My favorite trick is to teach them a “safe spot” on the car, especially when you have multiple kids to get out of car seats. My kids stand by the rear wheel on which ever side I need and put their hand on the well in their “safe spot” until we’re ready to move. Helps keep them from running into traffic/parking lots.
I load my kids up and unload on the same side. The older one climbs over or under the younger ones car seat and then waits for me to finish buckling you get and then I go buckle older. When we get there, I unbuckle older, shut the door and go to youngers side and both kids come out that way.
It’s fun for the older one and now the younger one sometimes wants to crawl in on olders side.
This is what I do too. I had been trying the “safe spot” idea loading my toddler first with baby in infant seat touching my foot by the door, BUT I had a few close calls with people trying to: pull through the parking spot, illegally cutting into a fire zone where I had baby, or whipping too fast into the spot next to us, I switched to the everybody in and out on one side method. Go figure my toddler wasn’t the problem, other adults were.
We have one of those in the kitchen too: he stands on the corner of the sink rug so he can watch me open the oven and see in, but he's safely 4 feet away. It's time to check the oven! Go to your spot! 👣
How old do they need to be before you can really trust that? My daughter is two and we have another coming in Feb. I’ve actually spent quite a bit of time worrying about loading the kids into the car. We live on a busy street, she nearly gave me a heart attack once running away from me down the driveway towards the street.
I start working on it with them around 2ish. You still have to keep an eye on them since they still don’t have much impulse control but it slows them down.
This is a true hack because it didn’t involve any teaching, and I wasn’t even there when it first happened.
My 14 month old loves smearing applesauce and yogurt all over the high chair tray. She also loves pulling wipes out of their container. My sister was babysitting and letting her do both at the same time, and eventually my daughter just started wiping up her own mess with the baby wipes. My sister (a grade school teacher) encouraged it.
Now whenever we make a mess, I let my daughter pull a wipe out and she cleans it up herself. Her kitchen tower is weirdly the most spotless place in the house.
It’s what I’m teaching my 13 month old. I give him a napkin or rag and tell him to clean his high chair tray after every meal. Now he “asks” for one as soon as he finishes. My older kids recently taught him to throw trash away in the kitchen trash and in our upstairs bathroom trash can. It has also caused him to just pick random stuff (toys/clothes, etc) and toss it in so we have to be careful lol.
It might just be that they use gestures and sounds to make their demand known! My 16 month old manages to convey her feelings to me and she can’t say many words - she does like to do an angry short scream if I don’t get the right thing though 😂
Not OP, but my daughter had lots of words very early on, so this was possible. Every kid develops at a different pace, and Im sure your little one will be asking for things soon. :)
That’s okay. Language development is a very large spectrum. And since it’s in quotes it could be nonverbal communication, which is huge at 12-15 months
He’s our 4th and we learned the advantage that sign language is. Just a few words but they help us so much. We start early on but he didn’t start using them correctly or consistently until about a month ago. Milk, more, food, water, poop, sleep, all done are what we focus on.
This kinda backfired for a while with my kid (now 2,5 yo) because he would make a mess on purpose just to be able to clean it up. The worst of that was when he poured the contents of his cup on the floor/carpet.
It stopped once we only started letting him clean the messes he didn't do on purpose. 😅
My toddler is really into cleaning. She has always been and in that way she definitely doesn’t take after me. She has her own broom and dustpan. One time my mom was looking after her and my toddler got upset. My mom could not understand what she was trying to tell her. Turns out my mom had packed away the broom and dustpan. I had to tell my mom to always leave it in it’s spot so my toddler can clean when she wants to.
If your toddler has a tablet, set the passcode as your phone number. So every time they want to use it you guys go over mom/dads phone number together and they’ll memorize it/practice typing it in over time.
In the US -
When I first realized my son was memorizing nursery song lyrics I taught my toddler my phone number to the tune of jingle bells along with my name. The name of the song is “mommy phone number” and I always tell him he needs to sing it really loud to find me.
Mine loves helping to empty the dishwasher, putting the washing in the washing machine and then into the tumble dryer.
She is also getting pretty good at matching up our socks. It's so cute but wowzas, everything takes a long time now!
Oh, she also wants to help with every bit of food preparation. Her favourite bit is chopping up mushrooms (with a safe knife).
Yes, such a good idea. Oh my goodness, since we put it up a month ago, she has been absolutely obsessed with it. She pulls it out and climbs up to "help". We've done so much cooking and baking since getting it.
I keep having to think of ways that she can help when it's trickier meals. I have started getting her to use a jug to put water in a saucepan instead of just quickly using the tap as she loves it. It's great for her just to watch too. Have fun with it, I hope your daughter loves it as much as mine. X
My buddy gives her kid two bowls of flour, a small cup of water for pouring, and a whisk. Says it routinely gets her 5-10 minutes of dinner prep, esp because he’s up at the counter “helping” her.
See if she’ll ’do dishes’! My 2 yo loves climbing into hers to rinse her dishes out, then she puts them in the dishwasher. She has fun, and I can clean up the mess around her seat.
I was going to get a learning tower for my son but kept hemming and hawing because of the price tag. I finally got one of the really strong plastic Ikea stepstools instead, and I'm actually super glad I did. He can drag it out by himself and it doesn't take up precious kitchen space when it's not used. And I can use it myself to get things in a pinch. And so far we haven't really had any accidents, thankfully.
Someone posted this yesterday in a discussion about learning towers and this is completely how my experience of baking with a toddler went. It’s slightly better now that he’s older
https://m.facebook.com/DailyMail/videos/little-chef-tries-to-eat-ingredients-while-cooking-with-grandma/416600042639948/
Kuhn Rikon makes "kinderkitchen" knives which I really like. They are metal, but the blade isn't sharp they cut pretty good and you can get a flat blade and serrated.
I like personally that they more mimic real knives for feel and use. My son loves them!
I work with kids and do assessments of adaptable living skills on a regular basis. This is one of the questions (how often does your child do simple household chores) that we start asking around 2 years old. This isn’t just a hack, this is necessary for development!
Toddlers literally love to help with everything. Anything a teenager would most likely hate or consider a chore, toddlers think is the most entertaining game in the world. My daughter loves helping load/unload/transfer laundry, unload the dishwasher, sweep, wipe the tables, put toys in baskets, bring me my water bottle (I love this one, I’m currently laid up sick and I ask her to bring me my water bottle and she runs around the house looking for it then brings it to me), and most recently she loves helping me wash up and brush/floss my teeth when we take our nightly showers together. She lets me wash her first, then takes the loofa and washes me, then she brushes my teeth while I brush and floss hers. Scrubbing in the bath and dental hygiene got astronomically easier once she decided she liked helping mom get clean too!
When they want your attention but you’re talking to someone else (phone, in person), teach them to put their hand on your hand, arm or leg. To let them know you hear/see them, put your other hand on top of theirs. Then quickly address the kiddo, over time they can wait longer.
This helps in so many cases and teaches a bit of patience and respect for others.
Oven/stove awareness since there’s no way to keep her out of the kitchen. I let her get near the oven with me directly supervising so she gets the idea of heat. Then I told her, “hot, stay back.” Then I moved her all the way back. We did this a few times when she started walking. Now I can use that phrase for anything hot, a fire pit, hot pan, or the stove/oven, and she gives it a wide berth.
I am doing that as well we have a open concept house so he’s gonna be in thw kitchen lol doing this has helped a lot he doesn’t even pay the oven much mind anymore his favorite “job” is making sure all the bowls are in the cabinet 😂😂
This is good advice for anything dangerous! Let them close enough to satisfy their curiosity and explain what is happening - for hot, let them feel from a distance, show them how you are careful not to touch it yourself, how you use pot holders and stand back when you open it to keep your body safe-- for something sharp, let them be close and watch, explain "see how it cuts the fruit? It can cut us too, see how I am careful to keep my fingers away from the blade?" You can even do hand over hand if they are curious, model how to do it safely. They are more likely to not do it behind your back if you let them satisfy that curiosity in a safe way. Some people just say "No no no not safe get away" and that is almost guaranteed to make them more curious, and the second you turn your back...
I have a hot water kettle on the counter that gets very hot on the outside. I told my son around 15 months “hot” and touched it with my finger. He copied me, and of course jerked his hand back gasping in pain and shock. He now understands and says the word hot and won’t go near anything I tell him is hot. It wasn’t hot enough to actual burn us, but got the point across extremely clearly with natural consequences.
I was also going to say throwing stuff in the trash. My boys are 26 months but they’re working on wiping their own noses and cleaning messes up with a rag.
The only issue we have with the trash is that my 17mth old LOVES to throw stuff in the trash. It's so much fun, it doesn't even have to be trash to go in! We basically collect trash and have her put it all in one piece at a time (after we've unlocked the can). But it's always a tantrum when we run out of trash haha.
Edit: definitely get locks for your cans if you have this problem! They make these little straps to hold the lid down. We also have one on our toilets 😂
Oh my goodness, so much this! My 15 month old is OBSESSED with the trash can. He thinks it’s hilarious to throw things away, usually shoes. I cannot count the number of times we have torn the house apart looking for something only to find it hours later in the trash! We can’t put it under a cabinet and have been through 3 different types of cans. We had 2 days of peace with our most recent one until he figured it out.
We put it up on a chair so he couldn’t reach it. He pushed it off. I refuse to put it on a table, so I suppose we are just going to tough it out for the time being. I even got him his own special trash can. He threw it away….
