How to have a clean/ tidy house with baby and toddler?

[Whenisitmysleepytime]

how do you do it?
How can I do it?

I can't ever get round to hoovering or dusting. There's always stuff that needs putting away. My house is hardly ever clean or tidy at once.

Parts are ok at times. I can keep on top of washing- just. I have a plan for the kitchen so that's mostly ok but the rest is not great.

Talk me through it please.
Ds (2.5 yo) is at nursery 2 days while I'm on may level till January. Dd is 5mo.

Heeeelp!

[ilovedjasondonovan]

Close your eyes and wait another 3 years until baby is off to nursery. having just reached that point myself I'm going to start cleaning the house I've let slip over the past 5 years.

Otherwise, get a cleaner.

[AutumnHues]

When it comes to toys all over the floor I have started to leave it till bed time, then tidy up. unless they become a trip hazard, then you would have to do them as and when you can fit it in.

[Beamur]

It's not possible.
Just do enough to keep the germs at bay.

[FlyingPirates]

Cant reply now as no time but in short, systems systems systems!!

Make sure beds are done before you go downstairs, take the (small cloth pop up) hamper downstairs with you, serve breakfast and throw the washing on while they eat. Upstairs is now essentially 'done' as the toys were tidied at bedtime, bathrooms were wiped over while they had a bath (do you have one of those bath seats that the baby can sit in while you supervise?).

When the baby sleeps, whip around doing a general tidy, do the dishes etc.

Do the ironing when the toddler is in nursery while the baby is on a blanket in front of you rolling around with toys.

Pop the baby in the cot with a few toys and whip the vacuum round on nursery days as well.

30 mins tv time after lunch for both while you do a quick tidy of the mornings activities. You can do this if they both nap, but once the toddler stops napping, it is good to still introduce a small quiet time after lunch to replace the nap. It allows everyone to recharge and make arsenic hour that much more bearable.


Am just marking my place and will come back tomorrow with more info if you want!

[Firawla]

get their dad or someone to take them out for couple of hours on the weekend and use the time to do as much cleaning as you can, as it will be done quicker then than with kids under your feet during the week, then if you've done a good thorough clean on the weekend, you can get away with only doing the every day essential wiping down, sweeping, dishes and laundry during the week, and iron stuff as you need it.
although saying that, my house is a tip and i am gonna get a cleaner cos im sick of it!
but i would have thought you can get quite a bit done while your dd1 is in nursery though, unless your dd2 is the doesnt want to be put down type in which case maybe a sling will help? (not sure, mine never like slings much but people say its good for doing housework)

[BuckBuckMcFate]

I second getting a few hours childfree at the weekend. I can get done what takes a whole week with the dc in the time without them.

Have a basket at the bottom of the stairs to put the stuff that needs to go upstairs in.

Do you bath them together? If not, give the bathroom a quick wipe round while your 2 year old is in there. Not doable with a 5 month old though.

Race your 2 year old into putting things away. Give them a duster. Let them use the dust pan and brush.

Learn to do everything one handed!

My youngest is 10 months old now and it's much easier to get stuff done than it was when he was 5 months old and a Velcro baby.

[Whenisitmysleepytime]

Cheers all!
I thunk part of the problem is we're not very good at putting stuff back in it's proper place.
Dd is in that awkward phase of too heavy for sling (weight of a 9mo) and can only roll onto tummy then gets stuck and cross. So leaving her for housework is hard and sling does my back in now if I try to do anything other than walk in it.
Ds is a typical toddler - disrupting order wherever he goes.

I do get dh to take them at weekends but I feel our weekend time is precious and I don't like missing them habit fun while I clean. Doesn't seem fair somehow...

A cleaner would be fab but there is no money for that.

Tell me more about getting stuff done with dc about. :)

[stofstg]

hoovering is biggest problem i find when it comes to housework with little ones around. I mean you can't do it when they are around and you can't do when they are asleep. The only way is get a lot of the housework done when the OH is at home so he can keep an eye on them. Otherwise when i'm in the same room as them like when they are eating in the kitchen, watching cbeebies, or in the bath i'll give those rooms a quick tidy and clean.

[Conundrumish]

Are you sure you can't hoover when they are asleep stofstg? I have found I can hoover next to their beds once they are asleep - the white noise doesn't seem to disturb them.

[stofstg]

na pinkpanettone, i find it impossible because they always wake up. Yours must sleep like logs if you can hoover next to their beds. On my side if i hoover in the next room i end up waking them up...

[Makeminealarge]

I would stick to the bare minimum if its possible. Tidy the kids toys when they are in bed. I do the dishes whilst the kids fav tv show is on, gives me twenty mins in the morn and afternoon to do kitchen briefly. Washing goes on first thing in the morn so have rest of day when i have a moment when kids are preoccupied or sleeping to dry/iron/put away. To be honest i only iron the bare essentials and usually this can be done when kids are in bed. i give each room a 'deep clean' once a week and have kids with/near me. for example, kids bedroom I put them in their cot and tidy up/put their clothes away/hoover etc. Bathroom gets a quick bleach and wipe over when kids in bath. Just even doing a little each day helps to keep on top. With kids no one expects a show home. Storage is an issue in my home, i tend to do one room at a time and rope DH to help where possible. I also have to de-clutter once a month. its not easy but somehow you find your own routine. :)

[LakeFlyPie]

Not sure I'm qualified to advise as my house is a bit of a messy tip, although just about clean.

I prioritise hygiene over tidiness so kitchen, toilet and bathroom get cleaned / wiped down daily and whilst DP bathes children in the evening I have a manic multi tasking half of hour of cooking our evening meal, dusting, hoovering and putting away laundry (we don't iron except the very occasional shirt or linen item).

I have picked up a couple of tips from the Fly baby steps threads linked on here too which has helped if only to give an illusion of tidiness e.g. kitchen sink is always sparkling and wiped down and draining board clear of dishes etc.

I think a few hours of a cleaner weekly or even fortnightly would make a huge difference but that's not viable financially ATM although when I go back to work in a few months it may become both possible and necessary.

[Oxfordblueberry]

I think it's certainly possible if it's something you really care about, but so long as your house is hygienic and clean it's just choice I think. We have 2 girls (13 and 10) and 1 boy - 8 plus a dog although she doesn't shed.
DD 1 and 2 are slightly obsessed with being organised for some reason, so all 3 kids have jobs to do for money e.g. DS empties all the laundry baskets in the utility room, DD2 has to organise the bookshelf, DD does the ironing (saves me the trouble) They all have to walk the dog. Siblings are quite competitive, so if you make it into a 'tidy room competition', they are more than likely to keep it tidy but probs only works with older kids. We get the cleaners in once or twice every couple of months to do a proper deep clean, and do a big declutter of old furniture, toys, books once or twice a year. But that said they are quite willing to do it and they are a bit older.