TILTHW- Tiny Diner Placemat

Things I learned the hard way- Consider purchasing a rubber placemat to keep in the diaper bag for travel or restaurants.  I really like the Kiddopotamus Tiny Diner placemat.  It has suction cups on the bottom which work very well on flat smooth tables.  They aren’t as great on tablecloths or wood grain surfaces, but they don’t have to attach to use the placemat.  It also has a small trough to catch dropped food that is soft and flexible enough to seat your child very close to the table.

TILTHW- Quick clean-up

Things I Learned The Hard Way- Consider getting plastic bins, baskets or buckets to use while cleaning.  Keep one with cleaning products (carpet cleaner and a cloth for spit up stains, dust cloth, paper towels, glass cleaner, etc).  Take your cleaning basket and an empty bin or basket with you to the first room, pick up everything that doesn’t belong in that room and put it in the empty basket (some of us need large laundry baskets for this).  Finish cleaning the room, then move to the second room.  Take everything out of the catch-all basket that belongs in room #2 and put it away.  Pick up everything in room #2 that doesn’t belong there and place it in the basket.  Complete cleaning room #2 and move on.  This saves valuable time moving from room to room putting things away.  It is also easy if you get interrupted, to put the baskets up out of your child’s reach or in a closet until you can get back to them.

TILTHW- Lost socks

Things I Learned The Hard Way- Pin socks, mittens, and other small items together with diaper pins or safety pins as soon as you take them off your child.  Tiny socks are easily lost in the wash and you won’t have to sort through an entire load to find a match, or have one get stuck inside a sleeper and get lost.  You can also pin outfits together, but pin them through the tags so you don’t snag the fabric.