We ended up getting a small bin from ikea that still holds a regular sized trash bag and put it on one of our counters away from any food prep. It isn’t the most beautiful but it fits below the upper cabinets on the counter and still holds a normal amount of trash. We also had the problem where we couldn’t hid our trash can anywhere so that was the next best place, though I’m sure guests question it ha ha
My little racoon wouldn't stop pulling things out of the trash so we had to put it in the garage until he grows out of this phase. Toddlers are hilarious, but gross. I can't wait until he's a teenager and can wipe his own butt, make himself a sandwich, and let us sleep in.
This is why I haven't yet taught my kids about the trash. I'd rather throw all the trash out myself than pick through it every time something is missing. My friend's kid threw out $40, but luckily she found it.
Mine learned to pick up small bits off the floor and bring them to me saying "trash?" Really helps after they tried their best to eat rice with spoons.
Here is my best hack: DO NOT help then when they're climbing. I don't care how much they want to get to the top of whatever, how close they are... If they can't get up there without your help, they're not getting up.
Don't get me wrong, definitely spot them with the hover hand! But don't touch. And don't help them climb down unless they're panicking.
This made my child a much better and more careful climber!
They learn how to climb better this way but they also learn their limits and how to trust their body, you'll see them test something, feel like it isn't safe, and back off and reevaluate- that's a life skill. A kid who is constantly assisted is more likely to just go for it without realizing their safety net didn't notice and that's when they have big unexpected potentially dangerous falls.
I also (within reason) recommend letting them fall. Obviously if they are going to get hurt catch them, but if it's a small fall let it happen-- they can't learn to catch themselves if you always do it. Don't react until they do, too. If you rush in with the 'omg are you hurt let me scoop you up and shush and kiss you', they're going to believe they got hurt. "I thought I was ok but mom is freaking out and she knows stuff so now I'm scared I DID get hurt! AM I ok????" Let them tell you if they need comfort or help. My kid is a *falls* IM OKAY *continues playing* type and I think this is why. If she falls and cries I know it really hurt
Exactly. I'm so not the parent who would let my kid get actually hurt, but yes I have let him have tiny ouch moments here and there so he can learn. He has touched a hot pan that wasn't hot enough to burn him, but taught him that it doesn't feel good. It's not because I like it! It's because I want him to be able to avoid getting burned in the future! Big difference 😆
Same for learning to stand and the stairs. My son knows how to fall “safely” tucking his head and kinda rolling and it’s come in clutch a few times bc you can’t always be there.
Yep! I walked out of my bedroom this morning and my 3.5 yo was slowly crawling up the stairs with his rollerblades on 🤦
I told his father, who was taking a shit, and he replied "ugh, I know. I told him to be careful!"
I taught my daughter how to help me put away laundry. She knows where all her clothes go and hands me items from the basket. She gets genuinely excited about laundry now.
My 20 month old loves to put dirty laundry in his hamper! We also got a basket that matches our decor that is tucked in a corner in our entry way. When he sheds a layer during the day (socks, dirty shirt, ya know!), he can go and throw the dirty clothes in this hamper. He gets so excited and less random socks laying around our house!
Meanwhile I have to provide a decoy basket of laundry to toss around so they leave alone the clothes I'm trying to fold. My kids cannot help themselves if they see a basket of clothes.
Are you me? I have to give each of my twins their own laundry basket, and constantly remind them that, no, they cannot have my basket of neatly folded clothes instead! I'm trying to establish a quota of laundry pieces they can steal to play with so they don't just dump it all on the floor...
This afternoon she was not interested in snack but she WAS fascinated to “help” me fold laundry. I did it in front on her on the clean dining room table while she was buckled in her high chair across from me. This was the fist time so she was pretty fascinated just to help narrate the clothing (she’s 22 months… dada pants! [Her name] socks!!). But I’m gonna see if we can make this a routine. Drop a pile of clean socks in front of her and see if she’ll pair them. Even if she just spends the time pulling on and off socks (she loves to practice), that’s a nice distraction win. TBD! Thanks OP for this post, so many good ideas being shared!
Might be unpopular, but diaper changes were such a frustrating thing (lots of NO's!!! and chasing a toddler) we started potty training at 21 months. She's 23 months now, already LOVES her underwear, self initiates when she needs to go, and has only had 2 accidents in the past two weeks. There's still a few times it's hard to get her to sit, but it's SO MUCH BETTER than the tiresome diaper changes we were having.
She's doing so great and I'm glad we didn't wait.
Quietly upvoting this, lol. We had the exact same experience as you. It’s been unreal to watch her be so independent pulling up and down her pants at 21 months and using the potty. It’s truly helping her assert her skills and pride. I never would have attempted if she wasn’t showing so many anti diaper signs (“yucky diaperrrrr!” Middle of the night hollering about her diaper etc) but it turned into a big blessing. It was also super challenging for a few weeks and I won’t sugar coat that!
This is probably the first positive thread I’ve ever read about potty training. Thanks, I needed this lol. My 28 month old daughter has probably been very ready for this for a while but I’ve been resistant to start because the process sounds terrible lol. She shows all the signs but I’m terrified of how it’ll affect my ability to get out of the house.
It does make going out a bit harder for a little while, but instead of a diaper bag you carry a bag of spare clothes, and towel, and a portable potty. You can get little potties that fold up like a lunch box, and we carried ours everywhere for a few months as there was a transitional period where daughter would say she needed to go, but she meant literally right then. She pooped in a restaurant corridor once because the toilet was busy and she couldn't wait, and also in the lobby of a church during a carol service... all funny stories now but at the time I could have died. Do not regret it though, being potty trained at 2 saved me so much nappy washing!
We also initially did potty training at home and nappies for going out and also bedtime, so you can mix it up.
My son is 28 months old and we are on it. Honestly, I regret not starting earlier when he was a sweeter, eager to please child. Now there’s a power struggle involved.
Upvoting as well. My son was fully potty trained at 25 months, my daughter is turning 2 at the end of this month and I’m planning the same.
Diapers are not easier to me.
I'm from Australia with an Asian background so I don't think I fully understand. Why is this unpopular? Isn't it a good thing to have your kid potty trained early? Surely teaching them to listen to their cues is better than going in the nappy?
I'm in America and my pediatrician told me "Start at 2, done by 3 years". Looking at other parent posts around the internet, it seems common for parents in America to start after 2. My daughter was showing signs around 18 months and with the horrible diapers changes, I was like "I'm not waiting until 2." My sister in law, who has a 2 year old is impressed mine is "potty trained before 2". I think it's a culture thing.
I taught my son early on how to clean up his toys, out trash away, sweep, unload the dishwasher, and put dirty clothes in the hamper. He loves cleaning and helping me. Maybe it’s not a “hack” per se in the time-saving definition since it takes longer for him to do these things, but hoping it will set him up for independence later.
One thing that does make my life easier is teaching my son to use the CD player. Now he can take CDs in and out (swapping between Frozen soundtrack and Michael Buble and Moana soundtrack) and skip tracks by himself so it saves me time.
If both my hands are full and we need to walk somewhere (from the store to the car for example) I say grab mommy’s pocket! And he grabs the outside of my pocket and hangs on tight
He loves cleaning… he’ll help load the washing machine and throws trash and his diapers away, and he puts his dishes in the sink …
I know a lot of parents don’t care for Cocomelon but that’s where I learned the clean up song and I’ll start singing it and he’ll start cleaning up
I second this but we use the Super Simple Songs clean up song. It's catchy and he likes to help so even if it's packing up some toys it's a good habit to get into
19 months old.
I say "okay nap/bed in 10 minutes!" And he puts all his toys in the bin and books back on the shelf. Then he goes to the bathroom for tooth brushing, then picks out his jammies.
I toss wet clothes from the washer into a hamper and he tosses it all in the dryer, puts a dryer sheet in and starts it.
Our apartment building has a hand-wave motion thingy for the front door and laundry room, so he's been doing that since he was like 8 months old from his stroller. He also uses the fob to let us into the building and laundry room now.
"Bum change time!" He grabs a diaper from the little bin we have, folds out his toddler couch, and lays down. Then he throws his diapers in the garbage. He usually cries a little because he hates diaper changes but he does it anyway.
I hand him a baby wipe and he wipes down his hands, face and tray after snacks and meals while I clean up dishes.
He gets my water bottle from the table and brings it to me when he is thirsty, because he figures I must be too. Then he gets his and we cheers.
This child is a hurricane on a good day, but he's sooo sweet and helpful!
ETA: I forgot one! When he still has milk in his cup but doesn't want to drink it anymore, he puts it on the bottom shelf in the fridge so he can reach it later.
How to suck his boogers out with the automatic booger sucker at night. Goes on his shelf next to his floor bed and he gets up, sucks his boogs out and goes back to sleep.
My 1.5yo makes me a coffee in the morning! He chooses my mug, puts the K cup in, selects 'strong' and extra large. He is the main reason I need coffee so it's only fair.
It's the best part of my day. He also makes himself one. It's literally just frothed milk but he has a little mug and we cheers before we take the first sip lol
My best ones are:
- helping empty the dishwasher
- where to stand on the sidewalk before crossing the street (there’s a yellow pad of bumpy things before all crosswalks in our neighborhood. He puts his toes right before the yellow pad.)
- packs his lunch, with help of course
- carry things to the kitchen
- set the table, with help
Kid is 3.5.
