A while back I shared one of my “mom hacks” on the blog and began slowly accumulating a list in my head of other “mom hacks” I implement regularly in my life. I’ve seen plenty of people on Instagram and around the internet share their mom hacks and I always find it so interesting to see the way other mothers approach simplifying life as we all do our best to care for our little ones. In today’s post I’m sharing some of my go-to “mom hacks” and I’d absolutely LOVE to read about some of your motherhood-related tips and tricks, too!
If enough of you chime in, I’d love to roundup your mom hacks in a followup post if it’s of interest so we can all learn from each other. I am always coming away from conversations with other mothers with new ideas for ways to be a better (and more efficient!) mom, so I’d love to hear what’s working well for you guys out there!
My Go-To Mom Hacks
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Place Kid Toys in a Dust Bag and String Handles around Passenger Seat to Keep Toys Easily Accessible and Organized in the Car
This idea came to me when I tackled a long solo road trip to Florida with Chase. I wanted his toys organized and easily accessible and having them all stored in a bag that was hooked onto the armrest of the passenger’s seat was so handy! I now always have a handful of random kid toys stored in an old dust bag or eco-bag in my car and it not only keeps them organized but it also helps prevent my car floorboards from looking like a playroom.
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Put Baby Bath Tub in Stand-Up Shower for a More Comfortable Bath Time
I have a three and a half year old and an 8 month old and yet it took Ryder turning 6 months old for me to get the idea to give him his baths in his baby bath tub in our stand-up shower. Up until then, we were either putting his baby bath tub in the sink (which inevitably resulted in swamp floor all around us) or in our bath tub which was really uncomfortable as we leaned over the tub’s high edge to bathe him. I then had a glaringly obvious “ah-ha!” moment when I moved Ryder’s bath tub into our stand-up shower. At last I can sit comfortably on the floor on a bath mat to bathe Ryder and he can kick and splash his little heart out and get everything around him soaked. Bath time is lovely once again!
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Utilize a Diaper Bag Wristlet
When I was a first-time mom, I was the queen of an overly-stuffed diaper bag. I still try to have my car packed with the essentials but when it comes to carting stuff around with me, I’ve found that, for the most part, I can fit everything I might immediately need (diapers, wipes, a spare onesie, baby food pouch) in a diaper bag wristlet. This thing is the BEST and easily one of my most-used baby items to date. I keep Ryder’s diapering needs in it but it’s also big enough to hold lip balm, my phone, a pacifier, car keys, a pouch, a bar, etc. It makes it really easy to morph practically any bag into a diaper bag, as long as I have this wristlet fully stocked at all times! It’s also great for leaving with Ryder when I drop him off at our gym’s childcare so I’m not leaving my full bag behind and anyone who is caring for him can easily find his must-have items.
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Repurpose Leftover Larabars into “Yummy Bites”
I’m convinced we buy more chocolate chip Larabars than anyone else in the country (thank goodness for Thrive Market deals and buying them in bulk!) and while Chase absolutely loves Larabars, he’ll often only eat about 3/4 of a bar before he’s done. I hate wasting food and since the bars aren’t exactly cheap, I’ll often toss the leftover bar pieces in a zip-top bag and then roll the leftover bar chunks into “bites” to include in his school lunches. He loves eating his “chocolate chip bites” and it’s a great way to ensure we’re not throwing away good food.
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Let Them Choose Their Snacks from a Healthy Snack Bag
I always have a bag of healthy snacks in my purse for Chase to choose from when we’re out and about and he gets hungry. I keep it stocked with healthy snacks like an apple, almond butter packets, raisins, turkey sticks, fruit and veggie pouches and more. Chase seems to enjoy having some say over his snack and it feels like a win to me as well because I know that no matter what he selects, it will be something healthy.
