Mom Hacks (I've been keeping in my notes for months!) mom of 2 

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Recently I told my kids what my nightly chores were i.e. wash bottles, load dishwasher, clean counters, etc. My son immediately picked up on helping me with my chores so we could read more stories together before bed. Here I was thinking they saw the work I was doing, but they had absolutely no clue :)

Something that I started doing with my eight month old is if I am going to use the phone to make a phone call or send a text, I talk them through what I am doing. For example, if I’m responding to a text from my husband I will say “I am just answering daddy‘s text and then I’ll be all done with the phone,” and show them, this keeps me from grabbing it and scrolling. Also holds me accountable.

I didn't think of these but my mom "hacks" or rules for myself are 1. Always park by the cart return at the store 2. Allow a lot of time to get places so my toddler can meander to the car like he likes to do and I don't get frustrated by being late 3. Meals can be repeated every day, there are no rules. Eat the same breakfast every day and just mix up the fruit selection or whatever. No decisions necessary, and 4. Always have at least my water bottle on hand if not toddler's as well (you had this hack too!) These were awesome, loved your hacks!

Best toddler hack ever: play "catch" inside the house with a kitchen towel instead of a ball. A rag wont roll away, it still goes pretty far, it won't hurt the plant when it gets hit. You're welcome lol

I only have a 3 month old but I learned a few things that are working out well with us. 1. Buy only boring basics for baby clothes (and only a few days worth of clothes because you will be doing that laundry even if you still have clean stuff), people will gift fun clothes but not actually the basics you need every day. 2. We use a next to me crib for the night but I cosleep for the longer naps during the day, baby sleeps so well and I can sleep or catch up on my favourite shows. 3. Pump 1 bottle worth of breast milk everyday so dad can feed baby before bed (and you can take a nice shower).

Love hacks! Anytime you wanna do this theme, I'm all over it. I use the 'talking about what your child wants to mentally give it to them without actually giving it to them' all the time!! Some of my hacks: +Serve your kiddo their meals in a Tupperware or bento. Anything they don't finish can just be closed up and placed in the fridge for later. +When shopping; let them help by putting everything in the cart, if they see something they want, let them hold it and check it out, but tell them right away it stays at the store and we aren't keeping it. +Wait out the tantrums, they do get over it. +Pouch toppers so they can't just squeeze them out all over the place +Set up activities on their table each night for next morning to minimize asking for TV first thing, sometimes I even set up toys from her room in the living room and suddenly they are amazing. + I have a home day every week that I am pretty obsessed with: I do laundry and clean up, play off and on and just spend the day at home tending to my house, no play dates, no outings, sometimes I organize, do a face mask, clean something that is rarely cleaned, sometimes we just chill, but we don't leave, one day a week and it's magical for my mental health and keeping up with my house. +I do laundry once a week, so find a schedule that works for you. The thought of a daily load is like such a weight on me. +Divvied up days between me and hubby for cooking dinner; I'm MW, he's T, we eat leftovers TH, go out Fri and the week is smooth. Whomever cooks the other cleans up and while the other cleans up the cook goes off to do bedtime routine. +Have a bedtime routine and if your baby sleeping with you isn't working, use littlezsleep. +Home gym: hubby comes home from work and doesn't leave for the gym anymore, instead our daughter climbs on her rock wall or swings in the gym with him and I cook in peace, or on days I cook, he takes her out so I can cook in peace or video chat my sister. Also home gym bc then I can easily workout whenever I want rather than having to make a plan to leave. +Once a month hubby cooks and then takes my daughter out for a picnic so I can eat and watch a show and have some time to relax. +use the snack cups with the little anti spill lids, but take out the silicone part as child gets older so they still have handles. + "Lazy on purpose parenting" let them play alone as early and as often as possible and don't interrupt. The time will get longer and longer as they age, my daughter plays for 2-3 hours in her room some days. Play when they ask, but otherwise leave them alone to discover and play. + Toddler empowerment Montessori style; whatever you can adopt to give them the power to get ready, clean up etc on their own +Milk frothed: to make toddler coffee when they inevitably start asking if you don't want to actually give them your coffee. +Ember mug!!!!! My coffee is always hot! +I robot vacuum: it seems insane and then you're in heaven +Diaper caddies everywhere +My toddler still fits in the sink and when she started hating tub baths, she was very excited about sink baths, if you have a small toddler and a big sink, why not? Also I keep sunscreen, a hat, and bug spray in a caddy by each door so I don't have to go running

