When a woman becomes a mother, there are a lot of things she ends up doing to get crafty and get through the day. We find new ways of doing things so that we can survive and celebrate small victories throughout the day. So if you are a new mom, pro mom, or a mom-to-be grab your iced coffee and help yourself to some mom hacks!
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Whoever quipped the phrase "mom hack" is a literal genius and should be given a prize for founding this highly accurate pair of words. Moms do the same tasks day in and day out with their little ones and then try to find ways to further streamline their process or find products to help make their lives easier. Mom hacks are essential for keeping up with the chaos that is motherhood and they are great for sharing.
In the prenatal yoga class that I teach on Monday nights, I like to have a mom hack at the ready to share with my moms-to-be (and I call it my Monday Mom Hack). These hacks can be recommending a method of doing things or a product that made being a mom a touch easier.
What I love about mom hacks is that they are also a great way to celebrate how clever and intelligent moms are despite being over tired. When you discover a hack (especially in the dead of night when you have one eye open and a baby in your arms) it gives you a sense of great accomplishment. As it should, girl. You go!
With all that, here are some of my favorite mom hacks:
1. Inflatable Nursing Pillow: While I was breastfeeding my daughter, there were so many times that I had to breastfeed in public, in my car, while traveling, etc. and it was incredibly difficult to do without my Boppy pillow. Despite having a short torso, I had to hunch over Lydia so much to feed her that I would become immediately uncomfortable. Multiple times I would tell my husband that there needed to be an inflatable boppy to take with me in the diaper bag and then I finally found one on Amazon! When I got that pillow in the mail, I could have cried. It was so incredibly exciting to be able to nurse with ease. I used it when traveling to NY to see family as well as out while doing errands, meeting with friends, or the unexpected feeding while out. If you aren't already ordering this inflatable pillow, take a few minutes now to do so, I will wait :)
2. If your child is like mine while nursing, they are a slob. When Lydia would breastfeed, she would get milk all over her face and clothes, which also meant that it was getting all over me. So to put an end to the already extensive laundry train, I came up with this hack: tuck a burp cloth into your nursing bra. I would place the burp cloth under my boob so that my bra and shirt would not get all milky. I also paired this with putting a bib on Lydia so that her clothes were protected. The nice thing about this, too, is that you can reuse the burp cloth if it is not completely soaked or spit up on. These were some of the burp clothes I used along with homemade ones from my mom.
3. For Lydia, we have always used a diaper powder (talc free, of course!) since it is the best way to keep her from getting a diaper rash. She very rarely gets it, and we attribute that to our powdering those adorable little butt cheeks. In a pinch when you run out of powder before you are able to go to the store for more, you can use corn starch. We actually used this first before actually using diaper powder and it worked great with Lydia. And you probably already have that in your cabinets!
4. Speaking of diapers, every so often when we are changing Lydia's diaper, she will pee. This is a real bummer when you only have so many changing pad covers (we have four and that still does not always feel like enough). One hack we started doing was using a cloth diaper liner (because we don't use them for actual diapering like I had hoped) and placing it on top of the changing pad. It usually catches all of the pee and saves us from totally stripping the changing pad.
5. Got some saved breastmilk that went bad? Girl, I feel you, it is a devastating feeling. I pulled a few hacks from Mama Hippie's post here on uses for expired breastmilk and have used my old breastmilk in a bath for Lydia. I typically use it for her cradle cap since it is a great way to help minimize that. I do tend to do the milk bath and then use regular baby soap so that she does not smell like old breastmilk. Personally, that is not my favorite smell!
Have you tried any of these mom hacks? Are these similar to some of the mom hacks you have used? If your favorite mom hack is not on the list, comment below with your favorite!
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