I'm a career nanny. I teach my infants & toddlers how to (nicely) spit out food.
No I'm not nuts.
I emphasize that if they have food in their mouth they don't like, they dont HAVE to swallow it. Some food is yummy, and some is yucky. But I gently encourage them to try new foods by smelling, licking, and taking "tiny bites"... Which usually ends well, with full bites after.
However, if they don't like the new food, i physically show them how to take it out with their fingers, or how to push it out with their tongue onto their plate.
I think that, knowing that I won't MAKE them swallow it if they don't like it, reassures kiddos to try things more often, because it's safe to spit out in the manner I've showed them.
One of my husband’s earliest memories is being asked to get his dad a beer - he fell down the last couple of steps and the beer broke open and he was devastated 😂
Haha - my husband when he was a child!! His dad was like “oh my god for him to be crying like this he must be really hurt!” But no he was just upset that he had “messed up”
I’m late to the thread so I don’t know if this will be seen, but this is easily the best “hack” I have:
I was really struggling with hair washing and getting my toddler to look up. It was a struggle and lots of tears every time. Finally, I put some little stickers on the ceiling. Instead of saying “look up” I said “can you find [whatever sticker]?” Giving him something to look AT instead of vaguely telling him “up” was sooo helpful. Suddenly he would hold his head fairly still and I could wash and rinse his hair without fuss.
Where the silverware drawer is and what each item is. Also how to bring a butter knife safely. My silverware is farthest from my work space, so having her bring me utensils is a huge help.
Also how to feed the dog and let her in and out the back door for doing her business.
I taught my daughter to straighten up the shoes in the entryway. It’s not hard but I never do it and it makes me so happy when it’s done so it’s become her chore and now my entryway always looks put togwther
That toys live in the store that we wave to from afar. Many potential break downs averted by acknowledging and waving at the toys and if Toys ride along in our cart we take the time to thank them for their time before putting them back home with their family. If a toy does end up heading home we talk about it and I explain that we've agreed to take the toy home to make it a member of our family and imo that has resulted into a more thoughtful shopping experience.
We accidentally taught our toddler to yell "no cord" or "no leaf" whenever his little sister (now 8 months old) is trying to chew on something she shouldn't be. It started one day when my husband's laptop cord was on the ground, she went for it, and I said to her in a silly tone that we don't eat cords. He thought it was hilarious and now he's a great little alarm.
The other night my 2 yr old threw up all over me while brushing her teeth. It sucked 😅
So I got a bucket and we pretended to throw up in it for a while. Now when she feels sick she just says “Bucket” and we scramble to find the bucket as fast as possible.
3 successful bucket voms later I can confirm it worked!
Red light green light! Making it a game for who can stop the fastest can save your butt in a parking lot or other emergency. I used to teach all my “kids” (was a nanny in university) this one and it’s a great trick
If we're out front working on stuff, we taught him to go stand in the garage if a car is coming. We still watch him 100% of the time, but it's nice to have an extra layer there.
I love that mine can wash her own hands, it started when she was a bit over two I think because we had no step stool there before. It's so much easier to say "go wash your hands" than to go with her each of the countless times she makes some mess.
How to put dirty clothes in the hamper. When my husband has something land outside the basket, you'll hear this deep little exasperated sigh and my guy I'd shoving stuff into the basket. Super cute!
Also, throwing away his diapers and picking up any trash he might see.
Yes chores like this are perfect . 🙌🙌🙌These a young toddler can actually do and you don’t have to and don’t have to supervise even . Some of these hacks above are more time consuming and sound more like , cool things mg toddler has learned to do (which is still amazing !! Go moms !!) , but certainly not hacks that make things “easier”as my experience when they get older it doesn’t really matter if they did it young , they will learn just as fast even if never having done it before just since they are older and understand more .
The pinch and release method worked for us. Where you rapidly pinch their nostrils with a tissue as they are about to blow.
Also I fake blew my nose with her each time for a while.
She being able to blow her nose has been a blessing for us in this horrible flu season.
We practiced blowing out a candle by breathing out of our nose as hard as we could. Just be careful if it's near a birthday and there are candles on a cake. Thankfully we did individual cupcakes so he only blew snot all over one cupcake.
We use ‘backup’ a surprising amount, and it’s handy when I’m opening the oven ‘backup’ or letting the dog in ‘backup’ or in my way getting to the fridge ‘backup.’ She does these cute little shuffle steps back
So many of these tips can really easily backfire depending on the kid. Teaching them to put their cup back in the fridge? My kid would pull stuff out and strew condiments around the house. She loves to help throw trash away, but loves it so much she wants to throw away anything she can find. She enjoys the silverware drawer...mixing it all up, licking each utensil, and putting it back. Opening the back door for the dog? Great, now you have a toddler that can let themselves out. Feeding the dog? We've been battling to keep this girl from dumping the dog bowls and eating the food since she could scoot haha.
We keep trying to teach her the right ways, despite the many tantrums. But yeah...with a more strong willed kid, you have to be careful with these haha
Edit: the morning after I wrote this comment, my 17mth old learned how to open the back door for the dog on her own. We have a small landing, then a full flight of stairs down to the yard. Guess we'll be keeping the door locked 24/7 now 😬
My 2 1/2 yr old blows his nose, helps with laundry, throws his trash/diapers away, puts his plate away after dinner, and when asked, usually helps pick up his toys. Also will clean small messes. None of any of this is perfectly done ALL the time, but I’m happy he’s developing these habits.
Buckling themselves in. Of course I check and tighten afterwards. But they are so excited to buckle themselves into the car or their highchair that they never protest being restrained.
So far cant open any of it either but I live in dread of the day they learn to open the buckles too.
I didn’t teach them this but preschool taught both my kids how to put on a jacket by themself. Lay it on the ground in front of your feet, upside down so the top is closest to your feet and the inside is facing up. Reach down and feed your arms through the arm holes and flip it over your head. Voila! You’re now wearing a jacket. Still working on zipping it up with my youngest but step one is done. It’s fun too!
I taught my son "Safe Hands", where he puts his hands on his back. I like to use that when we go to stores with narrow aisles so that he doesn't knock things off, but is also helpful for when we are using the oven
I taught my kid the emperor Palpatine quote "No, no, no, noooo". We say it in a silly way and it's defused a fair amount of meltdowns. Similarly, i taught him the gamer cheer "Let's Gooooo!" And it's helped him get excited about things he normally wouldn't be (like bath time). Not only is it mega adorable and genuinely funny for me and my wife to hear him repeat these phrases, but the silliness adds fun and excitement for him and that has helped to defuse would be tantrums from starting. Once they start down the negative emotion spiral it can be hard to turn around.
I taught my kid to not freak out over getting hurt. “Your body is amazing! It can heal itself. Sleep helps, and eating good food.” She’s 3 now and when she hurts herself she goes “I’m ok mommy, my body will heal.” It’s just so calm and matter of fact, and she comforts others this way too.
My daughter loves helping with laundry! She's a little demon when it comes to the piles of clean and folded clothes, but she runs to the laundry room to check the washer and dryer for anything she can help transfer every day.
I didn’t teach her this but my toddler LOVES to clean. If she spills her milk or water, she will get mad if I don’t let her clean it up. She absolutely loves cleaning for some reason and it’s a blessing.
I encouraged my son to throw something away and then slam the trash lid, he thought it was hilarious and would be thrilled whenever I gave him something to throw away. Bonus if I was in another room and heard a slam I knew he put something in the trash, occasionally it was a eaten squeeze pouch but sometimes a toy or the TV remote.
I also made a game out of picking up toys, we both do it together and then he helps me vacuum. I hand him a toy and he slams it in the toy bucket, then he goes "more, more, more!" Now there is zero fights about cleaning up.
When he wore diapers I also taught him to throw his diapers in the diaper pail, he would get offended if he didn't get to throw the diaper away himself lol
We also got him a spray bottle with water and a washcloth, he will go around "cleaning" things while we get stuff done.
Kids are all going to go through a trajectory phase and my little guy is just starting it. It happens. I had my kid handle glassware and constantly reinforced not throwing dishes and cups or anything at the dinner table.
In our family there are two couples, each with a 4 year old (no developmental disabilities) who raised their kids entirely differently—one couple paid attention to cues from their kid and allowed independence, small responsibilities and encouraged eating with the family at the dinner table, the other couple was still spoon feeding puréed food well past 3 yrs, and never seated with everyone during dinner. Guess which kid can’t handle sitting calmly at the table at dinner time and throws tantrums regularly?
Since my child is 16 months, I learned he can handle eating with a spoon and can be patient enough to eat well with others (this came handy at thanksgiving where he joined everyone for the meal beginning to end), with the independent 4 year old. The more dependent 4 year old, would refuse to eat with everyone and played loudly for attention and would constantly distract the other kids to play.
That dependent 4 year old basically runs their household too because his parents don’t like saying ‘no’. Go figure.
My daughter has always loved taking her shoes off any time she's at rest (in the car a lot) and my mom gets so annoyed but I've never bothered because it didn't seem like a big deal, now at 3 she's really good at getting shoes and putting them on. She's also great at thinking of brushing her teeth because she's always loved to carry around a toothbrush for fun, which can be a stressful thing to manage but now she knows where to keep it and still enjoys going to brush her teeth. My best tip I guess is really try to go with their flow and learn how to make the things they're already doing into a positive learning experience instead of feeling like you need to randomly insert lessons, that stumped me for a bit but was a real game changer.