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Make Lunch Leftovers New Again
Chase’s preschool packs up whatever he doesn’t eat for lunch and as the parent of a very light eater, I LOVE that they do this because I can then re-purpose whatever he didn’t touch onto a fresh plate for his after-school snack. (It’s also helpful to see what he does and doesn’t eat at school in general.) I will usually just add one or two extra things to his snack plate to make it seem new again and he rarely seems to notice or care that he’s seeing the same foods he just passed up at lunchtime again a couple of hours later.
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Hide Things Where You Want Them To Go
Chase loooves trying to find little treasures so if we’re in a hurry or I need him to go to the car quickly or head upstairs into his room to get dressed, I’ll put on my best enthusiastic mom voice and tell him I hid x, y, z in there and ask if he can find it. Often it doesn’t even matter what I’ve hidden but the sheer act of hiding something is enough excitement to get Chase moving in the right direction.
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Always Make a Double Batch of Favorites and Freeze One
Whether it’s muffins, pancakes or breakfast bars, whenever I whip up a batch of one of the boys’ favorite go-to foods, I almost always make a double batch and freeze one. So many of Chase’s favorite foods are freezer-friendly and since doubling a recipe doesn’t take much extra effort, it’s something I try to do all the time and my future self is always grateful!
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Box Up Old Toys and Books to Bring Out Again in the Future
I remember reading about the idea of a toy rotation on Caitlin’s blog when I was pregnant with Chase and I thought it was genius… and that was before I knew first-hand how easily toys can take over a home! I implemented the idea of a toy rotation but on a smaller scale where I just box up Chase’s toys and put them away for a few months before bringing them back out again and replacing the toys from the box with new toys to store away for a while. There’s nothing like taking the toys Chase isn’t playing with as much away for a few months to make him think they’re a novelty again when they come back out of hibernation!
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Swap Toys with Friends
I started unintentionally doing this with a friend after our kids always seemed to want to play with each other’s toys for much longer than a play date would last. We started letting our kids borrow toys from each other and they thought it was the coolest! It’s also a wonderful way to learn about sharing while trying new fun toys.
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Use Leftover Coffee in Smoothies
Okay I’m beginning to see a trend here with re-using old food/drinks in these hacks, but never in my life did I have trouble finishing a hot cup of coffee before I had kids. Now that I have two boys to look after, my coffee gets cold all the time and I can only reheat it so many times before I just don’t want it anymore. Now I’ve taken to putting the mug in the fridge and then I’ll reuse the cold coffee in my smoothies for a little mocha flavor.
Question of the Day
What are some “mom hacks” you swear by to make motherhood and caring for little ones a little easier?
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Warm cups of coffee are a thing of the past! Do you have any certain smoothie recipes you use for adding coffee to?
My favorite combo is cold coffee + coconut milk + frozen banana + frozen cauliflower (you can’t taste it!) + chocolate protein powder + cocoa powder. So good!!
I am with you on reusing food-I hate wasting anything!
So my hack is any fruit left on their plate I put in a baggie in the freezer to throw in smoothies.
Love that hack!!!!
I leverage everything they want with what I want:
“Mom, can I have a snack?”
“Yep, as soon as all of your toys are picked up.”
“Mom, can I watch tv?”
“Yep, as soon as your pajamas are on and your teeth are brushed.”
“Mom, can I paint?”
“Yep, as soon as the table is cleared so we have room for the paper and paint.”
Everyone wins.
Smart mom!!! I do this, too! And when you say it sweetly like, “Of course you can have a snack… as soon as you clean up” I feel like they just roll with it and go right along (most of the time ?)!
Smoothies for lunch! Feeding a toddler can be overwhelming (especially when they only want to eat pouches and puffs…anyone else or just mine?!), but I found that my son LOVED smoothies and I love that I can put a TON of healthy fruits/vegetables in it that he wouldn’t eat otherwise. It’s also super quick to make and he loves to be “helpin'” as he says, so it is a win win!
Yes!!!!! We did smoothies EVERY DAY for months for Chase for a while there! Whatever works and smoothies are the best way to get lots of good stuff in their bellies in one cup!
