oh my god saved oh my god diaper changes are so hard hey everyone welcome back to my channel i'm
nicole and today i'm going to be sharing 10 must-know new mom or dad or parenting hacks
that you need to try for navigating the craziness that comes with little ones whether they are
newborns six months getting into solids or getting into toddlerhood where we are now these are going
to be tips and tricks that you can use for all stages and these are just ones that i've kind
of compiled together that really helped have helped me in the past but are helping me now
and i hope they help you as well i'm really excited because hap brand is sponsoring this
video i'm going to talk more about them later in the video um without further ado let's get into
the hacks all right one of the hardest things that i've come to realize is the diaper changes the
diaper changes the clothing changes the trick is to have a bin of random goodies oh my god
save look look sage what's this what's in there yes new things to discover so i have random things
in here that are like household things that are still safe you're obviously supervising them while
they're playing with it so i got some like cheap pair of sunglasses her baby monitor my lip balm
which she loves to play with i have a remote with the batteries out a dryer ball lots of different
textures and household things and apparently she's already bored of them all right and it just
gives me a couple of extra seconds to actually change her diaper before she gets bored of them
so when they're a newborn or little they're obviously not like moving around as much as sage
so you can do one of those overhanging mobiles or even like some black and white cards but just
having a little box of some toys that they can play with during diaper changes is gonna help you
a lot trust me okay pants pants easy are these too big for you i think oh i put two legs in one oops
oh my god diaper changes are so hard always have a pre-packed diaper bag ready to go this is the hap
brand lovey backpack in the color dusty rose it's so beautiful it also comes in an ash blue color
and black if you want just to go really sleek and classic i love that this one is a backpack
because it keeps you hands-free as a new mom with a newborn you need all the extra hands you can
get super lightweight so you don't have to worry about it getting too heavy once you fill it all
up with everything you need it also has a u-shaped front zipper which makes it really easy to getting
inside and seeing everything that you need to get at it has tons of organization and pockets so you
can easily see everything i hate those bags that you just dump everything in and everything gets
lost and when it comes to baby stuff everything is so little and you need to know like where the
medications at where the food stuff is at where the diapers are if you have an explosion i have
some wipes in here there's so many pockets here i like honestly discover new ones every week
there's a front one which i have her sunscreen her arnica gel in which this is a must now and there's
side pockets there's back pockets i have their memory foam changing pad here in the back which
is sold separately and super comfortable for them for changes on the go i'm telling you having a
pre-pack diaper bag is essential because you never know when you need to leave the house or even if
it's a planned trip i'm telling you the last thing on your mind is the diaper bag you're making sure
baby is ready to go you got your stuff and then the last thing before you're heading out the door
is is the diaper bag packed so i just like to have it all ready to go a lot of times i'll buy doubles
like the diaper cream i will have pajamas or an outfit in here that maybe she doesn't wear all
the time or it's a little bit bigger and she's not fitting into it yet but it would work as an extra
backup clothing item and then i also have backup food and snacks and like utensils wipes everything
that you need to leave the house is already in here it gives you peace of mind you're not
going to forget something last minute as you're rushing out the door and when you have a little
one forgetting one thing sometimes is a huge deal because that's the thing that you're gonna need
i love these bags the material is beautiful they're easy to wipe clean if you have any
spills or messes they have this herringbone design it's not only fashionable it's functional and it
honestly just makes traveling and doing day-to-day stuff with sage so much easier doggy poop bags
these are so helpful not only if you have a dog but also for babies if you have a blowout you have
a poopy diaper you don't have a garbage nearby especially if you're at a friend's house and
maybe they don't have kids or a diaper pail for you to throw in your stinky diaper into you can
just take it with you and i know that sounds weird but i just don't like putting it in someone's like
kitchen garbage you know they do stink up and so you can just take it with you if you have
wet clothes or just as even on the go garbage if you have trash you know when you know with
kids there's always like something to throw out some kind of mess to clean up just tuck them into
a side corner and you have them in case you need them and honestly i've used them so many times so
definitely try out this hack it will save you all right my next tip is to go for stroller walks this
is something we do every single day it's just a nice way to break up the day get outside get in
nature fresh air we've been doing this since sage was a newborn we would take her out in a carrier
do forest walks and i feel like it's a really nice break for parents too because you're still with
your kids spending time doing something that's not staring at a screen it's relaxing for both
parents and little ones the other thing that's nice too is it's good for you so if you are
looking to get more movement in your day get outside it's something you can do together and i
cannot recommend it enough honestly she now always asks to go outside and i think it's just a really
awesome healthy habit to introduce your little ones too okay i gotta go get cashew my other
one who loves the nature and all that cashew come here get a good music playlist to have on hand we
usually have a disney one you know in kanto moana frozen i use this when maybe we're at the end
of our walk say just getting cranky she's in the car and we're almost at our destination and she's
starting to you know fussy and get impatient bust out the music versus screens and i find it just
helps you know tie us over until we get to where we need to get to or if she's just upset whether i
put her in the high chair we're getting ready for meal time or in prepping food putting on a little
bit of music especially if it's like a soundtrack to a movie that they love like shrek sage
instantly will cheer up get excited maybe sing along dance and i just find it brightens her mood
