Being a new mom is no joke – before having my first baby I was a middle school teacher and I taught somewhere around 150 students a day. I figured after that, becoming a stay-at-home mom would be a breeze… I’m learning that’s not quite the case. So I’ve decided to put together a list of new mom life hacks to make life easier for other new mamas out there!
My mom friends have been a huge asset so far on this motherhood journey. We share our mom fails, cry with each other, and provide some much-needed daily inspiration when baby just won’t sleep. But one of my favorite aspects of doing life with my mom friends is sharing all of our creative mom hacks to make life easier.
Below I’ve compiled a list of my favorite DIY hacks for moms – some I have discovered on my own through trial and error, some were inspired through Facebook mom groups (be sure to check out Moms Supporting Moms – Flawed and Fearless), and some come from those amazing moms that I do life with.
This specific post focuses on new mom hacks for babies and newborns (roughly 0-6 months). If you are a mom of older babies or toddlers, you’ll want to head over to this post instead.
#1: Bounce on a yoga ball
I have a very strong love/hate relationship with my yoga ball. I have spent more hours than I care to count bouncing my baby to sleep (not to mention all of the time spent on it during pregnancy and while I was in labor).
But it works. It took me a while to even give the yoga ball a try when she was first born. We tried walking her around the house, swaying, swinging in our arms, rocking in the rocking chair…. but this kiddo wanted to bounce. Still to this day (she is 9 months as of this posts publish date) she prefers to be bounced over any other soothing technique. Needless to say I have gotten my money’s worth out of my yoga ball.
#2: Keep a roll of doggie poop bags in your diaper bag for blowouts
Why is it that as soon as you get your baby into a cute outfit and then leave the house, they have a blowout? Keep a roll of doggy poop bags on you to throw your blowout clothes in until you get home.
#3: Store pacifiers in plastic condiment containers
This tip is especially great for when you need to toss a paci in your purse, diaper bag, swim bag, etc.
#4: Keep the car seat straps and buckles cool in the summer with an ice pack
I live in Arizona where the summers are blazing hot, and a parked car in the sun can feel like a pizza oven after just a few minutes. I looked up car seat ice packs and they were all a little pricy for my taste (but I’m sure they work great). Instead, I found these reusable gel packs for less than half the price, and they come in a pack of two! I have one frozen and ready to go at all times and it makes such a HUGE difference on the temperature of the car seat, straps, and buckles before I put my baby in.
#5: Apply sunblock with a beauty blender
This one is great for babies and toddlers! I use these beauty blenders, put a dab of sunblock on them, and then apply to my babies face, ears, neck, arms, etc. She is so much less resistant to getting her sunblock put on, and I find it is SO much easier to get good, even coverage.
#6: Put a clean diaper underneath baby before taking off the old one
So this hack has actually saved me quite a few times. Before taking off the old diaper completely, I open and place a new diaper underneath her bum. If she happens to go while I’m changing her, no problem! There have been a few instances where I did not use this hack, and we ended up with pee and poop everywhere. We had to do an emergency bath, new outfit, new changing pad cover, sanitize the dresser… just trust me, this hack is a good habit to practice.
#7: Invest in a SNOO bassinet
I really can’t cover why buying or renting a SNOO bassinet is so important in just one short paragraph. So head over to this post if you want more details. But really. Your sleep matters, mama. That is money well spent.
#8: If you have a fussy baby who won’t settle – apply water or sunshine. The BEST new mom life hack I used.
It works! My baby girl was extremely fussy her first few weeks, and this little trick worked so many times. Apply water – sometimes a little warm running water on their baby head calms them down. Or a full on bath (if your baby typically likes the bath). You can also try just the sound of running water like the tub or shower. Apply sunshine – or really just getting them outside. We don’t want our newborns in direct sunlight anyway, but if the weather permits get that baby outside on a walk, or let them lay in the grass for a few minutes. These two techniques really worked wonders for our fussy baby.
