We all have good ideas... Lets Share!

Hi everyone- I was reading a Parent magazine when I saw in the back a section for parents to write in neat ideas they thought of to creatively solve problems in their daily life with kids, for ex. one person wrote that they use sidewalk chalk to draw train tracks on their driveway for their boy to play with his trains, rather than buying expensive Thomas wooden train tracks, or the idea to create new crayons by melting down the remnants of old ones and setting them in different shaped cookie molds ... I know we must have a storehouse of wisdom to share with each other, so why don't we all try to share at least one thing we've done with our kids to assist us in teaching them, entertaining them, feeding them, etc. etc.
I'll start-
Instead of washing their highchair covers, which dirty quickly, I took them off and I use "dycem" (the rubbery sheets of material people use as cabinet lining) as a cushion/dirt catcher on the seats of the chairs (they also keep the kids from jumping out as easily because of the friction). It makes it easier to wipe down the chairs, and I can just rinse off the dycem sheets in the sink and dry them b/t feedings.

What are your lifesaving ideas???

 

I don't think this would be considered a life saving idea but when the girls no longer fit into their infant tub, it became their toy box in the living room. It just pefect as if fits lots of toys and it's low enough that they can get their toys out with no problems.

 

Ok, so I thought of another one today- pretty simple but I hope it helps someone. My DD keeps losing shoes on outings. She kicks them off and they're never heard from again, usually at the mall. So I have started to lable the inside with a sharpie marker that has our last name and a phone no. ... I'm hoping some nice person will let me know they have our shoes before we have to spend $10 at Walmart AGAIN!

 

My life saving advice : get a dog!! They are fantastic for catching all the food that gets flung from the high chair and I don't have to vaccuum after every meal

Sorry, I am not all that creative

 

LOL- I love the dog idea! I know when I go to my parents cleanup goes SOOOO much faster!

 

I babyproofed the bathroom and even put old breastfeeding pillows around the toilet bowl bottom. Then I take a bath with the babes in the room. They play with the toys and in my water and love it (they like to fill my tub with toys). I get to relax and soak. I love this time of the day.

 

QUOTE(mom of one plus two @ Jun 23 2007, 01:47 AM) [snapback]303795[/snapback]
I babyproofed the bathroom and even put old breastfeeding pillows around the toilet bowl bottom. Then I take a bath with the babes in the room. They play with the toys and in my water and love it (they like to fill my tub with toys). I get to relax and soak. I love this time of the day.


What a great idea! I am going to have to remember this one!

 

We have put up those hook & eyes everywhere. We have sliding cabinets and closets in the family room, we put them at the top of those to stop the kids from opening them (they turned my hot water heater all the way down one day, that cold shower made me spring into action), We have one on the back of their bedroom door to hold it open so that they can't open and shut the door all day long.

On rainy days, I sometimes use a bath to pass the time. If we can't get outside, I will fill the bathtub and we play in there for a bit. They really like it.

 

I double sheet the boys crib mattresses with a waterproof liner in between. This means I only have to wrestle them in/out of the crib around those da*n bumpers every other sheet change.

We also use bathtime as a desperation activity.

 

QUOTE(rheamay @ Jun 22 2007, 10:55 PM) [snapback]303626[/snapback]
My life saving advice : get a dog!! They are fantastic for catching all the food that gets flung from the high chair and I don't have to vaccuum after every meal


This is great! We have a dog too! The key is to keep the dog outside at the beginning of the meal so the kids will eat first instead of just dumping everything over the edge to feed the dog! Clean up is great! ~Mary~

 

QUOTE(SweetpeaG @ Jun 23 2007, 07:10 PM) [snapback]304454[/snapback]
I double sheet the boys crib mattresses with a waterproof liner in between. This means I only have to wrestle them in/out of the crib around those da*n bumpers every other sheet change.

I love this idea! I hate the bumper thing too! I'm giving this a try. Thanks for sharing! ~Mary~

 

I like the "Ultimate Crib Sheet" (Babies R Us) even better than the double sheeting idea because you just snap it in whenever you want to change sheets, and its waterproof, but if you have very active kiddos (mine aren't really the "destroyer"-type yet) the double-sheeting idea is great! Good idea!

 

A couple of things I do: When I undress the boys I always turn their clothes/socks right side out so that when I fold them I don't have to spend a lot of time doing it. I tie/velcro the mates of their shoes together so I only have to look for 2 shoes, not 4. I keep diaper rash ointment inside the wipes box so it's always handy.

 

I hung up those clothing racks in their closets (the kind that have seven slots for each day of the week). Then each season I only buy enough outfits to last a week taking into account all the clothes we get as gifts. That way I just do their laundry each week and when I fold them, I put them in the slots as outfits and every morning I can just quick grab an outfit. Of course as they get older they will want more clothes and more variety, but right now they couldent care less. It's quick and we don't even need a bureau in their room. I hang up all of their special outfits and keep their socks and accssories in baskets on the shelf in the closet. So easy! I'm a big purger so this system works well for me.

 

I don't know how creative this is, but it worked nicely for us.

