32 BABY HACKS TO MAKE MOM LIFE EASIER

Congratulations on your newborn baby! Find these super helpful baby tips and hacks in making mom life easier.

So, did you just have your baby or you are pregnant and going to be a mom soon, well no matter where you are in your motherhood journey, this post will help you with the best of the tricks there are that will save you from a lot of messy situations as well as time. Life after a newborn is great but also extremely exhausting and tiring. The first few weeks with the baby go by fast and you will often find yourself in brand new territories like breastfeeding, diaper changing and a lot more while trying to take care of your baby. In this blog post, I have shared with you all a few valuable baby tips and hacks that had helped me a lot in taking care of my baby as a new mom.

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Before we go further into the blog post, if you are struggling to help your baby sleep through the night, here are a few great resources you can check out. Baby Sleep Made Simple is a baby and toddler sleep program for babies 5-24 months, designed by a baby nurse and lactation consultant.  This course is designed to help exhausted parents to get their babies and toddlers to sleep well, so they can get their energy back, feel like themselves again and start enjoying all the little things. Baby Sleep Made Simple is the ultimate resource for tired moms!

1. Always carry a change of clothes for your baby and yourself in your bag

This little hack can save you many stressful moments when you are outside and in a public places. Babies are messy, they spit all the time and there are many chances of a diaper blowout. But as a mom, it is important to carry a change of clothes for yourself too as messes can happen to you too. Baby might spill something on you or like in my case as a nursing mom, I often had to go through unexpected leaks due to breast engorgement or I would get wet from breastfeeding my daughter when the milk would leak from underneath my breast. It’s always better to prepare for the worst that feel stressed later!

Related: 25 breastfeeding hacks every mom should know about

2. Have two diapers changing station setup if you have a two-story home

Having two diaper changing station on each floor of our home was such a huge life savior. I had a pack ‘n play set up in my family room where I could put my daughter to sleep while I was downstairs and this pack ‘n play also came with a diaper changing pad attached to it where I was easily able to change my daughter without having to go upstairs. This saved me multiple trips from running up and down the stairs as well as a lot of time. Another great option for pack ‘n play is this one.

Related: All the must-haves to set up a breastfeeding station at home

3. Get front zipper sleeper for babies as they take less time than the button sleepers

This was from my personal experience of changing my daughter’s clothes. Babies tend to get restless easily and trying to snap the button of a full-body sleeper would take me so much time as well as it was really difficult to snap the buttons with my daughter moving all the time. I found using the zipper sleeper super helpful as it was so easy to change my daughter’s clothes. Just a warning, be cautious of the chain while pulling it up and down making sure that it as far away as possible from the baby’s skin.

4. Get the Infront button onesies for newborns

Quite contrary to the previous hacks but for a newborn having an infant onesie that can be snapped in the front as compared to being pulled from the head-on is a better choice. The main reason for that is baby heads are delicate and it’s best if you can avoid having to touch it as much as possible. Also, infant’s onesies have barely 2-3 snap buttons which are so easy to wear on your baby as compared to 8-10 buttons on a long sleeper bodysuit. Click here to buy the long sleeve and the short sleeve infant onesie.

Related: 12 must-have baby products for a new mom

5. Keep baby wipes everywhere

I quickly realized that baby wipes are used for much more than just cleaning baby poop. Babies create a lot of mess all the time and are always throwing things around. Having a set of baby wipes in your purse, diaper bag, cabinets in each room and anywhere possible can be very helpful when you need to wipe your baby’s spit ups, throw ups or any other mess. I had used the water wipes with my daughter as they are made with 99.9% water. They are ideal for sensitive skin!

6. Avoid changing pad covers

Although the changing pad covers look beautiful and they come in so many colors to chose from perfect to match your baby’s nursery but they are also a big trouble to handle. I would often encounter situations when while changing my daughter’s diapers, the poop would get out of the diaper and dirty the cover. The stain on these covers would never go away by just rubbing with a wipe and had to be washed completely to be cleaned. Eventually, I found using the changing pad without cover as a better choice as when the pad would get messy, all I had to do was just wipe it with a baby wipe and it will be as clean as new.