I needed someone to get onto me about my screen time, thank you. I hate how inconsistent I am about not giving my kids much screen time and then constantly being on my phone.

Car treats! Haha! I ALWAYS have special "car treats" to get my toddler transitioned into the car. "Let's go get a car treat!" BOOM! He's headed to the car.

Not my idea, but something we implement. Just add water! Kids having a meltdown, won’t settle, unwell etc, just add water. Either a shower, bath, water play!

Ikea paint smocks as bibs. Game. Changer. Especially if you do baby led weaning.

Snack plate! I always have healthy, readily available snacks out the entire time my child is awake so they are not asking me a million times for snacks. Feel free to graze on your snack plate between meals, thank you. I feel like I don’t put too much focus on three big meals for toddlers, at the end of the day, if they are eating healthy, I don’t care if it’s snacking all day long. Food is food and toddlers love snacks. Full bellies equal a happy, growing family.

-Listen to a calm podcast while putting baby/infant/toddler to sleep so you do not lose your mind, also it keeps you calm, and doesn't put pressure and stress on you and then on your baby, turning into a vicious cycle. -Activities > toys -YEs, therapy. For both parents -GET OUTSIDE - saved my sanity to go outside every day from Day 5. Even better if you have a walking&talking buddy -Your kids' clothes in that multi level rolling Ikea shelves thing - access to all the clothes they fit in, at all times, great for putting laundry away right away. -Have the diaper bag ALWAYS prepared -Crying for "no reason" = go outside or put in water/bath

AirPods synced to your TV while you’re watching TV/Movies during babyhood! No loud noises and the baby sleeps so nice 😊

Bonus hack: to prevent backwash in your water bottle, pour a little water into the cap of your water bottle and use the cap as a small cup. Then when they're done, toss out what's there and you can even rinse the cap a bit if it's necessary before putting the lid back on

Some useful hacks. Also enjoying how to talk so little kids listen. My hack is, if they're having a hard time leaving places say goodbye to things. We've waved goodbye to haystacks, rivers, parks, fields, dogs, diggers, you name it. Something just happens in my little 20 month old's head and she's like "ok, we can move on now".

My toddler doesn’t do well with all the components of one meal served at the same time. She will pick her favorite food and eat just that, and even then, she often doesn’t finish the food that she favors. I think it overwhelms her. I now begin with the food I think she favors the least (or sometimes the food that is most nutrient dense), and then bring her her next favorite, and finish with the food I think she enjoys most. With this method, she’ll eat almost everything. For example, at breakfast I will give her avocado, then scrambled eggs, then a sweet fruit. Another thing I’ve found to get her to eat all her breakfast is I don’t try to feed her right when she wakes up in the morning. I let her go do her thing and play for 30 minutes to an hour. She’ll usually come to me saying she’s hungry, and also be much more excited about eating.

I used to pretend to "scold" my infant son in front of my 2 year old daughter.😂 She rarely showed jealousy when he was younger and I swear that's why.