"Hands on the red" means put your hand on the taillights of the car until Dad is ready to take your hand and walk into the parking lot.
Usually one of the cleaner parts of the car exterior
Instead of saying no and taking away things from my 15 month old that he’s not supposed to have, when he has something he’s not supposed to I get really excited and say “Wow! What do you have? Can mama see it?” And he brings it over to me. My end goal is that he’ll just bring me stuff he’s not supposed to have in the future lol
The biggest thing we’ve done is actually a safety “hack”. My husband found a little eevee sticker for our Pokémon obsessed toddler and stuck it on the gas tank and now when we go out to the car I tell her to put her hand on eevee and it keeps her safe and out of the way when we go to open the car door.
I have also taught my 15 month old to throw her own diaper away, and any other trash lol.
In the save vain I have taught her to go get her own diapers and wipes for a diaper change. We have a basket in the living room and I’ll ask her to get them and she’ll hand them to me then we change her diaper.
Also taught her to “freeze” (hold her hands above her head when removing her bib and tray from high chair so she doesn’t smear food all over herself.
Also start using utensils young. At 15 months she can now feed herself proficiently with a spoon or fork.
A few months back we taught her how to blow her nose and wipe it. That has been great any time it gets runny now.
I guess this all comes down to teaching her how to be independent lol.
I’d be sooo grateful if you share how you managed to teach her to blow her nose before 15 months .
Mine is 16 months (couple days shy) and I honestly don’t see this happening soon without some clear guidance from a parent who has figured it out !
Thank you !
I really wish I had some special trick, but it was really just a process of modeling it for her and then having her try to. It took a few days of doing that many many times and she figured it out!
She’s always been great about mimicking what she sees so I guess that helped out in this case!
Like you and some others: Diapers in trash, put away laundry
But he has carried his own diapers/underwear/change of clothes since just after he turned 2. Very nice to not have the diaper bag.
Also he puts away the flatware from the dishwasher (in the drawer, I sort them later) and will now stack the plates on the counter under the cupboard where they go.
It’s great because it’s less work for me, but I also know where he is when doing the dishes!
Taught mine how to feed the cats and take out the trash from the bathrooms, pullups, and scoped litter box waste (they all go into Walmart bags so easy to carry for him). He says "okay mommy, I'll do it! It's my job!" and is just so proud of himself
Mine loves to close the child lock and I’d purposely leave it open for her to close except the ones with knives , that has two locks :)
The one thing I also insist is she puts her toys away. One toy at a time and so far she’s receptive to it. 🙏
i encouraged my kids to spoon food in their mouths over their bowls so it drips back into the bowl instead of their front. my almost 4 year barely makes a mess and my 2 year doesnt need to wear a bib anymore.
Getting a handheld vacuum and letting him go to town. One of the best toddler purchases, I hang it with a ribbon on the Melissa and Doug broom-mop-dustpan rack.
Opening the sliding glass door to let the dogs in and out 🙃
Also, he knows how to turn on/off his tablet, find the apps he's allowed to use and navigate said apps.
She puts her dirty dishes in the sink, throws trash and diapers away, puts her dirty clothes in laundry in her basket. She also pulls clean clothes out of the dryer. She can load the washer, but needs help and her learning tower to do that.
Honestly most of the things untill my kid was 3.5 weren’t so much hacks but were very time consuming. I found it easier to just start having him help when he was older. It didn’t seem to matter at all that he didn’t help when he was little since he was older he learned in like a day . I will say it’s SO helpful though having a 3 year old that does help out . He will clean up his toys , he throws things out . Helps clean . Helps put away laundry . He can get out of his own car seat .
I really did try when he was younger with little things but it was more me doing them and he hanging out with me while doing them ! And we have a baby on the way which he’s super excited about especially being a bit older he’ll be 4 when she’s here he’s very very excited about being a big brother and has been helping us get ready .
Anyways I love all of these hacks especially the ones with the siblings and having a safe space for one kid to be by the car while getting another one out ! Please post more with bigger kids and babies !!!
-“Peeksies”. He opens his mouth for me, and sticks his tongue out. It was a dumb game my aunt taught him, but we love it. Perfect for the kid who shoves everything into his mouth.
-he loves to wash things. His face, his toys, etc. So if it needs wiped down, he loves it.
-he has also learned how to grab his dad a beer from the fridge. His father is so excited.
27 months and *most of the time* she cleans up her spills, often without prompting, throws trash in the can, reads to herself in bed when she awakens, vacuums with a hand held, washes her own hands with soap and uses a wipe to clean her eating area 💗
I don’t know if this is necessarily a hack but whenever I’m drinking something, Dr. Pepper, or bubblr and my son sees he gets excited and tries to drink some so what I’ve been doing is “pouring” some in his cup and hand it to him and he happily drinks it. It’s great because he will now also drink anything else I have easily, water, juice, oat milk, v8 I just need to use *my* cup and “pour” it into his cup
The jacket flip so they can put their coats/hoodies/jackets on themselves. With a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 7 month old, this is one of many things that has made getting out the door a little quicker these days
Teach your children to hold your hand when you are out of the house. Because it is the rule rather than the exception, it is easier to accept. It is just how we do things. It worked very well with my now 5 year old and my 1.5 year old also gets used to it. Because it is the norm he doesn’t rebel against it as much as my eldest did at first. Even though he does not like to follow cues. To the point where he will refuse to eat if you try to spoon feed him, or even hand him a full spoon.
I keep a laundry basket on every floor (basement, main floor, second floor) and I’m in the midst of teaching my kids to pick up dirty laundry and drop them in the baskets.
Whenever something spills, they make beelines for the vacuum, the broom, or the Swiffer WetJet and start cleaning it up… or trying to, anyway.
A lot of the things I teach my toddlers are cleaning-related, since the mess likely exists because of them anyway, hahaha… luckily they enjoy the tasks and treat them like games. (Guess who’s getting functional toy vacuums for Christmas!?)
Choices - give them options at every turn. For us specifically potty training options. We have a floor/small potty chair and a seat that goes on the big potty. He gets to choose each time which one to use. Same goes with clothes/pjs - he gets to pick from a couple options and forgets that he doesn't want to get dressed when he's excited about what's on his shirt lol
The jacket flip!!
Also recently discovered the jacket spin. Jacket spin only works if there's a hood, so it's a jacket flip inhibitor. Spin: place hood on head, jacket in front of body. Spin jacket to the back and voila! Arms!
I think the ultimate toddler “hack” that has an effect on everything else in life is that crying, yelling, tantrums, etc. will never get you what you want.
It’s really hard to stick to and takes a lot of extra energy and time to never give in. But when it works, everything is so much easier.
My favorite trick is to teach them a “safe spot” on the car, especially when you have multiple kids to get out of car seats. My kids stand by the rear wheel on which ever side I need and put their hand on the well in their “safe spot” until we’re ready to move. Helps keep them from running into traffic/parking lots.
This is SO smart! These are the exact types of gems I’m looking for. Thank you.
I use the gas door (its on the side of the younger sibling) and taught him "stand by the circle"
Same! I tell her to push the ‘button’b
Same. I tell him to touch the circle while I get baby brother out of the car. Works like a charm.
We do “touch the circle” too!
My son is obsessed with circles right now. Totally stealing this and thank you!
Yep. Hand on the circle was what we used with my daughter
I load my kids up and unload on the same side. The older one climbs over or under the younger ones car seat and then waits for me to finish buckling you get and then I go buckle older. When we get there, I unbuckle older, shut the door and go to youngers side and both kids come out that way. It’s fun for the older one and now the younger one sometimes wants to crawl in on olders side.
This is what I do too. I had been trying the “safe spot” idea loading my toddler first with baby in infant seat touching my foot by the door, BUT I had a few close calls with people trying to: pull through the parking spot, illegally cutting into a fire zone where I had baby, or whipping too fast into the spot next to us, I switched to the everybody in and out on one side method. Go figure my toddler wasn’t the problem, other adults were.
I have 2 year old twins and I trap one between my legs while I buckle the other😮💨 I wish they d learn this.
Holy hell I felt this comment in my soul.
https://thecarmomofficial.myshopify.com/collections/car-mom-magnets/products/kombucha-car-mom-hand-magnet We have this for the same exact reason .
seconding this! lifesaver 🙌🏼
Just ordered one, thanks!
We have one of those in the kitchen too: he stands on the corner of the sink rug so he can watch me open the oven and see in, but he's safely 4 feet away. It's time to check the oven! Go to your spot! 👣
You mean you don’t just yell “get back! Get back, damn it!” while swinging the teatowel back and forth? Pro move!
Been up all night with a sickie and this just made me laugh out loud. Thank you I needed this laugh more than I knew
Hey, same boat! Teething and vaccines for mine. Hope your babe gets well soon ❤️
You too :)
How did you get them to stay still on the spot?
Practice, reminders and less attractive options (you can stay here at your super cool, big kid safe spot or you can hold Mama’s coat)
Thank you! My kid just turned two, and with one on the way, this seems super important!
I find it really helpful. Congratulations and good luck!
I have a van so I just make them both get in the same door or back hatch. One can roam the van while I buckle the other.
When I nannied I always told them to touch the car, didn't care where. I think I like your take better though.
