9 Simple But Smart Dad Hacks to Ease Your Life

Experienced dads often have simple yet genius tips to share. From quick hacks to calm a crying baby to tricks for getting picky eaters to try veggies, their advice can make parenting a little easier — and a lot less stressful. Sometimes, it’s the smallest tips that make the biggest difference.

• Our daughter’s two. The TV’s sleeping. Not ’no, you can’t watch TV right now’ or ’I’m not turning it on for you’ - The TV’s sleeping. Applies to basically anything they want to have or do that you’re not willing to accommodate. © Conscious_Raisin_436 / Reddit

• The strategy that’s working well for my toddler is using “yes, and” in response to something that can’t be honored at the moment. For example, if she wants to go to the playground, but it’s not possible right now, instead of saying, “No, we can’t go,” I’ll say, “Yes, and we can go to the playground this afternoon after your nap.”
  Sometimes, she’s smart or stubborn enough to keep asking, but as long as I stick with it and suggest something else to do beforehand, she can almost always be distracted by another activity. © drcaliflax / Reddit

• At Disneyland, my daughter insisted we ride the Ferris wheel, so we hopped on. As we rose high, she had a panic attack and began sobbing. I held her close, promising we were safe, but her cries only grew louder. Then, I suddenly recalled a math trick. Leaning down, I asked, “What’s 2+2?” She replied hesitantly, “...4?” I said, “Yes! Great job. Okay, what’s 4+2?” She said, “...6?” I responded, “Correct! Okay, now what’s 6+4?”
  By the second question, she was no longer crying, and by the fifth question, she was actively engaged, working out the simple addition problems, adding single digits to each new answer. We got all the way to 72 by the time the ride was over. ©Arkayb33 / Reddit

• Senior Advisory Dad here with a small lifehack for all you first-timers out there. Today, I wanted a piece of chocolate with my coffee, but my third child, who is almost 1, woke up from her nap before I got around to making that cup of coffee. She knows very well what chocolate is, but shows zero interest in coffee cups.
  So, the solution? Put the chocolate in a cup and “sip” from it. I used this trick on my two older sons when they were younger. It doesn’t work on them anymore, but I can still fool them with Coca-Cola in a coffee mug. © turbodmurf / Reddit

• Teaching financial literacy early helps to avoid lots of internal conflicts and, as they head into the great outside world, external complications. We had success rewarding successful budget without punishing missteps (we called it “returns” instead of “allowance”) with end-of-month reasonable balanced budget receiving next month returns, and budget renegotiated quarterly. © codacoda74 / Reddit

• Here’s my Tetra Pak hack: I make an extra breather hole so that when they squeeze it, it doesn’t spray out. Immediate success—because the first thing that always happens is a little squeeze. © incendiary_bandit / Reddit

• This is probably such a given you don’t have to say it, but at least with the young ones (mine is 16 months) when they fall, before even resorting to this you have to laugh, “Haha you fell down that was so funny!” And see if they go along with it. 9 times out of 10 they are looking at you to figure out if they’re supposed to cry. © Think_Hornet_3480 / Reddit

• Protecting my kid from absent minds: Nobody ever thinks they’ll make this mistake—but with my ADHD, I’m proactive about it. We’re all fried. The day we brought him home, I left the hose running for four hours. Sometimes I’m so focused on his needs that I forget to eat.
  So, I started using a “KID IN CAR” bracelet. I wear it on my arm when we’re driving and store it on the car seat when we’re not. It gives me peace of mind. © Lessmoney_mo_probems / Reddit

• The hack I use when my kid gets a boo-boo is ’Function checks.’
  “Did you fall on your hands? We got to make sure the hands work. What about the arms? Are your legs ok? Do they bend?”
  They get so distracted that they forget to cry if it’s a minor injury. © dobbs_head / Reddit

Being a dad isn’t easy — it’s a job that demands your best every day. Teaching your kids everything you know is part of the journey. Like one dad who shared his heartfelt tips on raising his daughters to recognize and value quality men in the future, fatherhood is about shaping strong, thoughtful individuals prepared for life.