go about chores.
20) Use the AiBeeYou Baby Swings for Infants to keep baby soothed and entertained. Also comes with soft music to gently lure baby to sleep.
21) Clean those difficult-to-reach parts of a sippy cup in no time using a q-tip.
22) Get rid of gas by gently pushing your baby’s knees towards his chest.
23) Use an infinity scarf to get some privacy when breastfeeding in public.
24) Or you could just use the double shirt method, that way your stomach isn’t left exposed when you pull up the first shirt to breastfeed.
Just put two holes in the breast region of the first shirt before wearing the second.
25) Refrigerate and stick cabbage leaves to your breast to relieve breast engorgement. Cold cabbage leaves are a quick homemade remedy for such a time.
Related: How to Get Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night
26) Breastfeeding pillows are a great way to offer support to your baby when feeding. They also ensure the baby is positioned well so he latches on right to prevent spread nipples.
27) Always pack an extra shirt or dress for yourself, not just your baby when going into town.
28) Use a breastfeeding tracker to keep track of your baby’s feeding time.
29) When it was time to introduce the bottle to my son, I got my husband to do it, seeing as I’d had a hard time with my daughter who vehemently refused the bottle at 6 months and would cry for the breast.
30) Wait 20 minutes after baby falls asleep to cut their nails.
31) Pumping bras are great, but you could just as easily convert a sports bra into one. Cut a hole large enough into each side of your breast and you are good to go.
33) Mornings are the best time to pump breastmilk and that’s because your body makes more prolactin ( the hormone responsible for breastmilk production) during the hours of 12 am and 6 am, so you want to pump around this time to get the most from your effort.
34) Ensure your baby’s feet are touching something solid when breastfeeding. Research has found babies feel more secure this way and are likely to latch better.
35) Opt for skin-to-skin contact sometimes when breastfeeding. Besides the very obvious benefits of fostering the bond between you and baby, it also helps your baby maintain the right body temperature and supports optimal brain development.
36) Pump from both breasts simultaneously to ensure both keep producing breastmilk on demand. This will also ensure tour breasts remain even
I made this mistake by breastfeeding Isabella more on the right breast and this made it drop slightly, so it was a bit lower than the other. However, I was able to correct this with Nathan so both breasts are now even and rightly proportioned.
37) Look at videos or pictures of your baby to activate your breastmilk production reflexes and let the breastmilk flow.
Read Also: Why So Babies Sleep So Much? (See Reasons)
38) Cloth diapers are a lifesaver and will save you tons of money, especially if you have two or more babies in diapers at the same time.
39) Eight months after Isabella was born, I got my period. The flow was so heavy, my regular pad wouldn’t do.
Her diaper came in handy at this time. All I had to do was trim off the edges so it fits and wear a dress or a long top when going into town.
This was one mommy hack that served me well.
40) Keep baby’s bottles, cups, and other stuff sterilized by using Milton tablets or fluid.
What I did was get a large bowl filled with water, dropped a tablet or a capful of Milton into it, and sterilized baby’s stuff daily or as often as the need arose.
Tags: baby hacks for moms
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