Parenting is HARD! We are so grateful for any products or little tricks that make it just slightly easier. We've complied them here to share with others. We hope these "parent hacks" will help save you some time and energy, so you can enjoy your little one even more!
Well Stocked Nursing Table
One of our favorite parenting hacks is keeping a well-stocked nursing table, we call it the Serenity Nursing Station! I kept mine filled with Kind Snack bars (the ones with only 5g sugar), BeautyCounter Baby Daily Protective Balm & Soothing Oil, Living Libations Jai Baby Balm, Earth Mama Organics non-scented Baby Lotion, Give Me the Dirt lip balm, MotherLove More Milk+ Supplements, a BabyCola rotary nail trimmer, Texas Medicinals Colic and Teething Tincture, LMNT, a bottle of water, a cell phone charger, a TV remote, and a pumping bra!
The BeeBo
Joe was very disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to breastfeed, so finding the The BeeBo was a dream come true! It makes it super easy for hands-free feeding while holding baby, and gets some really funny looks in public!
The NoseFrida Snotsucker
We love the NoseFrida because it's the BEST way to get rid of pesky boogers - especially handy during flu season.
Wiping Instead of Bathing
Turns out newborns don't need to be bathed, you can just wipe out their crevices! We wiped out Della’s neck, arm, and leg folds with our Bets & Emy wipes every couple of days. We only bathed her after she's played in the mud, gets baby food all over her, or begs to play in the bath. Bathing can be fun but also super stressful, so this parenting hack really helped.
Philips Avent Bottles Save the Day
What to do about the complicated mess of various sippy cup lids, straws, and seals!? We discovered that we could turn our Philips Avent bottles into sippy and straw cups! We found the sippy cup adapter, straw adapters, and handles that screw onto Avent bottles large and small, plastic and glass on Amazon. Hooray for universality!
Immune Boosting Supplements
We give the listed supplements below to Della every day during the cold season to boost her immune system and help her develop a healthy gut. We also include extra nutrient-dense foods like bone broth, green veggies, sauerkraut, organ meats, and grass fed butter.
Della's immune boosters:
▪️ Nature's Way Sambucus Elderberry Syrup - 1 tsp daily, easy to feed to baby directly because it tastes good & boosts immune system
▪️ NuMedica Nutrition Immuno PRP Spray - 2 sprays twice a day, can add to a bottle or spray in mouth if they’ll let you
▪️ Jarrow Formulas L-Glutamine - 1 tsp daily, add to bottle or any liquid, it is tasteless and is really good for the gut
▪️ Just Thrive Probiotic - 1/2 capsule daily, add to bottle or sprinkle on food - provides digestive and immune support as a potent probiotic and also delivers necessary antioxidants to the GI tract
▪️ Garden of Life baby vitamin C - 2 ml daily, mix in bottle or any liquid, tastes fine directly also
Finding the Right Shoes
Have you noticed how your toddler's foot looks different than yours? Their toes are wider than the rest of their foot, like a duck. This is how our feet are supposed to look but modern footwear squeeze our toes together, deforming our feet, which can lead to anything from bunions to neck and back pain. Determined to avoid this, we order Della's shoes approved by Correct Toes. Our favorite is the Wildling Shoes brand from Germany. The ideal toddler shoe should: have a wide toe box, be flexible so it bends with their foot, and be "zero-drop" meaning no heel or arch support!
Waterproof Shoes
How to make baby shoes or gear water resistant without the nasty chemicals in Scotchgard? Beeswax! Just buy beeswax sticks on Amazon or from craft store, rub wax all over the item (will leave a waxy film) and use a hair dryer to melt the wax into the item (film disappears). Easy as that!
Rotating Toys
How did we get so many toys!? We learned we could keep it fresh and avoid the clutter by regularly rotating her toys. We keep one bin of toys in the closet and another out for her to play with. Then we switch them every two weeks and it’s like she got all new toys! It’s also a great opportunity to cull them a bit and remove ones she's grown out of.
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