#9: Use a laundry basket in the tub
This bath time baby hack is great for those slightly older little ones who are learning to sit but aren’t quite crawling and splashing around the tub yet on their own. You can put them in the laundry basket with their toys – the basket helps them sit up and it prevents all of their toys from floating out of reach. Win win!
[Related post: 10 Ways to Prepare Your Home for Baby]
#10: Use a Haaka for middle of the night feeds
This one is for any nursing mamas out there. If your baby is not consistently feeding off of both breasts at each feed, this hack is amazing – especially in the middle of the night (but really you can use it for any feed!) When baby is feeding off of one breast, use your haaka on the other side to catch the letdown. To use your haaka, squeeze the bulb, flip the rim inside out, place on your breast, flip the rim back down, and release.. The suction will keep it in place (as long as no tiny feet kick at it too hard) and is powerful enough to draw out and collect milk from a letdown. Some women are able to build a freezer stash using only their haaka in this way! As an added bonus, now that you have fresh milk on your nightstand in the middle of the night, hubby can take over the early morning feed to let you sleep in.
#11: Make your own bibs – a money saving new mom life hack
Money saving alert! If you aren’t planning on keeping your old onesies as baby grows out of them, cut off the bottom of the onesie with a pair of scissors and viola – you have a bib.
#12: Line the car seat with a puppy potty training pad
Back to those unavoidable blowouts – if you find they keep happening in the car, try lining the car seat with one of these puppy pee pads to catch the mess and prevent a car seat cleaning overhaul when you get home.
#13: Put hair ties or rubber bands on either side of the baby wipe opening
Sometimes when you go to get a wipe out, you get 3. Or instead of getting a wipe at all the entire package lifts up off the table as one clump. To prevent this, put hair ties or rubber bands on either side of that wipe opening for a dramatic difference.
#14: Prevent pee during a diaper change
Especially great for boys! Take a cold wet wipe and gently wipe just above the diaper line (under the belly button) and then wait 30-60 seconds before changing the diaper.
#15: Use Q-Tips to clean between toes and fingers
Especially when they are newborn, those little toe and finger crevices can get gunky! Its so hard to get a washcloth or your own fingers in there properly, but q-tips work perfectly.
#16: Use your Boppy pillow as support for independent sitting
When baby starts to get a little older (4-5 months) and is ready to start learning how to sit independently, that old boppy pillow provides is the perfect support! Unless they have mastered leaning forwards onto their hands and not faceplanting, you’ll still want to stay nearby. But it is a wonderful little tool to use when you want to sit face-to-face.
#16: Get an electric nail trimmer instead of baby nail clippers
The thought of clipping my baby’s tiny fingernails always freaked me out. So much so that I had my doula do it for the first time around 2 weeks old. I finally decided to buy one of these electric nail files and they are amazing.
#17: Save space in your closet by hanging your baby onesies upside-down
Grab one full sized hanger (the felted ones work great for this to prevent sliding), and button 2-3 baby onesies onto it upside-down. This is a great baby closet organization hack if you’re not storing your onesies in a drawer.
#18: Put a puppy potty training pad between the crib sheet and mattress
I have also heard and tried the layering trick (mattress – waterproof sheet – regular sheet – waterproof sheet – regular sheet) but I find simply putting a puppy pee pad between the mattress and the crib sheet works to prevent stains better. You could also try a combination of these two hacks!
#19: Pour water over your babies head and face from the time they are a newborn
This might not be a popular hack, but we did it with our baby girl and I have never regretted it. The idea behind this is having water on their head, hair, and face will be completely normal to them and can potentially eliminate issues later on in the older baby/toddler phase. I am a firm believer after how it worked with our daughter. She LOVES the water, and couldn’t care less if water splashes her face, eyes, hair, etc. It has already made her bath time and first summer so much more enjoyable.