10/10 recommend the book “siblings without rivalry”. Same authors as “talk so kids will listen..” Even having a baby that isn’t fighting the older one, it’s helped me think about how to talk to them about each other. It’ll get you analyzing everything about your own sibling relationships lol

Thanks for this awesome video! My tip is to bring a “pre-breakfast” upstairs to my bedroom with me at nighttime. It’s usually fruit and a muffin/granola bar. This is because my kids are very very early risers and we tandem nurse in bed in the morning for cuddles/connection. But I am STARVING, and don’t/can’t rely on my working (outside the home) partner to bring or make me food. So this way, I can stay in bed nursing and cuddling, and have a bite to each, until we eat a bigger breakfast all together downstairs.

I got an over the door shoe organizer and I organize my two toddlers outfits for the week ahead of time and it’s amazing bc they always have matching socks and I’m not stressed about clothes in the morning. Also it saves me having to put them away in drawers only to have my toddlers empty their drawers

At around 18 months, I started showing my daughter how to “put her toys to bed” (put them in the toybox) so she does that every night and tells them goodnight. Also, I would have her help me do other chores as well even if she doesn’t do them correctly, per se. She just likes feeling like she has accomplished something. She even has her own set of child-size cleaning supplies which she uses and she cleans along side me.

Totally agree with saying what you mean and following through. I've also had massive success with giving five minute notice, which means telling my toddler when it's ten minutes til bedtime, then five minutes, then two minutes. He's so much more likely to cooperate with what's needed if he feels prepared! However, the biggest game changer is the sugar bugs. He went through a stage where he hated brushing his teeth, and someone onlime suggested telling him that sugar bugs will eat his teeth if he doesn't brush. This is both technically true (as that's what happens if you don't brush) and also worked super well as he loves defeating the sugar bugs. Probably not the best for a super anxious kid or one who hates bugs though!

My most recent live hack with my toddler is to fully prepare him for bedtime (brush teeth, change etc) and then ask him if he wants to go to bed or play on his own in his room (which he will choose). I‘ll tell him, whenever he‘s ready to go to bed he can come and get me. So he will be playing peacefully and I can clean up or do whatever and when he is coming to show me something or wants me to play I will always ask: are you ready for bed now? and most of the time he will say „no“ run off playing again for a total of maybe 30min a night until he’s tired. It helps a ton with independent play, gives me some time to calm down and get things done and he is super happy to have a choice at when he has to go to sleep.

These are the most real mom hacks ever. By that I mean realistic and attainable. ♥️🙌🏻

Okay, you clean sink people (who have dishwashers) will love this one: The sink is not the resting place for dishes that need cleaning! The dishwasher is. Done with that plate and fork? Scrape the scraps into the compost bin and put it right into the dishwasher until you run it at night. Game changer!

Love this ! Also my small hacks are.. I get up before my baby to have a cup of coffee and to this and be quiet I pre make my coffee the night before and set the timer and even put my cup out in the counter to reduce clanking with a still zombie state body lol. I also pre set my washing machine with detergent and pre load it then in the morning after my son is up I put any last minute laundry in and turn it in so I have a load washed and dried before his nap and then either fold with him (he will be two next month) it unfold it when he naps so laundry done and put away by the middle of the day ! Also loved hunt gather parent ! Excellent book !

Love this recent hack: cut the baby /toddler nails while they're sleeping on the night before you change the bedsheets (because we always miss a few when trying to pick them all up).

Best advise I can give is stop stressing. Just be in the moment. Then do what works for you and your family. Ask advise when you need it. Take the bad with the good. Use what you like.

Including in tasks!! My coworker says "you're so much more patient than me" - ma'am - it's just as much for my sanity! I can either TRY to accomplish the task and miss pieces of it while he is screaming at me the entire time....OR I can teach him how to do it and involve him which gives him a sense of accomplishment and makes him so proud of himself. We have a stacked washer and dryer and he LOVES moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer and mommy gets her squats in with an added 30 lbs. GAME CHANGER! My favorite video of yours so far! We do most of these and it just makes life so much less stressful and takes the pressure off. One of my favorite things we implemented a few months back is a bath time alarm. No matter what we're doing at 7:00 pm, our phones start to rooster crow and our 2.5 year old now knows that means it's bath time and we have to stop what we're doing and clean up/reset (or finish eating our dinner some days). The sooner he gets up the stairs to the bath, the more time he gets in the bath. The more time he takes to get there, the shorter his bath is. He rarely fights us now when it's bath time.