Long term reader, new-ish mom.
This post was great — I can totally relate! I’ll be sure to use the hiding things tip in the future. “Best enthusiastic mom voice” made me laugh out loud… at work. 😉
My tip — we have a designated set of keys for my 15 mo old to hold on to as we’re leaving the house. They are 2 random keys that don’t open anything in our current house. It prevents him from crying until we give him our real keys, which he then refuses to give back so we can’t lock the door, and jingling them entertains him and motivates (distracts??) him to cooperate while we put on his shoes/coat etc.
I always have sunscreen in my car (and a few non perishable emergency snacks as well). Both my kids have light hair and my daughter is a redhead, so having sunscreen available to put on them when a park day has gone longer than expected has saved my fair skinned kiddos time and again!
This is such a good idea! Both my kids are fair skinned & blonde while I have a darker complexion and brown hair so the idea of SPF over 15 is still new to me!
Just be cautious about the temp as sunscreens should not be left in hot temperatures
Since my husband and I both work full time out of the house, we need our mornings to be as efficient as possible for daycare drop offs. To make our mornings easier, we prep everything the night before: bottles filled and labeled, lunches packed and labeled, any clothes we need to send in packed, cloth diapers packed in the wet bag and placed by the door. This way we can just grab everything and go! And we have a spa tub in our house so I just sit in there with the baby tub when we give baths and it works great. My daughter wasn’t strong enough to push the pump down on our hand soap so I went to Lush and bought her a special solid hand soap of her own so now she can do the soap herself and not need help!
Yes, fellow dual income household here and we definitely prep the day before. It makes it so we can just focus on getting ready and out the door. Everything just needs grabbed and placed in the appropriate bag.
I have no hacks for you, despite being a momma to a 6 year old and 1 year old, but I love your larabar bites. I just recently started making my own, and they are magical!
I allow blowing bubbles inside the kitchen. Then when the bubbles pop on the floor, I use a damp cloth and wipe the floor, using the soapy bubbles to wash the floor. My 4 year old has been helping me wipe up the bubbles for over a year. He knows if we wipe them up, we can blow more! With 2 kids, a dog, & a cat I am constantly cleaning the floors, this just makes it fun!
Like many moms, I try to make cleaning up a game. So we’re a bulldozer and a crane when we pick up our toys and put them back in the bins.
This is so adorable! What a fun idea!
We do the tub in the stand up shower too!! Saves my knees and just makes it all that much more enjoyable.
We make 2-3 days worth of lunches at a time and put them in the fridge. Each morning we just grab an already made lunch, saves time and stress in the mornings. Yes, it means we have three lunch boxes but I don’t mind!
These are great suggestions!
Now that my son is getting older, I have designated the bottom drawer of the fridge as his “Snack Attack Drawer”. It’s stocked with cheese sticks, applesauce packets, gogurt, fruit cups – healthy snacks he can open by himself (and share with his little brother) that I don’t feel mom guilt about him eating any time.
I make school lunches from dinner leftovers in our Bentgo boxes right after dinner so I don’t have to make lunches in the morning before school – great repurposing of food and an AMAZING time saver in the morning (plus, less tupperware to clean!).
I love the snack drawer idea! Having something that they can help themselves to that’s also healthy = WIN!
The best hack I have it pre-making meals during the weekend. Our evenings after work are so so limited on time. Having dinner be heat and eat is priceless and means we can have story time after baths for our littles.
Ever since my toddler was a baby I have been using a mesh bag to put all his dirty socks in before throwing in the wash. They’re so small! This way I never lose them.
How creative!! I never would’ve thought of that but I love this tip!!
These are great! Love the rolled up left over lara bars idea and the hiding things where you want them to go.
