Baby Hacks // Toddler Hacks (+big kids too!)

Hi guys, welcome back to my channel. My name is Jessica. Excuse whatever's happening here. It's not what I normally look like, but I just filmed another video and I was being some sort of character and this lipstick just doesn't come off. So we're going to film this video like so. Today's video is a baby hacks video or like a kid hack or just make your life easier if you're taking care of little people hack video. So, um, if you're new here, welcome. I'm so happy to have you. If you want more support in your parenting journey, we have a Facebook group private group. It's called Jess Hover and friends. People in it are super cool. They're not going to be rude to you. If they are, you can just do the thing where you like do it and then tells me that they're rude and then we get rid of that. But no, it's a really kind group. It's known for that. And so we want you to come be a part of it. If you want to follow my family on Instagram, you're welcome to, it's at Jess underscore Hover. And don't forget to like the video, subscribe to the channel. Tell me if you have hacks, if there's anything you do in taking care of your kids that we should all know about because you've made life easier in some way. Will you leave it in the comments? I'm so serious. I will read it and learn from you. I have a two month old daughter. She was born six weeks early and she's really precious. She's sleeping right here on the floor in a little snuggle me organic. And I have a one year old son. So that's funny. I had a baby and then I got pregnant. Surprise. So now I have two and then I have a five year old daughter. She's awesome. They're all awesome. Her name is Eloise. So Eloise Wilson Jules, I'm happy to share with you the things that I'm doing that make my life easier. This video is a partnership, which is also going to be my first hack. Okay. The partnership is with a company called built bar. Their bars are so yummy. They're like chocolate truffles. That's what I think of. They have 18 different flavors. So you don't get bored. This one is candy cane brownie. I love it. It is so yummy. This one has 17 grams of protein, 150 calories and a hundred percent taste. It says it is so delicious guilt-free. My kids love them. My husband uses them when he goes skateboarding a quick, easy snack. The hack here is to have things like this stashed different places. So I have them in a snack drawer. I have them in my diaper bag. I have them in my purse. If I'm not going to bring the diaper bag, I have them all over the place because I want quick, easy snacks while I'm taking care of the kids. That's my hack for you. Have quick, easy, healthy protein filled snacks for yourself, because it's super hard to get to sit down and really enjoy a meal, especially if you're in the early stage of parenthood. It gets easier as the kids get older and they can sit with you and enjoy food. But that's hack number one. Hack number two would be have snacks for your kids ready. So depending on how old your kids are, have snacks that either they can grab. So like for my five-year-old, I have a drawer where she knows how to access it. She can get it herself. If you can get snacks that are already individually packaged, then that's super easy. Wilson and Eloise both love seaweed, the little packages of seaweed. So they will go themselves and grab those. Otherwise you could package that yourself. If you want to be the parent who's so amazing and put like little baggies of, I don't know, fruit, veggies, snacky things, have those ready ahead of time. Such a good little thing to do. Then your kid's not going to come pestering you for food. You're going to teach them how capable they are and they're going to go get the snack themselves. And when you're leaving the house, you can just grab it and go because you've done it ahead of time because you're amazing prepping things ahead of time. I am not always the best at, but I do find it very hacky. It is really helpful. If you can have the diaper bag packed ahead of time, I will say that like every third day I run out of diapers for one of them because I'm not amazing at packing my diaper bag, but it's really a great idea. It's life-changing. I made a list for you. It's going to be easier than me just trying to remember. I put an extra paci if your child takes a pacifier, having an extra one in the bag is helpful. Diapers, wipes, snacks, warmer clothes in case the temperature changes and you or little ones need warm clothes, water, the bottle. I have a thing of formula because she was resisting me so hard yesterday while I was out and about. And so I put some formula in her bottle and gave it to her and she took it. Um, Oh, I put a plug converter. This sounds like pretty intense, but if, um, if you're having to pump a lot, when the little baby was in the NICU, I was having to pump all the time. So I had a plug converter with me so I could plug it into the little thing in my car and then I could plug my plug for my electric pump into it. Currently Hyundai is partnering with our family and letting us use a car, a 2020 Palisade that I think I'm returning like next week because my time's almost up, but it has outlets in the car and it is the most dreamy car. So if you want to go get one, I highly recommend it. And it's just beautiful. Anyway, but then you won't need a plug converter because you'll already have one in your car and a swaddle. I bring a swaddle everywhere I go with my little baby because she uses it as her blanket. I wrap her up places when I need her to sleep. I use it as a burp cloth and I use it when I need to do diaper changes, just random places. And I'm not prepared for that. I just lay the swaddle down and do a diaper change, which brings me to another hack. Embrace a life of doing diaper changes, any stinking place you can. Don't be discouraged if you're out and there's no changing table for you. You and your baby are so amazing. You can just plop that little baby in your car, in the trunk, on a bench, on the ground. Um, you could, if they're really small, you could do a diaper change on your legs. Just if you've worked hard enough to get out of the house, you deserve some probably a cup of coffee and a gold star, a trophy, a massage. Don't then be bummed when you're out and