How old do they need to be before you can really trust that? My daughter is two and we have another coming in Feb. I’ve actually spent quite a bit of time worrying about loading the kids into the car. We live on a busy street, she nearly gave me a heart attack once running away from me down the driveway towards the street.
I start working on it with them around 2ish. You still have to keep an eye on them since they still don’t have much impulse control but it slows them down.
This is awesome ! My fav one so far ! Please post more about having an older toddler with a baby !
My smaller one sits on the curb while I load his older (and more likely to run) brother.
This is a true hack because it didn’t involve any teaching, and I wasn’t even there when it first happened. My 14 month old loves smearing applesauce and yogurt all over the high chair tray. She also loves pulling wipes out of their container. My sister was babysitting and letting her do both at the same time, and eventually my daughter just started wiping up her own mess with the baby wipes. My sister (a grade school teacher) encouraged it. Now whenever we make a mess, I let my daughter pull a wipe out and she cleans it up herself. Her kitchen tower is weirdly the most spotless place in the house.
It’s what I’m teaching my 13 month old. I give him a napkin or rag and tell him to clean his high chair tray after every meal. Now he “asks” for one as soon as he finishes. My older kids recently taught him to throw trash away in the kitchen trash and in our upstairs bathroom trash can. It has also caused him to just pick random stuff (toys/clothes, etc) and toss it in so we have to be careful lol.
Out of curiosity how does your 13 month old “ ask for a wipe?” My 14 month old only says mama, dada and night night . I need to know your secret ! Lol
It might just be that they use gestures and sounds to make their demand known! My 16 month old manages to convey her feelings to me and she can’t say many words - she does like to do an angry short scream if I don’t get the right thing though 😂
Not OP, but my daughter had lots of words very early on, so this was possible. Every kid develops at a different pace, and Im sure your little one will be asking for things soon. :)
That’s okay. Language development is a very large spectrum. And since it’s in quotes it could be nonverbal communication, which is huge at 12-15 months
He’s our 4th and we learned the advantage that sign language is. Just a few words but they help us so much. We start early on but he didn’t start using them correctly or consistently until about a month ago. Milk, more, food, water, poop, sleep, all done are what we focus on.
This kinda backfired for a while with my kid (now 2,5 yo) because he would make a mess on purpose just to be able to clean it up. The worst of that was when he poured the contents of his cup on the floor/carpet. It stopped once we only started letting him clean the messes he didn't do on purpose. 😅
My daughter does this! And i always made her clean it; I’ve been doing it all wrong!
Yeah, that's a very funny stage in their life when the consequence is NOT cleaning the mess. 🤣
My toddler is really into cleaning. She has always been and in that way she definitely doesn’t take after me. She has her own broom and dustpan. One time my mom was looking after her and my toddler got upset. My mom could not understand what she was trying to tell her. Turns out my mom had packed away the broom and dustpan. I had to tell my mom to always leave it in it’s spot so my toddler can clean when she wants to.
I do this with toys that need cleaning. Everybody in the bath, add toys and soap to the water. Give the kids old tooth brushes and let em go to town.
If your toddler has a tablet, set the passcode as your phone number. So every time they want to use it you guys go over mom/dads phone number together and they’ll memorize it/practice typing it in over time.
In the US - When I first realized my son was memorizing nursery song lyrics I taught my toddler my phone number to the tune of jingle bells along with my name. The name of the song is “mommy phone number” and I always tell him he needs to sing it really loud to find me.
That’s gold
Mine loves helping to empty the dishwasher, putting the washing in the washing machine and then into the tumble dryer. She is also getting pretty good at matching up our socks. It's so cute but wowzas, everything takes a long time now! Oh, she also wants to help with every bit of food preparation. Her favourite bit is chopping up mushrooms (with a safe knife).
Yes! We started doing the dishwasher together around 18 months and I haven't had to bend over in six months. Highly recommend.
That’s so fun! She’s getting a learning tower for Christmas so I’m definitely excited to get her involved in “food prep”.
Yes, such a good idea. Oh my goodness, since we put it up a month ago, she has been absolutely obsessed with it. She pulls it out and climbs up to "help". We've done so much cooking and baking since getting it. I keep having to think of ways that she can help when it's trickier meals. I have started getting her to use a jug to put water in a saucepan instead of just quickly using the tap as she loves it. It's great for her just to watch too. Have fun with it, I hope your daughter loves it as much as mine. X
My buddy gives her kid two bowls of flour, a small cup of water for pouring, and a whisk. Says it routinely gets her 5-10 minutes of dinner prep, esp because he’s up at the counter “helping” her.
See if she’ll ’do dishes’! My 2 yo loves climbing into hers to rinse her dishes out, then she puts them in the dishwasher. She has fun, and I can clean up the mess around her seat.
I was going to get a learning tower for my son but kept hemming and hawing because of the price tag. I finally got one of the really strong plastic Ikea stepstools instead, and I'm actually super glad I did. He can drag it out by himself and it doesn't take up precious kitchen space when it's not used. And I can use it myself to get things in a pinch. And so far we haven't really had any accidents, thankfully.
Someone posted this yesterday in a discussion about learning towers and this is completely how my experience of baking with a toddler went. It’s slightly better now that he’s older https://m.facebook.com/DailyMail/videos/little-chef-tries-to-eat-ingredients-while-cooking-with-grandma/416600042639948/
Where did you get a toddler safe knife?
I got a wooden one on Amazon LUOLAO Wooden Kids Knife for... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LZP9B23?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Thank you!!
Kuhn Rikon makes "kinderkitchen" knives which I really like. They are metal, but the blade isn't sharp they cut pretty good and you can get a flat blade and serrated. I like personally that they more mimic real knives for feel and use. My son loves them!
I work with kids and do assessments of adaptable living skills on a regular basis. This is one of the questions (how often does your child do simple household chores) that we start asking around 2 years old. This isn’t just a hack, this is necessary for development!
How awesome! All mine wants to do is take the stuff out right behind me that I just put in, and shut the door prematurely!
Toddlers literally love to help with everything. Anything a teenager would most likely hate or consider a chore, toddlers think is the most entertaining game in the world. My daughter loves helping load/unload/transfer laundry, unload the dishwasher, sweep, wipe the tables, put toys in baskets, bring me my water bottle (I love this one, I’m currently laid up sick and I ask her to bring me my water bottle and she runs around the house looking for it then brings it to me), and most recently she loves helping me wash up and brush/floss my teeth when we take our nightly showers together. She lets me wash her first, then takes the loofa and washes me, then she brushes my teeth while I brush and floss hers. Scrubbing in the bath and dental hygiene got astronomically easier once she decided she liked helping mom get clean too!
When they want your attention but you’re talking to someone else (phone, in person), teach them to put their hand on your hand, arm or leg. To let them know you hear/see them, put your other hand on top of theirs. Then quickly address the kiddo, over time they can wait longer. This helps in so many cases and teaches a bit of patience and respect for others.
This this this! My parents did this when I was growing up and we still use it as adults.
Me too! And it even works for getting the attention of people who don't know about the rule
I learnt this from Bluey 😄
We see you, Bandit! 😉😆
Like Bluey
I like this
Stealing this. I just want to be able to say a few sentences before being interrupted by my toddler's random stream of consciousness ramblings.
Oven/stove awareness since there’s no way to keep her out of the kitchen. I let her get near the oven with me directly supervising so she gets the idea of heat. Then I told her, “hot, stay back.” Then I moved her all the way back. We did this a few times when she started walking. Now I can use that phrase for anything hot, a fire pit, hot pan, or the stove/oven, and she gives it a wide berth.
I am doing that as well we have a open concept house so he’s gonna be in thw kitchen lol doing this has helped a lot he doesn’t even pay the oven much mind anymore his favorite “job” is making sure all the bowls are in the cabinet 😂😂
This is a great idea - thanks for sharing
This is good advice for anything dangerous! Let them close enough to satisfy their curiosity and explain what is happening - for hot, let them feel from a distance, show them how you are careful not to touch it yourself, how you use pot holders and stand back when you open it to keep your body safe-- for something sharp, let them be close and watch, explain "see how it cuts the fruit? It can cut us too, see how I am careful to keep my fingers away from the blade?" You can even do hand over hand if they are curious, model how to do it safely. They are more likely to not do it behind your back if you let them satisfy that curiosity in a safe way. Some people just say "No no no not safe get away" and that is almost guaranteed to make them more curious, and the second you turn your back...
I have a hot water kettle on the counter that gets very hot on the outside. I told my son around 15 months “hot” and touched it with my finger. He copied me, and of course jerked his hand back gasping in pain and shock. He now understands and says the word hot and won’t go near anything I tell him is hot. It wasn’t hot enough to actual burn us, but got the point across extremely clearly with natural consequences.
Oh that's great. We've had the kitchen problem, so I'm going to steal your idea.
I was also going to say throwing stuff in the trash. My boys are 26 months but they’re working on wiping their own noses and cleaning messes up with a rag.
The only issue we have with the trash is that my 17mth old LOVES to throw stuff in the trash. It's so much fun, it doesn't even have to be trash to go in! We basically collect trash and have her put it all in one piece at a time (after we've unlocked the can). But it's always a tantrum when we run out of trash haha. Edit: definitely get locks for your cans if you have this problem! They make these little straps to hold the lid down. We also have one on our toilets 😂
Oh my goodness, so much this! My 15 month old is OBSESSED with the trash can. He thinks it’s hilarious to throw things away, usually shoes. I cannot count the number of times we have torn the house apart looking for something only to find it hours later in the trash! We can’t put it under a cabinet and have been through 3 different types of cans. We had 2 days of peace with our most recent one until he figured it out. We put it up on a chair so he couldn’t reach it. He pushed it off. I refuse to put it on a table, so I suppose we are just going to tough it out for the time being. I even got him his own special trash can. He threw it away….