7. Use a swaddle with Velcro

Again, great for the ease of snapping in and snapping out your baby clothes. Also, I personally found the swaddles with a Velcro to be cozier as compared to the others with a zipper or a button. I had this swaddle for my daughter and she would peacefully sleep in it for hours.

8. Use a white noise machine

I found using a white noise machine to be very helpful with my daughter. Having this machine close to her crib in her nursery would help her sleep for hours without waking up. Also having this noise in the background made her more accustomed to the sound around her and now that she is a toddler she still sleeps right through any noise in the room. I had used this white noise machine and it's available for less that $20. Other great options for white noise sound machines are this one by Hatch Baby and this one by Dreamegg.

9. Sleep when the baby sleeps

This is so important for any new mom. Babies have a small stomach and they need to be fed after every few hours and which means less sleep for moms. As a new mom, you will find yourself tired and exhausted and hence resting even if it's for a few minutes can help you feel fresh and you will also find yourself in a positive mood to take care of your baby.

Related: 15 tips to survive nighttime breastfeeding without going insane

10. Always carry a baby carrier

As a baby, my daughter always preferred the baby carrier as compared to the stroller. I found carrying a baby stroller especially handy while shopping in a grocery store or at the airports while catching a night flight during our long international travels. All I had to do was fit my daughter in the baby carrier and she would sleep peacefully in it without me having to hold her in my arms. I had used this Infantino baby carrier which was great for all our travels. Also moms love this boba wrap which is perfect for newborns.

11. Get a backpack as a diaper bag

With a baby, there are always a zillion things to handle and juggle between your hands at the same time. At least if your diaper bag is a bag pack then there is one less item to carry as well as you do not have to worry about it getting lost. Some great options are this one available at amazon, this and this one available at Target.

Related: How I organized my diaper bagpack for a long international flight

Related: Travelling tips with an infant on an international flight

12. Cut fingernails while the baby is sleeping

My daughter was always very restless whenever I used to cut her fingernails and as a new mom I was always very scared of accidentally cutting into her skin. I found it easy to cut my daughter’s fingernails while she was sleeping. I had used this baby clipper with my daughter or you could get this entire 25pc grooming kit for babies that has everything you need.

Related: How to clean baby bath toys

13. Start teaching your baby the difference between day and night

Babies don’t really understand the difference between day and night and they must be thought that from the day 1. One way you can do this is by putting your baby to bed in his nursery during nighttime and for daytime nap you can put your baby to bed in a pack ‘n play in the family room with some noise in the background. Also, parents rave about these black curtains that keep the sunlight off during daytime that can help your baby sleep longer in the morning hours.

Related: Three must-haves habits for your little one from an experienced parent

14. Always keep a water bottle handy

You have no idea as to how thirsty you will get while breastfeeding. I would personally go down at least 2-3 bottles of water during a single breastfeeding session. Having a water bottle always handy will help you quench your thirst during nursing sessions.

15. Make use of caddy organizers to make a portable baby nursery station

With my daughter I used these three caddy organizers, to organize all her nursery and my breastfeeding supplies. It was so easy to just carry the required caddy from room to room as per where I would be nursing my daughter.

16. Always wear a two shirt for nursing

I had accidentally bought these two shirts via shopping for maternity clothes via amazon but found it to be so useful. It became so easy to nurse my daughter in public place as all I had to do was a pull the outer shirt up to make my breast visible for nursing and the lower shirt would cover my stomach.

17. Use a nursing pin

When you are absolutely sleep deprived as a new mom, it is very common to forget which was the last breast that you fed your baby with. If you end up feeding the baby with the same breast as last time, your baby might not feed to full, which in turn will make him restless and he might wake up more often from hunger. During my time, I really liked using these breast clips that could get easily clipped on to my nursing top. I would clip it on the nursing top covering the breast that was used last so that when I would wake up in the middle of the night half asleep, I didn’t have to try hard to remember as to which side I should feed mine daughter with.

