• Cover up – Cover baby with a washer in the bath to keep them feeling safe and secure. It might change baby’s bath time from a screaming session to a tranquil, relaxed experience.
• Restrain them – When changing a nappy pull baby’s singlet up over their arms to hold flailing arms and keep them feeling safe and secure. No more hands in poo, except for yours then…
• Express in the morning – If expressing milk only occasionally try first thing in the morning when mums make the most milk. You will get a lot more than at the end of the day. Express before feeding bub, because bub will always get more milk than a pump. For more info, check out our post about breast pumps.
• Sibling care – Buy your toddler a doll so they can ‘care’ for their own baby. Much safer than them trying it all on their little baby brother or sister…
• Split your attention – Praise good behaviour in your other children to keep them feel appreciated when a little bub comes along and they start playing up for attention. Interested in more positive parenting tips, check out this positive parenting book that our mums love.
• Sleeping through – Don’t get caught up on trying to get your baby to sleep through the night. They are only little for a short time and will eventually sleep through.
• Prepare – Get things ready for the next morning the night before to let things go more smoothly. It feels so much better when your mornings are not too hectic. Check out these cool daycare backpack and other items you will need for daycare [link to starting daycare post].
• Be in the moment – Cuddle your baby and spend days in pjs with the kids and enjoy their company. Other things can wait, but your baby will not wait growing up…
• Feeding at night – Once milk established do not unswaddle baby when feeding at night, keep light to a minimum and they will settle back to sleep easier. Saves you a couple of hours settling…

• Do not compare – Don’t get stuck on comparing your bub to others, it will drive you insane. They are all so different and will learn things at different times. In the end they will get there and if you are really concerned, go speak to your health nurse or doctor.
• Cooking – Stock up on frozen vegetables and easy cooking proteins. You will often not find the time to cook properly, so easy meals it is… And cook dinner whenever you have time during the day and reheat at dinner time. Nothing wrong with that. Check out our freezer meals and family favourites for great ideas on what to cook for your family.
• Noisy baby – Babies are loud sleepers, do not rush in to settle as that might actually wake them up. If it is too much for you to get some sleep, consider letting baby sleep in their own room, if you are comfortable with that.
• Stupid questions – When people ask if he is a good sleeper, feeds well and cry much, answer ‘just like a baby’ if you get annoyed by the question. Unfortunately, babies do wake up, have to learn how to feed properly and cry when they need something, so do not feel disheartened that you baby would not be ‘perfect’.
• Windy baby – If bub has wind place them tummy down on your forearm and grip your arms together and gently lift up and down. When their wind and cramps are gone, they will be so much easier to deal with. Check out these other tips our mums have for colicky and windy babies.
• Speaking – When teaching bubs to talk, speak the words against their cheeks will help them learn the movement of lips to pronounce words. You might set a record! Check out more tips on learning to speak here [link to post about learning to speak].
• Solids – When introducing solids try savoury items first as the sweet stuff can make them more inclined to eat fruit instead of veggies. Short of ideas? Check out our recipes to start solids with your baby. If your baby is having a preference for fruit instead of veggies, do not worry, fruit contains vitamins and nutrition, just as much. No one ever starved from eating fruit.
• Put down baby – When placing bubs in a cot leave hands under their head for a minute will help them feel safe in their beds. Everything from preventing them to get stirred awake again.
• Changing nappies – When changing a nappy put fresh nappy under bubs bum before removing the dirty one to catch an accident. The number of times you might otherwise have to clean your whole changing table… Interested in the the best regular nappies for your bubs, check out our mum’s recommendations.

• Warm nest – Put a heat pack in the bed then take it out just before you put bub down. Who would like to be put down in a cold bed? No wonder, they wake up when you put them down… Or consider using warm snuggly pjs with a hood so they cannot feel the cold bed once put down. Some of our mums sat on a mink blanket when breast feeding so that it was warm to put baby onto once done.
• Release wind – To help get rid of bad wind: tummy massage in clockwise direction, bicycle legs and put baby feet together and touch their nose. The look of relieve on your babies face will be your reward. Check out more tips for windy and colicky babies.
• Cutting nails – Cut baby’s nails once they have fallen asleep or when they are on the boob. It will save you a screaming session and still keep your baby’s nails manicured. Looking for a good nail clipper for baby, check out this nail clipper set!
• Lighting – camping lantern or night light on the bedside table through the night so that you can see baby in the dim light without waking them. Some of our mums attached a grolight to bedside lamp for dim light while feeding.
• Bathing – Let baby’s feet touch the end of the bath to makes them feel safer. No baby bath yet, check out this one.
• Let it go – Parenting is so much easier when you go with the flow and relax. Babies often respond to how you feel to; the relaxter you are, the easier your baby might be.
• Breastfeeding issues – Breastfeeding is the most natural thing to do but it does not always come naturally. Do not be too hard on yourself when it is difficult. There is no shame in feeding your baby formula. Read more about breastfeeding issues in our post about this topic and check out these alternatives.
• Breastfeeding – Wear a bracelet on the side you have just fed on to remember which boob you are up to.
• Teething – If bub is teething put a dummy in freezer before soothing bub with it. They will love it! Or wet a thin soft washer and place into a container and put in the freezer for 10 -20 min for baby to suck on.
• Colicky baby – Feed colicky babies laying flat on your back. This allows for better suction and less air drawn in. Hopefully it relieves your baby from their pain. If not, read our post about colicky babies and what our mums do to relieve bubs pain.
• Bottle feeding – If milk is coming out too fast and if babies gulps while drinking, tilt bottle back to slow down flow or use a smaller teat. Check out which bottles our mums love to use [link to feeding bottles].
• Giving medicine – When giving medicine let baby suck on a dummy and squirt medicine in their mouth with syringe on the side.
• Flinching hands – Hold bubs hands on their chest to help them relax and stop them from flinching. They might get stirred by their own flinching.

Found any great tips in this list? We hope you did and that it will make your life easier. Being a parent is tough enough as it is…