A new baby has arrived! Hooray! But you still have to keep up with your housework – it’s now even more important than ever. Great then that you have all this energy, free time and flexibility to get it all done. Oh. Wait…
Now that you’re a new parent, everything, including your cleaning, has to fit around the demands of the new little person in your life. And they sure are demanding! Here are a few small but effective tips to help make your life a little easier.
Keep cleaning wipes EVERYWHERE
At this stage in your baby’s life (and for many years to come, in fact) having a packet of cleaning wipes within reach, pretty much at all times, is a must. In the kitchen and bathroom antibacterial wipes are fantastic for cleaning up at speed but most smudges, smears, dribbles and crumbs can be cleaned up with a baby wipe. They’re actually great for furniture and fabric cleaning, and obviously safe for baby too.
Invest in some tubs and buckets
For the aforementioned multitude of wipes that you’ll be getting through, you’ll need a bin for every room. The key here is to find some that are easy to rinse so you can easily throw soggy, messy bits and pieces in. Our top tip is to use the flexi-tubs with the handles that come in a range of different colours. They make excellent bins, are great for storing toys and carrying washing around AND the best part is that they’re wide enough so you don’t need to be a top netball player to throw something in from across the room.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Becoming a parent is a MASSIVE challenge, and people know that. But they don’t always know how they can help, so don’t be afraid to let them know what you need. You’ll no doubt have a whole host of friends and family coming to adore your new addition so ask them to help you out with a few things. It’s a fair trade for new-baby snuggles.
Be relaxed about mess
Learn to live with all the clutter around your home. It’s there to help you and your family, to bring you joy and help your little one to grow up happy and healthy. As long as things aren’t a health hazard then try not to worry about them too much. With a new baby, you’ll be looking at the world completely differently and things that used to be important – like how neatly your towels are folded – will seem entirely trivial.
Little and often
Don’t set massive cleaning goals or schedules that you won’t be able to stick to. Accomplish small tasks when you can. If you can set and achieve little goals – even if it’s only one each day – you’ll feel much better and much more productive. As tired as the saying “little and often” is, it definitely applies to help you keep on top of things and stop your list of cleaning tasks getting out of control.
Outsource it
We’re not suggesting that you hire us as your nanny (we don’t provide that as a service for one thing!) but we can definitely take care of your regular household cleaning. Many of our new-parent clients like us to pop in weekly and ‘reset’ their house, getting it in great shape for the week to come. You can be happy in the knowledge that the floors are cleaned and hoovered, the dishwasher is loaded, the empty packets of baby-food are in the recycling, the bathroom is spotless, the bed is made. Everything you need to feel happy and relaxed in your home, so you can focus your time and energy on your new baby (or maybe just grab a little more sleep!).
Get in touch now for a chat about how we can help.