I’ve been on the baby shower circuit lately with lots of discussions about infant feeding and sleeping, understandably so. But when I was a new parent, I wish I had been tipped off to some everyday, little tricks to manage life with babies and toddlers. Here’s my quick list of practical tips for babies and toddlers.

  • Consider parking near the cart return at the store. If your baby is asleep, the infant carrier is a beast to carry, especially post-partum when your stomach muscles are like jelly. It’s easier to swing open the car door, and set the carrier right into a cart. It’s also convenient when you have a preschooler and baby to wrangle in a busy parking lot. And it’s especially nice if you are sleep deprived and forgot where you parked. You will at least have narrowed your search. You will risk getting a dent in your car, but it hasn’t happened to me yet.
  • Rearrange the furniture and toys when bored and stuck in the house. When heat waves or blizzards hit, we’re trapped in the house and searching for ways to stay sane with the kids. My best trick is to rotate their big toys to another room in the house. Usually, I move their toy kitchen, doll house, or train set from our basement toy room, to the dining room or bedroom. And poof! An old, boring toy is new again. I also do this with furniture too. We push the dining room table to the side of the room, or move their small desk to a different window. The kids become giddy with the change of scenery, and are entertained for hours.
  • Play the shape game with your little one when you are in a public bathroom, which is all the time. Life with little toddlers and preschoolers means we spend a lot of time in public restrooms. I’ve come up with a game to keep their little hands off the disgusting bathroom walls and floors; the shape game. It’s like “I Spy” but for shapes. I ask them to look for a circle shape, and they notice the drain. I ask them to find a rectangle shape, and they notice the tile or door. It works surprisingly well. Most importantly, the kids look with their eyes and keep their hands to their sides.

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  • Pack an extra shirt for yourself in the diaper bag. Each time my baby had a major spit up or blow out diaper. It happened at a nice restaurant, and got all over my shirt. I learned to pack a basic black, or gray t-shirt, and discreetly change in the bathroom. A scarf is good camouflage too.
  • Hang baby clothes in your closet by length. Babies and kids’ clothing sizes vary depending on the clothing brand. A size 3-month onesie maybe the same size as a 6-month onesie with another brand. If you hang all the new baby clothes in your closet, you can sort them by actual length instead of the labeled sized. Otherwise, your kiddo might outgrow the cute 6 month- old outfit before they can wear it.

These are just a couple of tricks to make life easier with little ones. Any great tricks you use? I open to new ideas for wrangling my wild two-year-old.