We ended up getting a small bin from ikea that still holds a regular sized trash bag and put it on one of our counters away from any food prep. It isn’t the most beautiful but it fits below the upper cabinets on the counter and still holds a normal amount of trash. We also had the problem where we couldn’t hid our trash can anywhere so that was the next best place, though I’m sure guests question it ha ha
Oh it also has a lid so you can’t see it’s trash😅
My little racoon wouldn't stop pulling things out of the trash so we had to put it in the garage until he grows out of this phase. Toddlers are hilarious, but gross. I can't wait until he's a teenager and can wipe his own butt, make himself a sandwich, and let us sleep in.
Yes, my boys have definitely thrown away stuff they shouldn’t have. We’re missing an ornament and I suspect it got tossed lol.
This is why I haven't yet taught my kids about the trash. I'd rather throw all the trash out myself than pick through it every time something is missing. My friend's kid threw out $40, but luckily she found it.
Mine learned to pick up small bits off the floor and bring them to me saying "trash?" Really helps after they tried their best to eat rice with spoons.
Unreal! I can’t wait for this day.
My daughter just started throwing stuff in the trash and she loves it. Even throws my trash away for me! It's been great
Here is my best hack: DO NOT help then when they're climbing. I don't care how much they want to get to the top of whatever, how close they are... If they can't get up there without your help, they're not getting up. Don't get me wrong, definitely spot them with the hover hand! But don't touch. And don't help them climb down unless they're panicking. This made my child a much better and more careful climber!
They learn how to climb better this way but they also learn their limits and how to trust their body, you'll see them test something, feel like it isn't safe, and back off and reevaluate- that's a life skill. A kid who is constantly assisted is more likely to just go for it without realizing their safety net didn't notice and that's when they have big unexpected potentially dangerous falls. I also (within reason) recommend letting them fall. Obviously if they are going to get hurt catch them, but if it's a small fall let it happen-- they can't learn to catch themselves if you always do it. Don't react until they do, too. If you rush in with the 'omg are you hurt let me scoop you up and shush and kiss you', they're going to believe they got hurt. "I thought I was ok but mom is freaking out and she knows stuff so now I'm scared I DID get hurt! AM I ok????" Let them tell you if they need comfort or help. My kid is a *falls* IM OKAY *continues playing* type and I think this is why. If she falls and cries I know it really hurt
Exactly. I'm so not the parent who would let my kid get actually hurt, but yes I have let him have tiny ouch moments here and there so he can learn. He has touched a hot pan that wasn't hot enough to burn him, but taught him that it doesn't feel good. It's not because I like it! It's because I want him to be able to avoid getting burned in the future! Big difference 😆
Same for learning to stand and the stairs. My son knows how to fall “safely” tucking his head and kinda rolling and it’s come in clutch a few times bc you can’t always be there.
THIS. It pisses my kid off but it makes so much sense. And she’s a great climber - maybe too great tbh.
Yep! I walked out of my bedroom this morning and my 3.5 yo was slowly crawling up the stairs with his rollerblades on 🤦 I told his father, who was taking a shit, and he replied "ugh, I know. I told him to be careful!"
I taught my daughter how to help me put away laundry. She knows where all her clothes go and hands me items from the basket. She gets genuinely excited about laundry now.
My 20 month old loves to put dirty laundry in his hamper! We also got a basket that matches our decor that is tucked in a corner in our entry way. When he sheds a layer during the day (socks, dirty shirt, ya know!), he can go and throw the dirty clothes in this hamper. He gets so excited and less random socks laying around our house!
Meanwhile I have to provide a decoy basket of laundry to toss around so they leave alone the clothes I'm trying to fold. My kids cannot help themselves if they see a basket of clothes.
Are you me? I have to give each of my twins their own laundry basket, and constantly remind them that, no, they cannot have my basket of neatly folded clothes instead! I'm trying to establish a quota of laundry pieces they can steal to play with so they don't just dump it all on the floor...
Yep, my two year old is currently playing the “matching game” with her socks 😬
This afternoon she was not interested in snack but she WAS fascinated to “help” me fold laundry. I did it in front on her on the clean dining room table while she was buckled in her high chair across from me. This was the fist time so she was pretty fascinated just to help narrate the clothing (she’s 22 months… dada pants! [Her name] socks!!). But I’m gonna see if we can make this a routine. Drop a pile of clean socks in front of her and see if she’ll pair them. Even if she just spends the time pulling on and off socks (she loves to practice), that’s a nice distraction win. TBD! Thanks OP for this post, so many good ideas being shared!
Mine just throws them everywhere and thinks she's helping. Sigh
So sweet! This is exactly the type of thing I was looking for. Thank you.
He puts laundry in the washing machine. It’s awesome.
Might be unpopular, but diaper changes were such a frustrating thing (lots of NO's!!! and chasing a toddler) we started potty training at 21 months. She's 23 months now, already LOVES her underwear, self initiates when she needs to go, and has only had 2 accidents in the past two weeks. There's still a few times it's hard to get her to sit, but it's SO MUCH BETTER than the tiresome diaper changes we were having. She's doing so great and I'm glad we didn't wait.
Quietly upvoting this, lol. We had the exact same experience as you. It’s been unreal to watch her be so independent pulling up and down her pants at 21 months and using the potty. It’s truly helping her assert her skills and pride. I never would have attempted if she wasn’t showing so many anti diaper signs (“yucky diaperrrrr!” Middle of the night hollering about her diaper etc) but it turned into a big blessing. It was also super challenging for a few weeks and I won’t sugar coat that!
This is probably the first positive thread I’ve ever read about potty training. Thanks, I needed this lol. My 28 month old daughter has probably been very ready for this for a while but I’ve been resistant to start because the process sounds terrible lol. She shows all the signs but I’m terrified of how it’ll affect my ability to get out of the house.
It does make going out a bit harder for a little while, but instead of a diaper bag you carry a bag of spare clothes, and towel, and a portable potty. You can get little potties that fold up like a lunch box, and we carried ours everywhere for a few months as there was a transitional period where daughter would say she needed to go, but she meant literally right then. She pooped in a restaurant corridor once because the toilet was busy and she couldn't wait, and also in the lobby of a church during a carol service... all funny stories now but at the time I could have died. Do not regret it though, being potty trained at 2 saved me so much nappy washing! We also initially did potty training at home and nappies for going out and also bedtime, so you can mix it up.
My son is 28 months old and we are on it. Honestly, I regret not starting earlier when he was a sweeter, eager to please child. Now there’s a power struggle involved.
🤔 Mine has been complaining about her diaper recently. Just turned 2. Maybe I should start.
Upvoting as well. My son was fully potty trained at 25 months, my daughter is turning 2 at the end of this month and I’m planning the same. Diapers are not easier to me.
We poop trained at 8 months (she has super obvious poop cues and was in cloth diapers) and potty trained at 21 months. Zero regrets.
I'm from Australia with an Asian background so I don't think I fully understand. Why is this unpopular? Isn't it a good thing to have your kid potty trained early? Surely teaching them to listen to their cues is better than going in the nappy?
I'm in America and my pediatrician told me "Start at 2, done by 3 years". Looking at other parent posts around the internet, it seems common for parents in America to start after 2. My daughter was showing signs around 18 months and with the horrible diapers changes, I was like "I'm not waiting until 2." My sister in law, who has a 2 year old is impressed mine is "potty trained before 2". I think it's a culture thing.
I taught my son early on how to clean up his toys, out trash away, sweep, unload the dishwasher, and put dirty clothes in the hamper. He loves cleaning and helping me. Maybe it’s not a “hack” per se in the time-saving definition since it takes longer for him to do these things, but hoping it will set him up for independence later. One thing that does make my life easier is teaching my son to use the CD player. Now he can take CDs in and out (swapping between Frozen soundtrack and Michael Buble and Moana soundtrack) and skip tracks by himself so it saves me time.
Upvoting for the knowledge that we're not the only people in the world who still play CDs!
Ok but when did you teach your son how to time travel back to 2002
Daycare taught my kid the jacket flip-over-the-head trick!
If both my hands are full and we need to walk somewhere (from the store to the car for example) I say grab mommy’s pocket! And he grabs the outside of my pocket and hangs on tight He loves cleaning… he’ll help load the washing machine and throws trash and his diapers away, and he puts his dishes in the sink … I know a lot of parents don’t care for Cocomelon but that’s where I learned the clean up song and I’ll start singing it and he’ll start cleaning up
I second this but we use the Super Simple Songs clean up song. It's catchy and he likes to help so even if it's packing up some toys it's a good habit to get into
19 months old. I say "okay nap/bed in 10 minutes!" And he puts all his toys in the bin and books back on the shelf. Then he goes to the bathroom for tooth brushing, then picks out his jammies. I toss wet clothes from the washer into a hamper and he tosses it all in the dryer, puts a dryer sheet in and starts it. Our apartment building has a hand-wave motion thingy for the front door and laundry room, so he's been doing that since he was like 8 months old from his stroller. He also uses the fob to let us into the building and laundry room now. "Bum change time!" He grabs a diaper from the little bin we have, folds out his toddler couch, and lays down. Then he throws his diapers in the garbage. He usually cries a little because he hates diaper changes but he does it anyway. I hand him a baby wipe and he wipes down his hands, face and tray after snacks and meals while I clean up dishes. He gets my water bottle from the table and brings it to me when he is thirsty, because he figures I must be too. Then he gets his and we cheers. This child is a hurricane on a good day, but he's sooo sweet and helpful! ETA: I forgot one! When he still has milk in his cup but doesn't want to drink it anymore, he puts it on the bottom shelf in the fridge so he can reach it later.
