Babies and Cleaning (Spoiler: handling the two isn’t easy)

26th Apr 2018 2 min read
Category: Cleaning | Housekeeping Tips | Lifestyle | Living | Misc — Tags: cleaning with a newborn, cleaning with kids, housekeeping routine

So you know by now that I have three children (three boys to be exact) and they are 11,9 and 2. They are no longer babies but they were all babies once!

You also know that I created The Organised Mum Method when my first child was born when I suddenly realised that my whole routine and home had gone to shit with the arrival of a child. Who knew?!

So TOMM was born out of the chaos of having a newborn. Here is how I handled the house when I had babies.

  • Firstly I want to say this … the days might seem long but the years are short … and this is so true. When you are in the middle of the 4-month sleep regression or potty training, things might seem like you are going to be stuck in this stage forever. But you won’t be. I know it is really hard (especially when your baby has just thrown their lovingly made Annabel Karmel spaghetti bolognese all over the clean kitchen floor) but really try your hardest to keep this stage of your life in perspective.
  • DO WHAT YOU CAN.
  • DO THE BASICS.
  • KEEP YOUR HOME TICKING OVER.
  • THIS IS GOOD ENOUGH.
  • Do not put too much pressure on yourself to have a home that looks like it has come out of the Boden catalogue (do the young ‘uns wear Boden these days?! I have no clue  … I’m old!) Breathe and focus on the fact that having mess around when you have kids is NORMAL! Anyone who tells you otherwise needs their bumps feeling.
  • There is a huge difference between dirty (as in oh my God this house is a health risk) and untidy … the two are not the same. Just becuase you have some towels on the bathroom floor doesn’t mean you have a dirty loo.

OK so now we have got that out of the way let’s look at some of the ways that you can keep on top of it all, without losing your mind!

  • If you are following The Organised Mum Method and you have a newborn then just stick with the level one jobs until you feel as though you can manage more. These take approx 15 mins a day. If you can’t even do that then don’t worry. Let your body heal, get as much rest and help as you can and when you feel fit enough you can start.
  • If anything feels like it is too much … stop … as long you are fed, clothed and happy this is the most important part. The rest will follow when the time is right.
  • If you feel as though you want to move on to do your 30 min clean in that day’s designated room then you might like to split it up into 2 x 15 min chunks or even 3 x 10 min chunks.
  • If you like a sling and your baby settles in one then these are the perfect way to multi-task.
  • The best thing about TOMM is that if you have been following it for a while then the house is not going to go to wrack and ruin if you take some time out. Just breathe and know that TOMM has your back and enjoy your baby.

Do your best … it is all you can do ?

Back