Genius Ideas from TikTok Every Parent Should Try

If anything good came from the pandemic, it was the introduction of TikTok. What started out as an unassuming app filled with teen dancing videos has now become one of the most influential digital resources out there.

Open up TikTok and you’ll find hundreds of videos on any given topic, featuring a breadth of knowledge — from everyday folks to experts. Parenting videos are no exception. We sorted through the masses and discovered some useful TikTok parenting tips and hacks guaranteed to make your life easier. 

1. Gentle parenting is one of the latest parenting trends, and while it’s a good thing, it doesn’t mean it comes without challenges. Mom Rachel Gibbs (@rachonlife) posed the question about how to be a gentle parent when your kid is biting, hitting or otherwise acting out. The answer: Teach them the words “pretend” and “gentle.” 
2. Many parents struggle to feed picky toddlers healthy meals. Instead of pressuring kids to clean their plates or force-feeding them, Elena (@peds_slp), a speech therapist, has a few suggestions to alleviate the struggle, starting with naming the foods on the plate and only including a few new foods at a time.
3. Struggling with potty training? Michelle Park (@michellewpark) has a quick hack to give your kiddos more motivation to use the potty. Put a couple of drops of blue food coloring into the toilet, when the child goes potty, it will turn green.
4. Expectant parents are often bombarded with unsolicited advice about what to do and what not to do with the baby. While it’s hard to parse out what’s useful and what isn’t, Lauren the Mortician (@lovee.miss.lauren) has some of the best content around when it comes to infant and child safety.
5. It’s so hard to get anything done around the house and keep the kids entertained. That’s why when we stumbled across Abby Franco’s (@abbyfranco6) suggestion is to place little ones in a cardboard box with crayons, we started fishing through our recycling bin immediately.
6. This diaper-changing hack from Taking Cara Babies (@takingcarababies) is one we wish we had known sooner — you can use your baby’s onesie to secure their arms while changing. No more wiggly diaper changes.
7. Destiny Ann (@destini.ann) has a funny and super helpful positive parenting response for when your kid is at “max level spicy”. She explains to her kiddo “your message is getting lost in your mess” and she gives a great real-life example of how parents can use that response.
8. Struggling to get your kid to tell you about their day at school? Instead of asking how the day was or what they did, Zac (@I4coach) recommends asking a low-pressure, open-ended question. If kids still don’t want to chat, let them decompress and try again later.
9. Now that school is back in session, we found this great hack from June & Ivory Boutique (@juneandivory) to keep your kids’ clothes organized. Take some clear organization bins, label them by the days of the week and put a full outfit in each one. No more scrambling to get the kids dressed in the mornings.
10. How do you validate your child's feelings while maintaining a boundary? Lisa J-Francois (consciouslylisa_) suggests asking "How can we move forward?"