#20: Use coconut oil for cradle cap
Our daughter has very light blonde hair, but for a while we thought it might be strawberry blonde. It turns out that hint of red we were seeing was actually an orange-ish hue from cradle cap (eww). We put some melted (not hot) coconut oil on her hair, massaged it in and let it sit for a few minutes, brushed it with a baby bristle brush, the combed out the scales with a fine-toothed baby comb. We only had to do this twice and her cradle cap never came back.
#21: Join your local “buy nothing” group on Facebook
A good mom friend of mine introduced me to this and it is one of my favorite new mom life hacks! There are “buy nothing” groups all over Facebook that you can join to get/give baby products for free. You have to find one in your area as they only let members within a certain radius join, but this is an awesome way to fill in those gaps from your baby shower without breaking the bank. Speaking of Facebook groups, be sure to join our Flawed and Fearless mom group to get connected!
#22: Make your own breastmilk soap
This might not be for everyone, but I try to avoid chemicals where possible. Plus my baby girl has eczema on her face and extremely sensitive skin, so I worry about certain skin products with her. My sister-in-law actually introduced me to the idea of making my own soap! You can find all the details and the recipe here.
#23: Take professional style photos
This is for all of my fellow iPhone users. I am obsessed with photos and videos of my baby (duh) but the photographer in me also wants them to look as nice as possible without having to carry around my Canon camera everywhere I go. Thankfully, Apple has outdone themselves with their camera quality. Open up your camera and scroll the “Portrait” setting. In the top right, you’ll see a fancy letter “f” in a circle. Click it, and then drag the slider bar at the bottom to 3.5. This is going to blur your background and give you that professional look!
#24: Lavender oil and cotton balls in your diaper genie
I know the whole point of a diaper genie is to contain the smell of diapers without having to take them out of the room after each change, but sometimes that poop smell is just too potent for even the best of diaper pails. Regardless of which brand you have, I love this new mom life hack for balancing out, and ideally, overpowering that nasty stink. Take one or two cotton balls and tape them to the inside lid of your diaper pail (the diaper genie actually has an insert that you can stick them in) and then drop 5-6 drops of lavender oil on them. Or more if you really want that smell out of there. Bonus, lavender is a calming scent that can help promote good sleep!
#25: Dress your baby in white long sleeves in the sun
This is a great hack for those summer months when the UV rating is high and you can’t keep baby in the shade. Dark colors will make baby hotter and lighter colors keep baby cooler – a long sleeve white shirt provides great coverage in addition to, or in place of sun block on their arms. Less chemicals on their skin!
#26: Dawn dish soap for poop stains
Poopy onesie? Dawn dish soap. Poopy changing table cover? Dawn dish soap. Poopy car seat? Dawn dish soap. A universal and life saving new mom life hack you don’t want to miss.
#27: Give baby a wet washcloth to play with after meals
This is especially helpful if your baby gets impatient after meal times or does not like being cleaned up. Give them a wet washcloth to play with while you wipe down the table and clear food away – a lot of the time they will end up cleaning the heavy mess off their own hands and face just from playing with the washcloth. Then I like to get them out and head over to the sink or tub to do a quick rinse of their hands and face.
#28: Sunshine works just as well as blue lights for jaundice
This is speaking for a moderate to light jaundice diagnosis. Definitely have a discussion with your provider about this new mom life hack if they are recommending blue light treatment before skipping altogether, but our baby had jaundice when we brought her home from the hospital and we were able to clear it up with an hour or so a day in indirect sunlight (along with lots of breastmilk!)
#29: Most onesies can be taken off over by going down over their body, not up over their head
Super helpful when dealing with poopy or dirty onesies to avoid getting it all over their face!
#30 Remove elastic hair bands with lemon essential oil
You can read all about this new mom life hack and how it works here!
This post is constantly being updated as we learn more mom hacks!
And as your babe grows, be sure to read our DIY New Mom Life Hacks – Moms of Toddlers!
Jess
Love this! Thanks for sharing!