I have a confession.

I let my daughter watch television.

I know, I know. The American Academy of Pediatrics says she shouldn’t have any screen time for many more months, but the AAP doesn’t have to entertain my incredibly active, incredibly inquisitive 10-month-old.

We’re not watching all day — just pieces of shows on PBS (obviously “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” is one).

I’ll let you mom-shame me another time. (Just kidding — I know you wouldn’t do that. You’re my friends, after all.) For now, let’s talk about what I’ve gotten out of our TV time.

We recently started watching Toddler Tunes on Music Choice, and I’m using “watching” very loosely. The channel is essentially children’s songs playing 24/7, paired with pics of cute babies and random facts. It’s nothing that would catch a child’s attention (pretty much background noise), but I’ve been captivated.

I’ve gleaned more parenting hacks from Music Choice than I did from the dozens of books I read while I was pregnant — and now I’m gonna share them with you.

You’re welcome.

MC: Medicine is important. If your child is giving you a hard time about the taste, try refrigerating it. The cold can help mask the taste. 

I tried this, and it actually works. Baby Bird HATED her liquid multivitamin and would use an array of blocking maneuvers to avoid taking it. But she hasn’t given me a hard time since I started keeping it in the fridge.

Music Choice: Babe Ruth kept a cabbage leaf under his cap to keep cool.

I thought someone was joking with this one, but apparently, it’s true. I can’t tell you why it’s included among the Toddler Tunes facts, but don’t be shocked if you see a cabbage-covered head in my Instagram feed this summer. She won’t wear a hat, so I’ve gotta do something.

MC: Giving eye drops? Here’s the trick! Get your child to close her eyes. Place a drop on the inner corner of the eye. Once she opens it, (the drop) will fall right in.

This makes perfect sense, and it’s not something I would’ve thought to try. This tip will even come in handy when Mr. T needs to use Visine. (He’s squeamish about things getting near his eyes. Men …)

MC: Speed up the process of middle-of-the-night diaper changes by pre-filling fresh diapers with ointment.

Why didn’t I think of this when Baby Bird was a newborn? This would have saved me SOOO many unintentional wakeups!

MC: Need baby to simmer down? Try running the fan and faucet in the bathroom. Low, droning sounds like that help calm things down a tad. 

This absolutely works. Baby Bird was colicky, and I had to use this method for months to get her to go to sleep. The trick still works: She’s often in the bathroom while I shower, and she’s always calmer when we leave.

MC: When babies start teething, let them gnaw on celery sticks. This trick works for adults with dental pain, too!

As long as your baby doesn’t have any teeth to bite a piece off, this seems like an awesome alternative to a plastic teether. Healthy and inexpensive. Sounds like a winner to me.

MC: Don’t feel embarrassed if your kid throws a tantrum in public. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad parent. Your kid matters more than the opinions of strangers. 

Amen, Music Choice. Amen.