TOP TIPS FOR MUMS!

Down-to-earth wisdom from momandbaby mums. A hum of background noise can elicit a deep sleep from some children – try a fan or a vacuum cleaner outside the room or put the clothes dryer on. An early walker can be trained to stay in his room until a sociable hour by setting an alarm clock he can turn off before coming to see you. Put a pillowcase or cloth nappy under baby’s head in his cot so you don’t have to change the sheet after every spill or dribble. Rice bags are more comfortable than ice packs against bumps and bruises. Sew three sides of a hand towel, fill with rice, and then sew shut. Put in a plastic bag and store in the freezer. Get verges into your littlies by combining them with fruit, or by mashing them and adding them to stews or soup. Vary sandwiches by cutting them into different shapes, or dipping into beaten egg and frying. Empty yoghurt containers placed in a cardboard cup holder from a fast food outlet make a great holder for paints. To encourage your child to put sun block on his face, let him paint pictures on his skin with different colored zinc creams, then tell him to mix all the colors together. Keep up your child’s interest in painting by giving him different objects to paint with - feathers, sticks, leaves, sponges, old combs. Also give him different materials to paint on – wallpaper, bark, wood, egg cartons, shopping bag paper. Make a fascinating toy for baby by three-quarters filling an old soft drink bottle with colored water, glitter and beads. Glue on the lid. A junior toothbrush makes a great gum soother during teething, and introduces your child to the idea of brushing his new teeth. Children love their own personalized tape. Include favorite songs, including the ABC song stories; their address and phone number; numbers up to 50…. Drawstring mesh bags have a multitude of uses – to let bath toys drain, wash sand out of beach toys before going home, to separate collections of small toys like Lego and cars, and to contain baby’s booties in the washing machine so the ribbons don’t get lost. Ease hair-washing trauma by giving your child a pair of swimming goggles. Get him to look at a picture you’ve stuck to the ceiling while you rinse. The water will run down his back. As a change from your child’s books, tell him a story from your childhood, or make up your own story. He might like to add to it as you’re going along. Turn an inflatable paddling pool that has sprung a leak in the bottom (the non-inflatable part) into a sandpit. Mix novelty cereals with plain races or cornflakes – it’s cheaper and lower in sugar. Also give your child a straw as well as a spoon with his cereal, so he can suck up all the milk. Teach your child to keep his hands on the car after parking to prevent him walking into danger. He could pretend he has magnet hands that only release when you say a magic word. Get inside the playpen yourself – use it to stand inside while barbecuing to keep small hands away, or to sit in while getting on with a hobby such as sewing while Junior plays in the room around you. Encourage turn-taking by using an egg-timer or the oven timer. Soon you can ask your children what they think the fairest solution to a sharing problem would be. Teach your child his address and phone number by singing it in the tune of a familiar nursery rhyme. Tell him if someone asks him for this information, its okay to sing it to them. Freeze baby dinners in plastic microwave muffin tins. When they are frozen tip them into a plastic bag for easy storage in the freezer. Add extra fun to bath time by letting baby play with household items such as plastic bottles, a colander or a small watering can. Make a puppet out of a flannel and have the puppet wash baby. To help teach your preschooler what his name looks like and about left and right, print his first name and “left” into one shoe or gumboot, and his surname and “right” into the other. He’ll also get his shoes on the right feet. Give baby medicine by squirting it into the back of his mouth with a plastic syringe, or through a teat. Have older children numb their taste buds by sucking an ice cube before taking the medicine, and then wash it down with a drink afterwards.