I love how one is "be honest" and one is "toy monster" 🤣 These are great! We love bush wees in our yard. Thank you for this!

The making sure that you give a choice and consequences has been huge for me. Not just giving in every time. Which is difficult .. but it’s been a huge difference. Also just saying “do you want to read a book first or brush your teeth first?” And then he usually says book and I will then read him two books. On the second book I say “I’m after I’m done this book we go brush our teeth right ?” And then he says right. And right after the book he gets up and goes. Big difference.

The Child Whisperer gave me such a positive mentality change. My daughter is type 3/1, such high energy, just a go go go, loves other kids and people, constantly moving around, etc. No matter how high off the ground or how we try to hide something from her, if she wants it she finds a way to get to it. That book has really helped me in understanding what she needs to feel loved and cared for, and knowing that she needs daily outlets for her energy/regular interactions with other people if we want to avoid those bedtime meltdowns. You're the first person on social media I have seen mention it, and I think it's wonderful that the information is getting out there! How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen is also such a game changer!

YEESS! i was googling "minimal baby item's " 9 months ago & they gave me a list of 20 plus things that were NOT NEEDED AT ALL!!! We need barely any items for baby! How crazy.. plus they make it look alll cute & in reality.. no, not how it works. Less is better! For baby shower.. i wish i would have asked for 1. Meals to be delivered after baby 2. Donations to a cloth diaper fund. Thats pretty much it

If you attach a loop of ribbon to a toy (sew or glue) and use those plastic chain links, literally any toy becomes a stroller toy.

Screen time one is so true! I’m trying to reduce my screen time and it’s hard as an adult, so I can only imagine what it’s like for little brains. But I want to model that behavior now before we even have to cross that bridge

Long time watcher, just had my first baby on Monday so re-watching everything 😂❤

Utilizing a timer has been amazing for my oldest (2.5). Pretty much any time we have to transition (play to bath, leaving somewhere, time left to watch tv), I put on a timer and have him repeat back what we're going to do when it goes off (the first thing he always says is dance!)

My favorite hack lately was by accident. My husband got me a stuffed teddy bear right before we found out I was pregnant, that bear held up my belly as it got bigger, but now that my daughter has arrived it's come in handy so much - it holds the bottle, it's a neck pillow, lumbar support, it held my arm off my sore boobs for a season, I use it to prop my phone up on those days were you watch too much tv😂 who knew it's not just a cute toy. I'm telling you the list just keeps getting longer as the months go by. I'm not a stuffed animal kinda gal but this one has my back so I'm down !

This video PLUS these comments is like finding a gold mine!!!

I go through ups & downs with my phone.. and it definitely makes me feel down.. blue.. i notice a HUGE difference in every way when i ditch my phone.

The did they feel loved thing is so helpful! I feel so guilty on days when my son has more screen time but yeah those days he gets to cuddle up with me and feel like what he wants is being validated and that's important too!

Amazingly helpful!! Shayla I love how you talk about motherhood!

That was delightful Shay! thank you so much for this video, I’ve been following you a good long while, and it was the exact reminders I needed while parenting a child on the cusp of two 💓

You’re so insightful. Thank you!

Thanks for this! I'm a first time mom with a 6 week old and low-key freaking out about how I'll function once she's crawling and walking 😂 I love the idea of incorporating the toddler into the chores and errands

Love you Shayla! Good stuff as always

This video is phenomenal - such good tips. Thank you!

great advices here, I love especially the talk to the baby about the toddler,

Love this video- very inspiring!

Omg! I LOVE THE CHILD WHISPERER! I recently got very into and it is soooo awesome! It goes way more into who people are than just personality. It's wild how consistent it is

Ah the BetterHelp add. How refreshing and genuine.