I think it’s time you invest in a Yeti for your coffee or a mug warmer! Haha I’ve seen you comment so many times how you are always reheating your coffee! I have the Mr. Coffee mug warmer on my kitchen counter and in my office. I also use my Yeti for school drop off days so I can take it with me and finish at home. It keeps it hot for HOURS!
I actually have a Yeti but for some reason I only think to use it when I’m taking my coffee to go out of the house! I love using my regular coffee mugs at home — but your idea for a mug warmer sounds right up my alley!
I love this post! I have the Jujube BFF diaper bag but just ordered the wristlet after seeing your post. Could you show us how you pack yours, maybe in an Instagram story? I’d love to see how you organized yours and fit everything in.
I have the same bag as you & I use the wristlet which I ordered as part of the “be set” all the time. I keep my stuff in the wristlet & use it as a purse, or throw it in any larger purse/bag I want when I’m on my own or throw it in the diaper bag when I’m with the kiddos.
Two clothing hacks:
-I keep everything for bedtime (PJs, Diaper, lotion, etc.) in our daughter’s bathroom vanity. That way she comes out of the bath and I dry, lotion, and dress her all right there on the bath mat. Moving to another room always opens the opportunity for them to run away and getting jammies on a tired, wiggly kid can seriously be so hard some days!
-I keep stain spray where clothes come off. So I have one in that bathroom vanity (as well as her little hamper because she mostly gets undressed before bath) and spray immediately, and I have one by the washer/dryer which is by our kitchen for the random clothes that get dirty throughout the day and go straight in the washer.
And one more random hack: tv remotes in the car…or anywhere! They love all the buttons!! We often have one in the diaper bag, car, and throughout the house (we don’t have cable so we just turn on the tv on the screen and have forgone remotes)!
Love these tips! Will keep looking back for more ideas!
I love all of these hacks!!! Especially the random remotes everywhere (I think Ryder would love this on his changing table now that he’s getting extra wiggly!) and the stain remover spray near the hampers!
My son is still an infant, so I still have a lot of mom hacks to learn – this post was so fun! My one hack is to have lots of gauze squares on hand. It sounds odd, but we got used to them when our boy was in the NICU (born premature, so we spent a long time there) and they are the BEST. I use them as a pee-pee teepee, to dry his bum during diaper changes, to wipe his nose and as a makeshift washcloth on the go. They’re super cheap, soft, and seriously work for everything!
Genius! Our little guy was just circumcised and we have gauze around!
Similar to your snack hack, I always pack my boys a “snack mix” of random snacks all mixed together. It depends what we have in the pantry, but things like raisins, dried fruit, Cheerios, pretzels, wheat thins, animal crackers, etc all get mixed together in one sandwich bag so that they can eat whatever snack they are in the mood for. It has stopped the yelling at me for “different snack” every 5 seconds when they have a variety already.
We keep my 3 year old’s plates, cups, and utensils in a bottom drawer in our kitchen so that she can set her place at the table or access what she needs to for meal times. She often wants to “help”, but that usually creates more work for me. So, I’ll give her the task of setting her table spot and enabling her to get all the stuff needed to do that.
I love this idea, especially for teaching independence/responsibility!
Not a mom yet, but hopefully in the next few years…in the meantime, I’ve got a niece and nephew who keep me on my toes haha. Your hacks are great and I’ve pinned this for the future!
My favorite “auntie-hack” (used to nanny for my niece) so far has been learning to time different chores according to the tiny people’s schedule. My niece struggles with going down for naps, but she falls asleep pretty well with white noise like a vacuum in the background…so I started waiting to vacuum until she needed to nap, and naptime suddenly became SO much easier. The bonus was my floors were spotless thanks to the daily cleaning haha.
We have a snack basket, a lululemon bag in the car with books/car toys/wipes, a ‘not listening’ box for when my 3 year old isn’t listening and we throw a toy up there to get our point across, HA!, and we’ll freeze gogurt yogurt tubes to make ‘popsicles’ in the summer!