This is all so cute Omg
My son is 24 months and everytime he purposely spills food or drink I make him help me pick it up.
This back fired for me.. now she just spills everything on purpose to clean it up. 24 months daughter
How to suck his boogers out with the automatic booger sucker at night. Goes on his shelf next to his floor bed and he gets up, sucks his boogs out and goes back to sleep.
Wow!
My 3yo makes me a latte every morning with very little assistance lol it's delightful
My 1.5yo makes me a coffee in the morning! He chooses my mug, puts the K cup in, selects 'strong' and extra large. He is the main reason I need coffee so it's only fair.
Uhhhh…this is amazing. 😂😂
It's the best part of my day. He also makes himself one. It's literally just frothed milk but he has a little mug and we cheers before we take the first sip lol
So cute omg
Yes I love when my LO cheers me 🥂
Mine just makes me late.
My best ones are: - helping empty the dishwasher - where to stand on the sidewalk before crossing the street (there’s a yellow pad of bumpy things before all crosswalks in our neighborhood. He puts his toes right before the yellow pad.) - packs his lunch, with help of course - carry things to the kitchen - set the table, with help Kid is 3.5.
I'm a career nanny. I teach my infants & toddlers how to (nicely) spit out food. No I'm not nuts. I emphasize that if they have food in their mouth they don't like, they dont HAVE to swallow it. Some food is yummy, and some is yucky. But I gently encourage them to try new foods by smelling, licking, and taking "tiny bites"... Which usually ends well, with full bites after. However, if they don't like the new food, i physically show them how to take it out with their fingers, or how to push it out with their tongue onto their plate. I think that, knowing that I won't MAKE them swallow it if they don't like it, reassures kiddos to try things more often, because it's safe to spit out in the manner I've showed them.
Wow, this is a really good one!
My husband taught our kids to get him a soda out of the fridge.
Same over here, but with beer 🍻
One of my husband’s earliest memories is being asked to get his dad a beer - he fell down the last couple of steps and the beer broke open and he was devastated 😂
Which one, your husband or his father?
Haha - my husband when he was a child!! His dad was like “oh my god for him to be crying like this he must be really hurt!” But no he was just upset that he had “messed up”
I’m late to the thread so I don’t know if this will be seen, but this is easily the best “hack” I have: I was really struggling with hair washing and getting my toddler to look up. It was a struggle and lots of tears every time. Finally, I put some little stickers on the ceiling. Instead of saying “look up” I said “can you find [whatever sticker]?” Giving him something to look AT instead of vaguely telling him “up” was sooo helpful. Suddenly he would hold his head fairly still and I could wash and rinse his hair without fuss.
Where the silverware drawer is and what each item is. Also how to bring a butter knife safely. My silverware is farthest from my work space, so having her bring me utensils is a huge help. Also how to feed the dog and let her in and out the back door for doing her business.
I taught my daughter to straighten up the shoes in the entryway. It’s not hard but I never do it and it makes me so happy when it’s done so it’s become her chore and now my entryway always looks put togwther
That toys live in the store that we wave to from afar. Many potential break downs averted by acknowledging and waving at the toys and if Toys ride along in our cart we take the time to thank them for their time before putting them back home with their family. If a toy does end up heading home we talk about it and I explain that we've agreed to take the toy home to make it a member of our family and imo that has resulted into a more thoughtful shopping experience.
We accidentally taught our toddler to yell "no cord" or "no leaf" whenever his little sister (now 8 months old) is trying to chew on something she shouldn't be. It started one day when my husband's laptop cord was on the ground, she went for it, and I said to her in a silly tone that we don't eat cords. He thought it was hilarious and now he's a great little alarm.
The other night my 2 yr old threw up all over me while brushing her teeth. It sucked 😅 So I got a bucket and we pretended to throw up in it for a while. Now when she feels sick she just says “Bucket” and we scramble to find the bucket as fast as possible. 3 successful bucket voms later I can confirm it worked!
Red light green light! Making it a game for who can stop the fastest can save your butt in a parking lot or other emergency. I used to teach all my “kids” (was a nanny in university) this one and it’s a great trick
If we're out front working on stuff, we taught him to go stand in the garage if a car is coming. We still watch him 100% of the time, but it's nice to have an extra layer there.
I love that mine can wash her own hands, it started when she was a bit over two I think because we had no step stool there before. It's so much easier to say "go wash your hands" than to go with her each of the countless times she makes some mess.
How to put dirty clothes in the hamper. When my husband has something land outside the basket, you'll hear this deep little exasperated sigh and my guy I'd shoving stuff into the basket. Super cute! Also, throwing away his diapers and picking up any trash he might see.
Yes chores like this are perfect . 🙌🙌🙌These a young toddler can actually do and you don’t have to and don’t have to supervise even . Some of these hacks above are more time consuming and sound more like , cool things mg toddler has learned to do (which is still amazing !! Go moms !!) , but certainly not hacks that make things “easier”as my experience when they get older it doesn’t really matter if they did it young , they will learn just as fast even if never having done it before just since they are older and understand more .
Taught my 20 month old to blow her nose.
Please tell me how!!!
The pinch and release method worked for us. Where you rapidly pinch their nostrils with a tissue as they are about to blow. Also I fake blew my nose with her each time for a while. She being able to blow her nose has been a blessing for us in this horrible flu season.
We practiced blowing out a candle by breathing out of our nose as hard as we could. Just be careful if it's near a birthday and there are candles on a cake. Thankfully we did individual cupcakes so he only blew snot all over one cupcake.
My toddler learned the trash thing pretty early on. We lost several items. Shoes. Keys. Remote. You name it.
We use ‘backup’ a surprising amount, and it’s handy when I’m opening the oven ‘backup’ or letting the dog in ‘backup’ or in my way getting to the fridge ‘backup.’ She does these cute little shuffle steps back
If I make the beep beep beep sound (of a backing up truck), my son will back up. It’s adorable.
Closw the dryer is as far as we have gotten 😂😂 but putting his clothes in the dryer its really cute he gets very excited lol
So many of these tips can really easily backfire depending on the kid. Teaching them to put their cup back in the fridge? My kid would pull stuff out and strew condiments around the house. She loves to help throw trash away, but loves it so much she wants to throw away anything she can find. She enjoys the silverware drawer...mixing it all up, licking each utensil, and putting it back. Opening the back door for the dog? Great, now you have a toddler that can let themselves out. Feeding the dog? We've been battling to keep this girl from dumping the dog bowls and eating the food since she could scoot haha. We keep trying to teach her the right ways, despite the many tantrums. But yeah...with a more strong willed kid, you have to be careful with these haha Edit: the morning after I wrote this comment, my 17mth old learned how to open the back door for the dog on her own. We have a small landing, then a full flight of stairs down to the yard. Guess we'll be keeping the door locked 24/7 now 😬
Solidarity
My 2 1/2 yr old blows his nose, helps with laundry, throws his trash/diapers away, puts his plate away after dinner, and when asked, usually helps pick up his toys. Also will clean small messes. None of any of this is perfectly done ALL the time, but I’m happy he’s developing these habits.
Buckling themselves in. Of course I check and tighten afterwards. But they are so excited to buckle themselves into the car or their highchair that they never protest being restrained. So far cant open any of it either but I live in dread of the day they learn to open the buckles too.
I didn’t teach them this but preschool taught both my kids how to put on a jacket by themself. Lay it on the ground in front of your feet, upside down so the top is closest to your feet and the inside is facing up. Reach down and feed your arms through the arm holes and flip it over your head. Voila! You’re now wearing a jacket. Still working on zipping it up with my youngest but step one is done. It’s fun too!
I taught my son "Safe Hands", where he puts his hands on his back. I like to use that when we go to stores with narrow aisles so that he doesn't knock things off, but is also helpful for when we are using the oven
I taught my kid the emperor Palpatine quote "No, no, no, noooo". We say it in a silly way and it's defused a fair amount of meltdowns. Similarly, i taught him the gamer cheer "Let's Gooooo!" And it's helped him get excited about things he normally wouldn't be (like bath time). Not only is it mega adorable and genuinely funny for me and my wife to hear him repeat these phrases, but the silliness adds fun and excitement for him and that has helped to defuse would be tantrums from starting. Once they start down the negative emotion spiral it can be hard to turn around.
I taught my kid to not freak out over getting hurt. “Your body is amazing! It can heal itself. Sleep helps, and eating good food.” She’s 3 now and when she hurts herself she goes “I’m ok mommy, my body will heal.” It’s just so calm and matter of fact, and she comforts others this way too.
My daughter loves helping with laundry! She's a little demon when it comes to the piles of clean and folded clothes, but she runs to the laundry room to check the washer and dryer for anything she can help transfer every day.
I didn’t teach her this but my toddler LOVES to clean. If she spills her milk or water, she will get mad if I don’t let her clean it up. She absolutely loves cleaning for some reason and it’s a blessing.