Love your content! My biggest hack is rotate the toys and books. Less toys and books makes clean up faster for me. I also don’t get tired of reading the same books over and over.

This was super helpful, thank you!!

I am REALLY working on the screen time thing right now. I used to use reddit on my phone a lot, but since service was discontinued for the app I was using, I took the app shortcut off of my home screen and put my library's e-reader app in its place. Now, when my thumb goes to that spot I open a book instead of social media. GAME CHANGER. The next phase will be to switch to physical books to set a good example for my son.

I'm not sure why, when you talked about screen time I teared up. I guess I needed to hear that. Thank you ❤

My mum/parent hack is... putting nappies and wipes on subscription. I've only had my babe for 4months and the numerous times I've ran to the shops to get nappies and wipes last minute is mind bogging 😅😂

During crazy wild diaper changes... i count slllooowly & very exaggerated! So she stops throwing her arms & trying to roll over 😂 it was a break through moment for us ha

Great video! I have a book recommendation! The Read Aloud Handbook. I think it should be given to every new parent and teacher! Just tells all the benefits of reading out loud. Most people know it's a good thing but this has changed our lives in a good way!! I have two toddlers and a 6 year old whose reading wasn't as good as it could be. When things are wild, I start reading and everyone calms down! Thanks for the video!

Yeeessssssss the socks with the shoes! I started doing that last year so I wouldn't have to run back upstairs every time I had to put my daughter's shoes on, and then realized I'd have to run upstairs for my socks too 😂 so now I keep all of our socks downstairs in the coat closet, lol.

1. AIRPODS! I’m a podcast addict. I’ll have one AirPod in (so I can still hear my kids).I can listen to stimulating adult conversations for my own sanity while still maintaining full attention and eye contact with my kids and they’re none-the-wiser. 2. I keep toddler’s socks in her shoes so they’re always together 3. In warm weather, shoes don’t get put on until we get to our destination (so we can skip the whole ‘taking them off in the car en route’ nonsense) 4. I only bring my water bottle on outings for all of us to share so it’s less bottles to keep track of. In the house I leave several of her bottles around so she can drink when she needs. 5. “Choo Me” silicon lids for food pouches, so she can self-feed but can’t squeeze the purée everywhere! (Game changer!) 6. My newborn has multiple soothers designated for places so they don’t get lost (car seat, bed, stroller, carrier…) so I don’t have to search for them. Whereas my toddler is ONLY allowed her soother at bedtime/nap time and it doesn’t leave her room, so it doesn’t get lost. 7. I second reading “Hunt Gather Parent”-totally shaped how I parent!!

Lol I love you. You’re an awesome mom and person. My recent hack to getting him into bed is whispering his name and pretending his stuffies are calling for him. He loves it and immediately wants to be with them. Also, many things in this life are “broken” or “sleeping” 😂

I'm here for the screen time guide!

Baby clothes do not need to be folded. When you have a baby, you already have a lot going on. Don’t add folding or hanging tiny things to your list. They’re not going to wrinkle, and if they did-literally, who cares? They’re baby clothes. Sort them by size and type, and move on with your life. Bonus points if you only hang on to enough clothes as your child will actually wear so you don’t have to sift through a bunch of stuff and manage more clothing to wash.

I started doing a smaller reset in the middle of the day whenever I'm home, it was a game changer

Not using a baby bather all the time, just get in the tub with them! Got that nugget from our birth class instructor. And you don’t need to bathe a baby often until they’re eating/crawling and making a mess lol

Alex and Jon are so funny I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time 😂😂

Ok, it's a little thing, but I swear I feel like a genius after figuring this out - keep your jam/jelly in the freezer. It's high sugar content keeps it from freezing so you can grab a spoonful whenever you want, but it stays colder than the fridge so lasts longer before going bad.