and i've been doing this since she was a newborn and we'll play one of her favorite songs right now
and what i'll do is i'll either put it underneath the stroller or right on top
on low and i can finish my walk in peace and quiet and she's happy because she has something
to listen to next tip is to meal prep but not just any meal prep portion out your food into
these little silicone molds i've used these since sage started eating solids at six months
and basically you just get these little frozen pucks of food that are all ready to go and the
great thing is you're not going to overheat too much food and then waste it so like when she was
really little i would only fill these halfway or you can put cucumber in there i would only fill
these halfway but now i feel them full and like she'll usually eat like one to two depending on
if it's a sauce it's adding to pasta or if it's just like a complete food like a stew or soup
and these are great i have two of them i will link them below they have lids pop them in the freezer
it minimizes having big feelings when you're trying to get dinner or meals ready everything
is already cooked to go in the freezer you pop it out warm it up and it's great too because if
you know you or your partner is the main cook then the other one can just easily have meals ready to
go so matt knows you know everything that's in here is ready to go and just get warmed up
also if you're looking for some fun baby recipes definitely check out the healthnet baby cookbook
i'll link it down below there are over 30. there are over 30 recipes in there all the
recipes that i created and fed sage when she started eating food so there's lots in there
great for toddlers as well i'll link that down below eat your meals together even when i first
started breastfeeding sage i would usually have a snack or a drink next to me or a smoothie my trail
mixed granola bars were a must and i just felt like it was the time i had to actually sit down
and enjoy a meal now because i'm not breastfeeding her like every hour on demand i just enjoy my
meals when she's actually eating this is a great tip if you say are making breakfast for your
entire family make something that both your little ones and you can have like a baked oatmeal or
oatmeal on the stove or smoothies and they can all enjoy it together and that way you don't
skip a meal because a lot of times i find if i eat after sage i end up just kind of
like eating snacks or her leftovers and i'm not actually having a full complete meal everyone
gets to eat no one gets hangry and you actually get to sit down and enjoy a meal cheers cheers
cheers i don't think she's ever cheered before cheers
more more
do you want more strawberries so another thing that i swear by is teaching your little ones how
to use sign language we started at six months and honestly it's not just about food it's about play
time um asking for things before they can actually use words being able to sign and do things like
more all done i want food i'm thirsty those are just the ones that we use also i won't say it out
loud but this one she definitely knows it very well i find teaching it around food is a great
place to start because there's the incentive of if she wants more strawberries or something
she really likes like this word she definitely picked up really quickly on those but it also
helps if like maybe they're grumpy or frustrated and they're having big feelings and they're not
able to use their words yet they can start using those hand signs to be able to communicate to
you what they want and sometimes that thing that they want maybe they can't have but at
least you can communicate back to them sometimes when she's asking for the milk word i will say
all done there's no more or if she's asking for something that is in the fridge like one of her
favorite foods which i'll put on the screen if i don't want her to have any more because i want
her to finish what's on her plate or something or there actually isn't any more i will say
all done and sometimes right away she'll get upset because she knows what that means and so it's
really interesting how quickly they pick up on those and it's also just a great skill for them to
learn and it's fun to do together i actually have a whole video on how i taught sage how to sign
which i will link here i have a blog post which i will link down below as well just for some helpful
tips while you're teaching your little ones more yeah okay mommy will get you more strawberries
there you go more cucumber more strawberries yes yeah are you all done
all done all done all done off on off distraction tactics so when sage is in a fussy mood or maybe
i'm trying to get her ready for bed and she knows it and starts getting upset i will usually bring
her over to light switches maybe get her to help close or open a door out pulling my hair and i
find it just kind of helps reset the mood so that we can actually get her calm ready for bed or bath
time or just distract her onto something else whoa not the thermostat have designated toys
in the car or for travel that way it's not the stuff that they've seen again and again
inside the home things that are also good like fidgety toys that are good for inside staying in
one spot are great sage loves this little remote control and so this is fun i keep it in the car
maybe some books that she hasn't read all the time inside even amir i've been using one of these and
sage was little mostly to check up on her and now she loves staring at herself i thought she would
have grown out of it but it has still been working and then also we use a tablet which i will show a
photo here and that is just mainly for traveling um airplanes road trips usually we'll do it at the
end of it once she's getting a little bit restless we'll bring that out and put one of her favorite
movies on it's actually inside charging right now but we do have that for car rides only and having
those designated things makes it so they actually work when you bring them out so highly recommend
that you can just stash them in your diaper bag have them in the car and so you don't forget
about them there you have it some of my favorite tips when it comes to parenting hopefully these
hacks help you out with your little ones leave me a comment down below letting me know one of your
favorite tricks for just getting through day to day things with your kids also a huge thank you
again to hap brand for sponsoring this video i'm gonna link them down below definitely check out
their beautiful luxurious diaper bags i love them i've been using them for quite a while now and
they're truly beautiful so definitely check them out down below you can shop their site also if you
want more parenting hacks i have other ones for newborns and other stages i'll link that here and
down below and thank you for watching i will see you in my next video have a fabulous day bye guys