Former EastEnders actor Joe Swash exclusively revealed to OK! his top three parenting tips, but perhaps the most interesting one draws from a time when the 41-year-old lost track of his kids.
Joe, who shares a beautiful blended family with wife Stacey Solomon, including four-month-old Belle, Rose, one, Rex, four, Leighton, 11, Harry, 15, and Zachary, 15, laughed as he revealed that he's learned the hard way about making sure he keeps track of all the children.
But as he laughed, the star admitted that although he was worried about losing them, he was more scared to tell Stacey about it.
He said: "Always keep an eye on the kids, never let them out your sight. I've lost them a few times and it's horrible.
"But I don't know whether I'm more panicked about losing the kids or telling Stacey. If you've got lots of kids, just remember that you have lots of kids."
His other advice for parenthood he told OK! is all about "consistency." Something he was happy to admit wasn't his strong point to start with, but now knows how important it is.
He continued: "I struggled with this at the beginning. For instance, if one of the kids are being naughty, Stacey will give me the look as if to say, you've got to tell them off for that, you can't let him get away with that.
"So I'll tell them off but then I'd go back in five minutes and give them a little bit of chocolate and a kiss and a cuddle to tell them I'm sorry. Now, that's not consistent. You've got to stay consistent with kids."
And finally, his other top tip is definitely a messy one and not for the faint-hearted as it includes a strange game called 'lucky dip'.
In his usual joking manner, Joe imparted his wisdom on what to do when it comes to changing nappies.
He explained: "The lucky dip is when you get caught in this no man's land and you're not quite sure whether your baby's had a poo or if your baby's had a wee, and you don't want to take all their clothes off.
"What I like to do is just pop my finger in the back and pop it out again and then it's a lucky dip. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."
Our exclusive interview follows Joe's recent documentary, Joe Swash: Teens in Care, which allowed the actor and presenter to open up about his family connection to the care system, and revealed that his mum Kiffy has been a foster carer for over 15 years.
In the show, he speaks to teens across the UK who live in foster care and residential children's homes – admitting that the experience was tough and reminded him of his own children. It also gives Joe the experience of the work foster carers and frontline workers do first hand as he aims to show what growing up as a teenager in care is really like.
Joe Swash: Teens in Care airs on Tuesday 11th July at 9pm on BBC One.
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