Entertainment

10 Parenting Tips From Adam & Danielle Busby That Will Help Any Family Of Any Size

by Casey Suglia

Being the parents to multiple children (especially when they are the same age) can be a little tricky, but parents Adam and Danielle Busby, aka the stars of TLC's OutDaughtered make it look easy. As the parents to the nation's only set of female quintuplets and an older daughter, the Busbys know a thing or two about multitasking. This is why these parenting tips from Adam and Danielle Busby are pretty novel — and tips that all parents can learn from.

Sure, the Busbys might not be seasoned parents (their kids just entered the second grade and pre-kindergarten), but they have plenty of experience under their belts. It is impossible for them not to when they have had to change five dirty diapers, feed seven mouths, and deal with five crying babies at once. After the Busby quints were born in 2015, according to NBC News, Adam and Danielle have done nothing but be devoted to raising their six kids — 7-year-old Blayke, and 3-year-olds Olivia, Ava, Hazel, Parker, and Riley, according to Country Living.

But you don't have to be parents to multiples, like the Busbys, to take their parenting advice. Their tips to staying sane while raising kids are tips that any person could take — regardless of whether or not they have an super popular show on TLC — or just have one kid of their own.

1. Develop A Schedule

In addition to their TV show, Danielle and Adam have a blog, called It's A Buzz World, where they continue to document their kid's lives and their lives as parents. It's on this blog where the Busby's share their tips for parenting — and their biggest tip for parents is to develop a schedule.

Danielle wrote that developing a schedule with Blayke saved her life — it led her daughter to sleeping through the night at 10 weeks old. "Getting on some sort of schedule for feeding and sleeping was key to having such a content baby," Danielle wrote. "But also what was more important was Adam and I knew Blayke...we knew what she needed and it was never a guessing game of 'why is she crying'."

Developing a schedule also worked when it came time to bringing the quints home and she also had them sleeping through the night early on. In order to do this with so many babies, Danielle created a chart to track when and how her babies needed to be fed, changed, and played with. And the schedule continues to evolve as they get older — it helps her find some quiet time every single day.

"When you have five two year olds running the house and in their 'terrible twos' our schedule lets me know exactly when it will be quiet...quiet is sanity in my book nowadays," Danielle wrote.

2. Stick With Favorite Products

Trying new products can be a big waste of time and money for parents — especially when their kids don't take well to them. Danielle's tip? Find brands that work well for your family and avoid the ones that don't. Her favorite diapers are Huggies during the day and Pampers at night, according to It's A Buzz World.

3. Find A Few Favorite (& Easy) Recipes & Use Them

After a long day of work and tending to kids, it can be hard for parents to find the motivation to cook. But Danielle has a life hack for this — find a few easy recipes to add into your cooking rotation that both parents and the kids love and stick with them. Things that can be cooked in a crock pot (which allows for parents to not fuss with cooking for hours) or foods that mask the taste of vegetables are some of Danielle's favorite to cook for her six kids.

I mean, who wouldn't love Danielle's delicious sounding, simple recipe for crock pot chicken tacos?

4. Make Some Time For "Me Time"

Fitness is something that is very important to Adam and Danielle. "Working out is such a stress reliever and makes me feel happier," Danielle told FitPregnancy. And because it makes her so happy, Danielle told TLC that she finds some time every week to do workouts at home.

This accomplishes two things — it helps Danielle stay active and in shape while allowing her to take some time for herself and do what makes her feel good. Parents can do this exact same thing — whether it's taking the time to paint their nails or watch their favorite Netflix show.

5. Focus On "Tomorrow"

In an interview with Style Blueprint, Danielle revealed that being a parent to multiples is very hard. But the one thing that got her through it in the beginning was focusing on the sunny days ahead.

"There is always tomorrow," Danielle said. "It's gonna be challenging, but there is the start of tomorrow, and you will get through it."

6. Set A Goal As A Family

In a recent blog post, Danielle revealed that at the beginning of this year, she and Adam set a goal for their family — to focus on joy and their happiness. Danielle wrote:

What that really meant was that we had to look at our life and pinpoint what our days were filled with. To our careers and work, to our time with our kids, to our church, to our finance, to our struggles and to our goals. We had to ask ourselves, where was the joy in all these things and what had to be changed to better see God's beauty.

7. Slow Down

By focusing on the things that were important to them, Danielle wrote in the same blog post that she and Adam were able to find out that they needed to take some time to "slow down" — which is a lesson that other parents can follow.

"Sometimes dealing hurry is as simple as deciding to slow down," Danielle wrote. "Sometimes it means editing our schedules and removing half of our responsibilities."

8. Find The Time For Each Other...

In an interview with USA Today this past July, Danielle said that it's important for them to still make time for each other once a week at the end of the day. Danielle said:

Most Fridays or Saturdays, one of them is date night for us and one of them is family night. We found that we need to be out of the house to catch up and not get distracted. We enjoy each other and love each other and want to hang out, we just have to plan it.

9. While Making Each Kid Feel Special

But as much as Adam and Danielle take some time for themselves, they are learning to take the time to make each of their six kids feel loved and special, according to USA Today.

"That's something that really, we're trying to figure out and try new things," Adam told USA Today

10. & At The End Of The Day, Take Some Time To Smile

Although it isn't easy raising kids, there is always a reason to put on a happy face — at least, that's what Adam told FitPregnancy.

"Smile and go with it," Adam said.

Even if every day of raising kids is hard and makes some parents want to sit down and cry in exasperation, there is always a reason to smile and just go with the flow. The Busby's parenting tips prove that.