What brand of turkey snack sticks? I’m always looking for new snack ideas for my 4-year old!
The New Primal Snack Mates are our favs! I get them on Thrive Market!
Julie! This is one of the best blog posts I’ve read in a while — REAL helpful stuff hahah! THANK YOU! I just had a little bit of Larabar left over from Brady’s snack earlier and hated tossing it — thanks for the tip on the bites. And bath in the shower? YESSS!
One of my very best friends, Myla, is a parent educator who has started her own video series on YouTube to help with realistic parenting tips. Not really “hacks” but ideas or suggestions to try and help you manage raising little ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh-Nc0xzPxg
She’s absolutely awesome!
Not a huge hack, but I’ve realized my toddler will eat anything if she thinks she’s sneaking it. If I have a plate of something on the kitchen counter, she’ll get her step stool and climb up to sneak it. It really helps us get protein in her that she often ignores on her plate; saying “oh the eggs/chicken/whatever just need to cool so it’ll be here.” Sometimes she’ll come blow on cold deli turkey to “cool it” haha Whatever works!
I love all of these hacks! One of my hacks is if you are breast pumping to try to make it more of a “relaxing me time” by journaling, reading, doing a devotional, drinking tea, etc!
I love that idea about Lara Bar bites! So smart. My son does the same thing – eats 3/4 of a bar and then is done. We love the Banana Chocolate Chip bars the best.
LOVE this post! Solicit helpful info! We done have a stand up shower, but the baby bath inside is GENIUS!
My son isn’t a picky eater, but he loves to drag out dinner time as much as possible. He just really wants to go play, so I’ve been feeling all around his belly and then randomly saying “oh! That spot is empty!” And he will eat another bite. I do this so often now that he will ask me to feel his belly for any empty spots before he’s done with dinner. I like this method more than the typical 5 more bites and you may get down method.
So much info – not solicit info ?
I have two boys who are actually pretty close in age to your boys! Right after my baby was born, I struggled with what order to use when I unload them from the car on my own, especially for preschool drop off when we have a few bags as well. I started taking my oldest out first and made a game of keeping his hand inside the circle for my gas tank while I get the baby and our bags. He finds it funny and then I don’t have to worry about him running into the parking lot or street. Small thing but so helpful!
I love this post! I just had my first baby on Valentine’s Day! I’ll have to file some of these away for future use.
My girls are now 12 & 10, but to this day I still use this hack. When somebody is put on prescription medicine we use a sharpie and record the dosages on the back of the bottle so its always right there, no list on a phone, fridge or mentally. We have the days listed with an AM/PM column; as a dose is given, that square gets an X. I wish I could attach a pic, we’re doing it right now.
My favorite mom hack is to layer bedding on my kids’ beds – put a mattress protector, sheet, mattress protector, sheet. This way, if they have an accident in the middle of the night, you peel off one layer, and still have clean sheets and a protected mattress for them to sleep on without remaking the bed at 2am. I started when they were potty training, but have kept it up even now that they are older – it’s been a lifesaver on nights when they get sick in their bed!
Brilliant!!
I never understood the baby bath tub! We used the kitchen sink and then we had one of those old fashioned yellow sponges for the regular tub. They are super cheap and don’t take up any space.
I hated the diaper bag and would leave it in the car 99% of the time. I bought a Skip Hop Crossbody Bag purse that came with a small changing pad and used that as my purse/diaper essentials for the first two years of my daughter’s life. Once she was potty trained I celebrated by buying myself a new (non-diaper) purse!
Would you mind sharing a list of the items in your “healthy snack” bag? I am always looking for new snacks for my daughter.
Absolutely!! It’s always changing but some staples are turkey/chicken sticks (I love The New Primal Snack Mates brand), packets of almond butter/peanut butter (Chase LOVES Justin’s vanilla, maple and cinnamon almond butters), cashews, raisins, an apple or clementine, larabar/RXKids bar, Bitsy’s sweet potato graham crackers… and whatever else looks good/is on sale at the time!
