From pregnancy and managing ‘two under two’, to raising teenagers and talking about online safety, parents of all ages are finding community on TikTok.
With the launch of the #ParentsofTikTok (which has racked up some 47.5B views) campaign in October until January, developed to celebrate, support and spotlight this community, it’s easy to see how the unfiltered experiences of parenting – regardless of style – can all complement and inform each other.
If you are looking for more support and advice, here are some of the TikTok parenting hacks to take into the new year…
Celebrate developmental wins
CBeebies presenter Nigel Clarke, who regularly shares his experiences of the parent juggle, believes parents need to celebrate even the smallest developmental steps in their babies and toddlers.
He shared a heart-warming clip to TikTok of his son saying “Dada” for the first time, demonstrating the benefits of him as a parent celebrating the moment, and the impact it has on his child, while explaining: “It’s important for their development, for them to understand and explore more.
“Us celebrating what he was doing pushed him down an exploration route. It pushed him down a thought route. It pushed him down a development route,” Clarke continues.
Doing this on all sorts of levels, whether it’s when your child has put a shape into a hole or has taken their first step, celebrating these moments is key.
Cut the tip off your dummies
For parents who are trying to stop their children from sucking dummies, in fear that it could impede on their speech or become a crutch they struggle to let go of, this hack could be just what you need.
Louise Thompson, who talks about her complex PTSD and postnatal depression since having her son at the end of 2021, and all things mental health and motherhood, explained how she stopped her child from sucking a dummy in one day.
After you chop off the tip, when your child signals that they would want to suck on their dummy, you give it to them. After some time, they will eventually realise that it is “broken”.
For Thompson, when her child did this and realised the dummy wasn’t working properly, she carried him over to a bin and encouraged him to throw it away himself. He knew where it was and what the function of a bin was, therefore, helping them banish dummies in their home.
Bring your child to open days
Chef Martyn (@Lagomchef) already inspires the TikTok cooking community to try their hand in the kitchen. And he has recently started sharing videos of cooking with his son, which has shown how much fun and manic cooking with kids can be.
In one particular video, he talks about looking for a new primary school for his son to join in the new year and why he felt it was important to bring him along, after noticing most parents coming without their toddlers.
“If we walked in ourselves and looked at it, we wouldn’t know how he would feel,” Martyn explains. “So we bring him to every open day.
“Invest your energy in your child and let your child guide what they want to do in the early parts of their life, because they know what they want to do.”
Create screen time tokens
It’s no secret that screen time addiction is on the rise, and Nanny Amies, who provides parenting support on TikTok, agrees – and has even made a series about it.
In one of her videos, she explains why parents shouldn’t be afraid to put boundaries in place, especially if their child is currently having large amounts of screen time.
For this hack, all you need are some metal hooks with command strips that can easily be put up on a wall, and some ID key rings, where various times can be written. For example, the blue could be five minutes and the yellow might be two minutes.
Amies goes on to explain that you would need to create a list of day-to-day tasks, which will earn a certain amount of minutes for the screen. It’s all about teaching your child that screen time is a privilege and sometimes other activities take precedence.
