Last week, we asked you to submit your top parenting tips to be in with a chance of winning a bundle for your little bundle of joy! We’ve had great fun reading through your top tips, and a lucky 30 mums and dads have each won a fantastic £30 voucher to spend at Clothing at Tesco. We asked parents to share their pearls of wisdom with us on Twitter and Facebook, and below you can find the first instalment of our top tips and tricks, covering all aspects of parenthood.
We’re sorry we couldn’t reward all the fabulous ideas that were submitted, but thank you for entering. Some of you submitted very similar tips – great minds think alike, after all! – but we could only pick just one winner in these cases. Also, as we have so many winning tips, we’ve had to spread them over two posts – so stay tuned as we reveal the second batch of brilliant tips tomorrow!
Remember, you can still get 20% off all baby and toddler clothing online until this Wednesday, 6th April. If you weren’t a winner this time, there are plenty of Facebook exclusives planned over the next few weeks, so make sure you’re a fan of our page and watch this space!
Carol, Elizabeth and Sarah had some great tips on getting your little one off to sleep:
“Catch up on your own sleep while your baby naps – housework can wait.”
Carol Mear
“To get baby to sleep well at night put something that smells of mummy in the cot with baby.”
Elizabeth Kerr
“Smoother slumber for twins and multiples: I had twins 13 months ago and the one thing I’m praised for by others is the girls sleeping routine. They sleep from 7pm – 8am every day. My helpful tips are: create consistency, follow the same pattern night after night at the same time if possible – bath, milk, brush teeth, kisses, hugs then lights out. This approach is good at naptime too, I find if my twins have a consistent nap schedule they sleep better during the night too.”
Sarah Watt
Victoria, Kushla, Kelly and Vanessa shared their ideas for helping your children start talking:
“Use a 3 word vocabulary to talk to babies, for example – ball= red, soft, round ball. My kids are great at writing stories as their vocabulary is fantastic. This helps them descriptions, as it’s not just a ball.”
Victoria Dodd
“Talk to your baby all the time, even when you’re pushing him along the road on your own. Chat about what you can see, about anything. You will look like a loon, but he’ll be learning. Trouble is, I did this with my son and now the tables are turned: he never stops talking to me now!”
Kushla Pope
“To help with speech, when offering you baby something, e.g. Milk, instead of just saying do you want some milk and showing it to them offer them milk or juice and show them each of the items as you say the word, even if at first they only point to the one they want make a point of saying that’s milk or that’s juice. Done this with my son from a young age and when he was just over 2 years old his nursery teacher, other parents, doctors etc. all commented on how impeccable his speech was for his age, more like a 3 year olds.”
Kelly Searle
“Communicating and listening to your child’s needs & setting time aside to talk are crucial. It will boost their confidence!”
Vanessa Cox
Hazel, Amanda and Jadie had lovely ideas for making memories:
“Keep a diary of all the funny things your little one has said and done, places you have been to and shared together. It’s really beautiful to look back on.”
Hazel Anna Rigazio
“When uploading pictures or printing them off write the age of your little one on the back or in the file name as in 5 years time you will find it hard to figure out the difference between 6, 9 & 18 months, maybe even between age 1 & 2, it seems hard to believe but it does happen!!!!”
Amanda Chittenden
“My best baby tip is to start a diary, write down things such as new foods eaten, nap times, milk intake, new words, milestones. It will come in handy for SO many reasons, especially if your baby gets poorly. And is great for tracking development. It will also be an amazing thing to look back at and show your child when their older :)”
Jadie Harrington
Lots of mums had brilliant advice on getting the most out of playtime:
“Encourage your kids to read from an early age, you’ll have great fun reading together and it’ll stay with them forever.”
Sharon Hingley
“Save cardboard boxes they make great entertainment, can be turned into dolls houses, a bus or even a boat!”
Emily McMillan
“SING! Babies can’t cry AND listen. So when little one is overtired, and crying non-stop, just sing. Pop songs, classics, advert tunes whatever you fancy.”
Joanna Monger
“Good way to keep babies quiet and get yourself fit at the same time, get a peddle bike and put a baby seat on it and you can ride for miles and keep fit at the same time! Also take the dog too! Saves on fuel too!! For shopping and passing time!!”
Celia Souto
“Libraries often have ‘baby rhyme time’ where parents and their babies sing songs for 20 minutes or so weekly. It is good for babies and you can stay behind to read books together as babies love books even at an early age. Also mum/dad gets to make new friends which is always a bonus when you have a new baby.”
Sarah Jess
“To keep baby amused whilst food shopping (at Tesco!), loop a large piece of ribbon through a couple of favourite rattles and tie to the trolley handles. Baby can pick n choose which ones to play with, without fear of them dropping!”
Jackie Petty Jones
“Dads, If mum is breastfeeding, don’t feel left out. There is still lots you can do with baby. Show baby off by going for a nice walk. Bonding over playtime is great too, and if you’re lucky you may even get your little ones first smile!”
Sassysare
Don’t forget to check back tomorrow as we reveal Part 2 of our best baby tips!