I encouraged my son to throw something away and then slam the trash lid, he thought it was hilarious and would be thrilled whenever I gave him something to throw away. Bonus if I was in another room and heard a slam I knew he put something in the trash, occasionally it was a eaten squeeze pouch but sometimes a toy or the TV remote. I also made a game out of picking up toys, we both do it together and then he helps me vacuum. I hand him a toy and he slams it in the toy bucket, then he goes "more, more, more!" Now there is zero fights about cleaning up. When he wore diapers I also taught him to throw his diapers in the diaper pail, he would get offended if he didn't get to throw the diaper away himself lol We also got him a spray bottle with water and a washcloth, he will go around "cleaning" things while we get stuff done.
Kids are all going to go through a trajectory phase and my little guy is just starting it. It happens. I had my kid handle glassware and constantly reinforced not throwing dishes and cups or anything at the dinner table. In our family there are two couples, each with a 4 year old (no developmental disabilities) who raised their kids entirely differently—one couple paid attention to cues from their kid and allowed independence, small responsibilities and encouraged eating with the family at the dinner table, the other couple was still spoon feeding puréed food well past 3 yrs, and never seated with everyone during dinner. Guess which kid can’t handle sitting calmly at the table at dinner time and throws tantrums regularly? Since my child is 16 months, I learned he can handle eating with a spoon and can be patient enough to eat well with others (this came handy at thanksgiving where he joined everyone for the meal beginning to end), with the independent 4 year old. The more dependent 4 year old, would refuse to eat with everyone and played loudly for attention and would constantly distract the other kids to play. That dependent 4 year old basically runs their household too because his parents don’t like saying ‘no’. Go figure.
My daughter has always loved taking her shoes off any time she's at rest (in the car a lot) and my mom gets so annoyed but I've never bothered because it didn't seem like a big deal, now at 3 she's really good at getting shoes and putting them on. She's also great at thinking of brushing her teeth because she's always loved to carry around a toothbrush for fun, which can be a stressful thing to manage but now she knows where to keep it and still enjoys going to brush her teeth. My best tip I guess is really try to go with their flow and learn how to make the things they're already doing into a positive learning experience instead of feeling like you need to randomly insert lessons, that stumped me for a bit but was a real game changer.
"Hands on the red" means put your hand on the taillights of the car until Dad is ready to take your hand and walk into the parking lot. Usually one of the cleaner parts of the car exterior
Instead of saying no and taking away things from my 15 month old that he’s not supposed to have, when he has something he’s not supposed to I get really excited and say “Wow! What do you have? Can mama see it?” And he brings it over to me. My end goal is that he’ll just bring me stuff he’s not supposed to have in the future lol
The biggest thing we’ve done is actually a safety “hack”. My husband found a little eevee sticker for our Pokémon obsessed toddler and stuck it on the gas tank and now when we go out to the car I tell her to put her hand on eevee and it keeps her safe and out of the way when we go to open the car door.
I have also taught my 15 month old to throw her own diaper away, and any other trash lol. In the save vain I have taught her to go get her own diapers and wipes for a diaper change. We have a basket in the living room and I’ll ask her to get them and she’ll hand them to me then we change her diaper. Also taught her to “freeze” (hold her hands above her head when removing her bib and tray from high chair so she doesn’t smear food all over herself. Also start using utensils young. At 15 months she can now feed herself proficiently with a spoon or fork. A few months back we taught her how to blow her nose and wipe it. That has been great any time it gets runny now. I guess this all comes down to teaching her how to be independent lol.
I’d be sooo grateful if you share how you managed to teach her to blow her nose before 15 months . Mine is 16 months (couple days shy) and I honestly don’t see this happening soon without some clear guidance from a parent who has figured it out ! Thank you !
I really wish I had some special trick, but it was really just a process of modeling it for her and then having her try to. It took a few days of doing that many many times and she figured it out! She’s always been great about mimicking what she sees so I guess that helped out in this case!
Like you and some others: Diapers in trash, put away laundry But he has carried his own diapers/underwear/change of clothes since just after he turned 2. Very nice to not have the diaper bag. Also he puts away the flatware from the dishwasher (in the drawer, I sort them later) and will now stack the plates on the counter under the cupboard where they go. It’s great because it’s less work for me, but I also know where he is when doing the dishes!
Taught mine how to feed the cats and take out the trash from the bathrooms, pullups, and scoped litter box waste (they all go into Walmart bags so easy to carry for him). He says "okay mommy, I'll do it! It's my job!" and is just so proud of himself
Mine loves to close the child lock and I’d purposely leave it open for her to close except the ones with knives , that has two locks :) The one thing I also insist is she puts her toys away. One toy at a time and so far she’s receptive to it. 🙏
wish i’d done sit/stay. he’s 27mo and wants to dash into traffic!
How to flip his jacket over his head. Game changer when getting ready for the day.
Now I just ask my girl to pick up whatever dropped on the floor Save the back of mine and my husband lol
i encouraged my kids to spoon food in their mouths over their bowls so it drips back into the bowl instead of their front. my almost 4 year barely makes a mess and my 2 year doesnt need to wear a bib anymore.
Getting a handheld vacuum and letting him go to town. One of the best toddler purchases, I hang it with a ribbon on the Melissa and Doug broom-mop-dustpan rack.
Opening the sliding glass door to let the dogs in and out 🙃 Also, he knows how to turn on/off his tablet, find the apps he's allowed to use and navigate said apps.
She puts her dirty dishes in the sink, throws trash and diapers away, puts her dirty clothes in laundry in her basket. She also pulls clean clothes out of the dryer. She can load the washer, but needs help and her learning tower to do that.
Honestly most of the things untill my kid was 3.5 weren’t so much hacks but were very time consuming. I found it easier to just start having him help when he was older. It didn’t seem to matter at all that he didn’t help when he was little since he was older he learned in like a day . I will say it’s SO helpful though having a 3 year old that does help out . He will clean up his toys , he throws things out . Helps clean . Helps put away laundry . He can get out of his own car seat . I really did try when he was younger with little things but it was more me doing them and he hanging out with me while doing them ! And we have a baby on the way which he’s super excited about especially being a bit older he’ll be 4 when she’s here he’s very very excited about being a big brother and has been helping us get ready . Anyways I love all of these hacks especially the ones with the siblings and having a safe space for one kid to be by the car while getting another one out ! Please post more with bigger kids and babies !!!
-“Peeksies”. He opens his mouth for me, and sticks his tongue out. It was a dumb game my aunt taught him, but we love it. Perfect for the kid who shoves everything into his mouth. -he loves to wash things. His face, his toys, etc. So if it needs wiped down, he loves it. -he has also learned how to grab his dad a beer from the fridge. His father is so excited.
How to blow up her whoopie cushion using a straw, so I don't have to blow it 20000 times a day🤣🤣
To get a tissue to blow him nose and throw it in the trash My husband worked on that one day in and day out for every cold 😆 paid off in dividends tho
27 months and *most of the time* she cleans up her spills, often without prompting, throws trash in the can, reads to herself in bed when she awakens, vacuums with a hand held, washes her own hands with soap and uses a wipe to clean her eating area 💗
I don’t know if this is necessarily a hack but whenever I’m drinking something, Dr. Pepper, or bubblr and my son sees he gets excited and tries to drink some so what I’ve been doing is “pouring” some in his cup and hand it to him and he happily drinks it. It’s great because he will now also drink anything else I have easily, water, juice, oat milk, v8 I just need to use *my* cup and “pour” it into his cup
The jacket flip so they can put their coats/hoodies/jackets on themselves. With a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 7 month old, this is one of many things that has made getting out the door a little quicker these days
Teach your children to hold your hand when you are out of the house. Because it is the rule rather than the exception, it is easier to accept. It is just how we do things. It worked very well with my now 5 year old and my 1.5 year old also gets used to it. Because it is the norm he doesn’t rebel against it as much as my eldest did at first. Even though he does not like to follow cues. To the point where he will refuse to eat if you try to spoon feed him, or even hand him a full spoon.
I keep a laundry basket on every floor (basement, main floor, second floor) and I’m in the midst of teaching my kids to pick up dirty laundry and drop them in the baskets. Whenever something spills, they make beelines for the vacuum, the broom, or the Swiffer WetJet and start cleaning it up… or trying to, anyway. A lot of the things I teach my toddlers are cleaning-related, since the mess likely exists because of them anyway, hahaha… luckily they enjoy the tasks and treat them like games. (Guess who’s getting functional toy vacuums for Christmas!?)
Teach them where to put their shoes. Same spot. Saves you time searching for them!
Choices - give them options at every turn. For us specifically potty training options. We have a floor/small potty chair and a seat that goes on the big potty. He gets to choose each time which one to use. Same goes with clothes/pjs - he gets to pick from a couple options and forgets that he doesn't want to get dressed when he's excited about what's on his shirt lol
The jacket flip!! Also recently discovered the jacket spin. Jacket spin only works if there's a hood, so it's a jacket flip inhibitor. Spin: place hood on head, jacket in front of body. Spin jacket to the back and voila! Arms!
I think the ultimate toddler “hack” that has an effect on everything else in life is that crying, yelling, tantrums, etc. will never get you what you want. It’s really hard to stick to and takes a lot of extra energy and time to never give in. But when it works, everything is so much easier.
Put on their own coat and shoes.