have to do a diaper change. Just be the person who's out and does it wherever you possibly can. Pacifier clip. I didn't know the wonder of a pacifier and pacifier clip because Eloise, my first child didn't take a paci, but for Wilson and Jules, they both take pacifiers and pacifier clip. It's not just for cuteness. It actually is a game changer because it clips to their clothes and they spit it out and then it doesn't fall on the ground and you don't have to clean it all the time. Also, I have one clipped to the car seat and I just never take it out that way. Whenever I'm putting them in the car seat, they have one. I think pacifiers are great. In my experience, they've been really helpful. I haven't yet had to wean Wilson from it though. I'm tempted to because his teeth are growing a little funny, but I, the hard thing is my babies are born so close together that at the time when I would take Wilson's pacifier away, there's now a new baby in the house that has a pacifier. So good luck navigating that one. If you have any pacifier wisdom, tell me. But my experience with a pacifier has been positive overall. Now what I've done with Wilson, he's a year and a half old right now is I stopped letting him have the pacifier during the day. He only has it for sleeping and that's been helping. And I think it's helping his teeth. Stash diapers wherever you can to make your life easier. So you're not just doing diaper changes in one place in your house. Maybe you have a little stash in your living room. Maybe you have an emergency stash in your car. Then you won't run out. I haven't a stash here at my friend Becca's house. Becca's right over there. Say hi Becca. So in Becca's dresser right over yonder, I have some diapers and I just keep them there because I'm here a lot to do work. I also have formula slash frozen breast milk stashed here, which is a recommendation too. If you have a place that you go regularly, maybe it's a family member's home, um, and you're bringing your little baby, you could have a little stash there. Or before this baby was born, I brought my kids here pretty frequently, the older, the older ones. And I had little snacks stashed here. So you could try stashing snacks places. I think I'm really food oriented. Oh my God. Things are snacks. Well fed children. They just seem less grumpy. Well fed me way less grumpy. I have a versatile diaper cream. We actually sell it with very good mother's club. All the very good mother's club stuff is right here. There's a diaper cream that I've been using and I've been using it for a long, long time and it's safe for her buns. It's also safe for my nipples, which saying nipple on camera is really weird. So highly recommend that. And then it's also safe for my chapped lips. So I use it for all three of those things. I wash my hands in between because I'm a person who does what we should all do, which is wash our hands. But I recommend having a versatile diaper cream, get a stroller that you like and take your baby outside. I think that the kids in my experience are super happy when we're outside. And it also means that I can move my body, which is good for my brain. And I can listen to a podcast or I can call my sister or I can just take in the beauty of nature. I know if we live in a cold place, then you've got to be really bundled. I lived that life in Barcelona with Eloise and that is an extra step when it comes to leaving the house. But I have found that with a good stroller and warm clothes, going outside has been very helpful. How to shower. I bring either the baby lounger, like a Dockatot or a Snuggle Me Organic into the bathroom and I shower and I just watch them and I find that they like the steam and the white noise. When the baby gets a little bigger, I put them in a bouncer and they just sit in there. I have had a baby crying while I'm showering. I just hustle my little booty and get out. The baby isn't suffering. I mean, I'm not going to let my kids suffer, but I just find that if I know they're safe, even if they're being a little fussy while I get my shower done, I try not to cry myself because if you are a parent, you know the pressure of trying to stay composed while you have a crying kid, but the shower is worth it. I sneak nutrition into spaghetti. I put either pureed veggies or cooked veggies and mash them up and put them in spaghetti, mac and cheese. I always put peas in the mac and cheese. That's separate hack, but a hack upon hack is just add things to your food. I add Greek yogurt to things that I'm making so that they get some more nutrients. But anyway, if I want Wilson to take a pouch, I give him something salty and like pretzels or seaweed or something that I know will make him thirsty and then I offer him a pouch and he eats the whole thing. No problem. Also, when saying no to Wilson, he's a year and a half, I say no and then I redirect him. You probably already know that, but I find that just being like, no, don't do that makes him want to do that. But if I say no, don't do that and do this, then he wants to do that thing. It also works for myself. Might work for you. If you want to stop doing something, do something else. This is a serious one. If your child is starting to get sick, give them fluids, any fluids. I thought that I wasn't supposed to give milk if my child was starting to get sick because it would make them like phlegmy. But then we had kind of a scary situation where Eloise's throat started getting swollen and raw because she wasn't drinking the water. She didn't prefer it. And then she wouldn't take anything. She wouldn't even eat ice cream, put it on her mouth. She threw it. She ended up having to be hooked up to an IV to get fluids to make her feel better. And it was just a terrible experience. So the recommendation for any child is give them fluids as soon as sickness starts so that you don't end up connected, connecting them to an IV and having them cry, cry, cry. And it's just so awful. Okay. That's all. You probably have even better hacks than me. Leave them. Tell me, I want to know them. You are doing so good. Thank you for being here. Don't forget to like and subscribe and tell me what you want to see on my channel because sometimes I don't know. We will see you soon. You're doing such a good job. Okay. Happy 2021. Bye.