Great ideas! And I second therapy and Hunt, Gather, Parent! Want to add that Good Inside by Dr. Becky Kennedy is an amazing parenting book and I think you’d love it!

"Bye park, whatever." You get it. 😅 My vision for parenting aligns so much with yours! I watch your videos for reassurance. So glad I stumbled upon your channel. ♥💛

Loved this video💖

I'm a new sub and really appreciate your content. I'd love to see a video about controlling phone use! I feel like my phone use has gotten worse and worse. Thank you!

You’re hilarious and helpful too!!

Our baby hated the mamaroo too! We searched and got a regular swing- we use it regularly (for now;))

I keep bandaids between my phone and my phone case (especially in the summer when there are more scraped knees).. ALWAYS have bandaids on me

❤ Video request: if you do decide to have a third baby, could you touch on the process of mitigating the fears/anxieties of both you and Seth on the effects of mental health? You touched on how he was nervous too. How you processed? What you put in place to help? Etc. This video was so great I had some really wonderful take-aways. I seriously thought i was a genius when I got sick of running upstairs to get socks and just put them in a bin by the door and wondered why socks are even in a dresser to begin with? Haha but I also have not put my own there so I loved that reminder as well. On my list today. Love the acknowledgment piece, I will often acknowledge the want but I think I need to take it one step further to help my daughter feel heard so I like the idea of making it a bit more dramatic, silly, while still holding firm on the bumpers I put in place.

Awesome video!

Rule number 9- Be honest with your kids… also THERES A TOY MONSTER!!! In all seriousness, I appreciate your heart in sharing advice and encouraging all parents!

fantastic video!

In addition to socks by the door, keep the swim stuff by the door in the summer.

YES what is it about having an empty and clean sink that makes you feel like you have your shit together??! 😅

Can you do a skincare video? 😅 your skin is flawless!

thank you for all your videos!! love them all - keep bring on all the amazing content! - regarding your water bottle and the straw is it easy to clean?

I need that guide to get off my phone. I’m keep scrolling all day and I hate that.

Midwestern winters or not, my toxic trait is that sandals are always my go-to shoes 😂 no socks needed lol

AMEN ON THE TV BALANCE IT WILL BE OK IF ITS NEEDED

I need your scrolling guide!!!

Oof, same way about the sink. Thanks for this!

I’d love a screen time guide!!

WASH YOUR BABY SOCKS IN A LINGERIE BAG!!!! JUST DO IT AND THANK ME LATER

If we have baby number 2, I'm going to purchase an echo dot or Google device so I can tell it to play a podcast/ music/ etc and NOT be on my phone while breastfeeding. My posture has suffered from my screen time.

Keep kid shoes in car especially if barefoot at home.

Still trying to figure out that EC hold with a baby boy 😂😂😂, it never goes where I think it will

I'll be adding the tasks and and the water one to my hack list. Probably the sock thing too...that will simplify things. But man I wish I'd had this advice before baby. Because we got all this stuff we DID NOT NEED. First few months was just boobs, a place to sleep, cloth diaper supplies and that was pretty much it.

omg i love ur personality so much i wish u lived in Iceland or i where u live cause we would match as friends so much hhaha even this thing u did with ur upper lip. 😂 my 3 kids also hated mamaroo and loved a hard swinging swing !

HUNT, GATHER, PARENT IS THE BEST PARENTING BOOK EVER!

PHAHHAHAHA “how will I kneel on the floor and give my baby a bath without knee pads.” Hahaha WHAT?! Is this a thing?

My baby is only 1 and he will scream when I take away the tooth brush. I started saying “goodbye toothbrush, see you later. Bye bye”. Instead of crying he says “bye bye” now lol

I would love to hear your thoughts on how to help a toddler (mine is 22 months) listen when you tell them not to jump on the couch, or put their feet on the table. Lol She is a good listener most of the time, but these two things - she will Intentionally defy me.

The knee pads are a good thing game changer tho