18. Get these adsorbent mats to give your baby diaper-free time

It is always recommended to give your babies some diaper-free time where you can just lay them naked on the floor on a sunny day and their skin can feel the air. I found using these adsorbent mats duper helpful as they would instantly absorb all the wet pee without having me to worry about cleaning it up right away.

Related: Prevent kids from cold and congestion

19. Get a at home sterilizer to save time

Once my daughter started taking in the bottles, this at-home this electric steam sterilizer very handy. After washing the milk bottles I would simply mount them in this sterilizer unit and let it run for a few minutes. What I would get finally were germ-free sterilized bottles ready to use. Such a huge relief with a baby at home!

Related: 10 best toys for 0-6 months old

20. Subscribe to your diapers and wipes monthly from amazon

This little hack will not only save you money but also time. For a year, I had signed up for the diapers and wipes annual subscription and hardly had to worry about running out of them when needed.

21. Use mesh bags to wash baby clothes that have Velcro in them

A great hack and can help increase the life of the baby clothes. For a baby you will find yourself washing their clothes very frequently, probably after each wear. Using mesh bags will help you protect the delicate clothes from ruining as well as prevent them from sticking on to other items.

22. The slits on the onesie sleeves are there for a reason

You must have noticed the side slits on a onesie, they are there for a reason. In case of a blowout, you can just pull the onesie down over the baby’s shoulder instead of over their head which could make handling messy situations so much easier.

23. Get a baby hammock

Baby hammock make grocery shopping with your baby easier as well as more fun. Also, you don’t have carry the large car seat everywhere with you.

24. If consumed alcohol use test strips to check your breastmilk

You are a nursing mom and have had a glass of wine a few hours back, well there is nothing to worry about! You can express some milk and test it for alcohol content using these milk screen test strips making absolutely sure that the milk is safe to give to your baby.

25. Keep your baby highchair on a plastic mat for easy cleanup

Such a huge life savior! Once your baby transitions into the solid phase, a lot of mess is going to happen. I found using a plastic mat under my daughter’s highchair super helpful for cleaning all the mess off the floor. Also you can checkout this pretty colorful plastic mat.

26. Always store your breastmilk bag by laying them flat in the freezer

Make sure to organize frozen milk packets in such a manner that the milk packets expiring soon are in front of you so that they don’t get wasted. You can also buy these milkies – which has an easy one packet in and one packet out method and great for storing milk packets in the freezer. Also, while storing frozen milk lay it flat so that it will take lesser space. I have an entire blog post on how to handle and store breastmilk with a few more tips, make sure to check it out when you start using a breast pump. Click here to read how to handle and store breastmilk.

27. Get suction cup straps to save yourself from picking fallen bottles and sippy cups all the time

I got this cute looking strap from Amazon for my daughter. It was super helpful to manage the sippy cups as my daughter loved throwing them on the ground. It was a game for her !

28. Use a baby bum brush for easy and clean diaper rash cream application

Using a baby bum brush was very useful in easy and clean application of the diaper rash cream. It is also available in many colors.

29. Use a waterproof pad in your baby’s crib

It is always good to be as cautious as possible beforehand when it comes to a baby as to having to do a lot of work later on. Blowouts are very common in babies and so it is best to layer their crib or bassinets with waterproof pads so that you don't have to change the entire bedding later on.

30. Use this time-saving formula feeding bottle

I found this bottle on amazon and it was very useful when my daughter was in the formula feeding phase. This bottle has different compartments for the formula and the water. When your baby is hungry all you must do is squeeze the side two buttons and the entire mixture mixes with each other and the formula bottle is ready for your baby's feed.

31. Use a diaper genie

Using a diaper genie at home not only helps you to discard all the dirty diapers in one spot but as well as it helps keep the nasty poop smell away. I had used two of these, one for each floor of my home.

32. Baby proof outlets with this move over plastic plugs for outlets

These are super handy plastic plugs that can help you baby proof your home. They can easily fit over your outlet and slide when you need to access them.

Life with a new baby is a lot of fun but it is also very challenging. There is a lot to get done and as a new mom, you will find yourself juggling between many things at the same time. I hope that these newborn tips and hacks can help you make your motherhood journey easier!