These are great! We recently attached a row of hooks at kid/toddler level in our mud room. I have a big basket that they toss their shoes in and they each have a designated hook for their coats and backpacks. I ended up hanging up a cloth bag as well for everyone’s mittens/hats/accessories. It’s made getting in and out of the house a million times easier (and our mud room is a heck of a lot neater!).
Love these so much! My favorite mom hack lately with my 2 1/2 year old is to make up a goofy song about anything he regularly resists (we have one about choosing a pull up for nap time that’s been a big hit 😉 I feel like a total goof ball, but it gets him smiling instead of tantruming, so worth it!
A couple things that helped when our kiddos were little and now that they are big!
When I went to Costco or a larger store, I would go straight to the book department and let them choose a book to read while I shopped. Then I could focus on shopping and not on whining kids! We’d kindly return the book to the shelf when we were done.
Now that we cart kids back and forth to every sport on the planet- both my husband and I keep a well stocked snack bag in our cars. It keeps the kids from asking if we can stop and get food in between practices or games.
Ok, I recently heard this one at my moms group and it blew me away. My friend has three girls, so they all end up handing down clothes. The oldest child (largest size) gets a tick mark on the tag of any clothing item. Once that item is too small for that kid, the clothing gets a second tick mark. Their middle daughters clothes have 2 tick marks, and when she grows out of it, another tick mark goes on the tag. The youngest child (so the smallest size clothes) has three tick marks. Let’s say the middle child is wearing a shirt that looks small…..my friend lets her wear it that day, but right away she whips out her sharpie and marks it. Then it goes to the younger kid after being washed. Also, anyone (even visiting grandparents!) can also fold laundry because the tick marks make it easy to know what belongs to who!!!!! Game changer!
That is BRILLIANT!
We take away holiday/presents as soon as they get them! Ha, sounds terrible. We have a 5 and 2 year old so I’m sure will end at some point, but right now they don’t realize it. They get so many presents at a time, we take some away and just leave a couple out they gravitated towards first. They don’t even remember the other ones! Then when we have a snowy/rainy day and we’re stuck in the house, I’ll pull out one of their new toys! They spend much more time playing with the toys this way.
Love this! Totally just bought that wristlet pouch — I’m so over the massive diaper bag situation!
I was the same way! It’s just overwhelming and as long as I have the essentials with me, I figure that’s good enough most of the time!
My favorite mom hack is to put the baby in the baby bathtub WITHOUT water while you shower!! It’s already in the bathroom and a nice place for them to sit and play with toys 🙂 (For a bigger, sitting baby at least). I need to do a toy rotation with Mazen’s toys!
For my 4 year old we put command hooks very low in the laundry room so he can hang up his coat and back pack by himself when he comes in the door!
We also have a tiny wooden bench in the laundry room where both of my boys (4 and almost 2) can sit to put on shoes and socks before we leave the house! Right next to that bench is a basket of all of their socks! We don’t keep socks upstairs in their rooms since we don’t put them on until we have to leave to go somewhere- we have hardwood floors and they run around a lot (socks on hardwood=lots of slipping). I realized it was silly to always be running upstairs to grab socks before we needed to leave to go somewhere. So the socks in a basket in the laundry room idea was born!
My boys eat a bedtime snack each night, and we were always struggling with my older son deciding what to eat. So we just picked something he loves and we have that everything night! Cheerios and milk for the 4 year old, and a mixture of oats, yogurt, peanut butter, and mixed berries for my 2 year old. No more decision fatigue!
Best water bottles! Eco-vessel scout stainless steel water bottles. No leaks, easy for even my 2 year old to open, super easy to clean, keep water cold.
Best game for when you have a lot to do while staying at home with your little ones, and they’re not interested in playing independently- hide and seek! Count really slow and put away laundry, pick up, dust, clean bathrooms, etc. in little spurts while you count!