When the boys were 3'ish they would wake up earlier than I wanted to wake up on the weekends (work full time and like to sleep in a little on the weekends). So, before I went to bed I would set up their OshKosh chairs with a blanket, pillow, and baggie of cereal. I would put a sippy of milk on the bottom shelf of the fridge, and set the television to Playhouse Disney. The boys would come into our room, and I would tell them to go potty, get their milk, and turn the TV on. The extra 20-30 minutes of sleep was wonderful for me as I am not a morning person.

 

QUOTE(mom of one plus two @ Jun 22 2007, 07:47 PM) [snapback]303795[/snapback]
I babyproofed the bathroom and even put old breastfeeding pillows around the toilet bowl bottom. Then I take a bath with the babes in the room. They play with the toys and in my water and love it (they like to fill my tub with toys). I get to relax and soak. I love this time of the day.


I have done this too. My apartment isn't very big and the rest is baby proofed so I can take a bath while they watch cartoons but I can still hear them and they can come check on me if I they feel the need too.

1)We have way too many toys so we have four tubs full and we rotate what is in the toy box so they don't get tired of their toys.

2)We use a twin sheet under their chairs so that we don't have to sweep and mop after every feeding. We shake it outside after every meal(feeds the wildlife) and wash it when it gets to dirty!

3)I cook dinner while my mom(substitute your SO) plays with the girls. That way they aren't under my feet in the kitchen and they get to play with Nana and usually get to go outside.

 

I like this. You guys have great ideas.
Lets see:
Since I was worried about completely closing the door on them even with a monitor when they were infants , I installed an old fashioned wood screen door from Lowes on their bedroom with the old spring return, "just like grandmas". I installed it opposite the interior door and on the opposite face of the frame so both work together. I also added a hook & eye latch on both sides of the door, most recently added wooden panels to the lower half, leaving the upper half screen only.
Advantages:
1) I can confine them to a very childproofed room while I do my superquick bathroom run.
2) I sleep better at night knowing that they can't wander around the house even if they do get out of the crib.
3) The upper half of the door is screen only so the light in other rooms filters in & they don't feel so isolated & don't need a nightlight.
4) the lower panels stop the door climbing, but not air circulation or sound.
5) Their nursery theme is country store (unusual but cute, they like it) anyway, so this was a natural fit.

I think for us it works great.

 

QUOTE(mel&2 @ Jun 22 2007, 09:27 PM) [snapback]303552[/snapback]
Ok, so I thought of another one today- pretty simple but I hope it helps someone. My DD keeps losing shoes on outings. She kicks them off and they're never heard from again, usually at the mall. So I have started to lable the inside with a sharpie marker that has our last name and a phone no. ... I'm hoping some nice person will let me know they have our shoes before we have to spend $10 at Walmart AGAIN!

I actually stick in a label that has our name and phone number.

 

QUOTE(mbcrox @ Jun 24 2007, 06:57 AM) [snapback]305025[/snapback]
This is great! We have a dog too! The key is to keep the dog outside at the beginning of the meal so the kids will eat first instead of just dumping everything over the edge to feed the dog! Clean up is great! ~Mary~



Love this too...our dog sits by the door and waits for when they are through!!!!

 

QUOTE(NatalieK @ Jun 24 2007, 03:33 PM) [snapback]305362[/snapback]
I hung up those clothing racks in their closets (the kind that have seven slots for each day of the week). Then each season I only buy enough outfits to last a week taking into account all the clothes we get as gifts. That way I just do their laundry each week and when I fold them, I put them in the slots as outfits and every morning I can just quick grab an outfit. Of course as they get older they will want more clothes and more variety, but right now they couldent care less. It's quick and we don't even need a bureau in their room. I hang up all of their special outfits and keep their socks and accssories in baskets on the shelf in the closet. So easy! I'm a big purger so this system works well for me.


That is genious! I'm going to have to borrow that idea.

 

I keep bubbles, sidewalk chalk and a small blow up beach ball in the van (you never know when you will need something to do to keep you and the kids busy for a few minutes.)

 

When I do laundry I put their socks in a lingere bag. That way I dont have to worry about missing socks and they are all in one place when I put clothes away. It makes life a lot easier!

 

QUOTE(mama3 @ Jun 26 2007, 05:55 PM) [snapback]307715[/snapback]
I like this. You guys have great ideas.
Lets see:
Since I was worried about completely closing the door on them even with a monitor when they were infants , I installed an old fashioned wood screen door from Lowes on their bedroom with the old spring return, "just like grandmas". I installed it opposite the interior door and on the opposite face of the frame so both work together. I also added a hook & eye latch on both sides of the door, most recently added wooden panels to the lower half, leaving the upper half screen only.
Advantages:
1) I can confine them to a very childproofed room while I do my superquick bathroom run.
2) I sleep better at night knowing that they can't wander around the house even if they do get out of the crib.
3) The upper half of the door is screen only so the light in other rooms filters in & they don't feel so isolated & don't need a nightlight.
4) the lower panels stop the door climbing, but not air circulation or sound.
5) Their nursery theme is country store (unusual but cute, they like it) anyway, so this was a natural fit.

I think for us it works great.


Cool! I want to see a picture of this..how creative!

 

I love the socks in the lingerie bag idea! I have a pile of single socks on my coffee table right now. I'm too tired to think of anything to add right now, but maybe in the morning. Interesting thread though!