Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

When do you Hoover if you have a baby?

70 replies

Hercy · 20/05/2013 09:27

Pretty trivial, but I am just wondering when those with babies get the chance to Hoover?

I don't have any children (yet), but have an 8 month old Labrador which can make it a pain. If he's asleep I don't want to Hoover and wake him, if he's awake he's usually trying to use the Hoover as a chew toy. It's manageable enough for me because I can just shut him in the garden while I get on with it.

But how do you do it with a baby?? Can hardly shut them outside and if you did it while they were sleeping, surely you'd wake them. Do you have to wait for your partner to take the baby out for a walk, or is this just pointless to ask because you wouldn't have the time to Hoover when you have a baby?

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 20/05/2013 09:29

Oh dear

I see troubled times ahead for you Smile

You just hoover when it needs doing. The End.

spg1983 · 20/05/2013 09:30

I do it whenever I need to, my baby loves the noise (she's 11 wks old). I think it's because it's like white noise which simulates what they would've heard in the womb and it calms babies down. Weird isn't it?!

kelda · 20/05/2013 09:30

Grin my ds used to love the sound of the hoover. It would make him fall asleep.

With my girls I just left them in a bouncy chair or in the cot, where they could see me, and hoovered.

Or you can carry the baby in a sling.

I don't recommend hoovering when the baby is asleep. I recommed sleeping yourself when the baby is asleep!

saycheeeeeese · 20/05/2013 09:32

I actually can't hoover with my 20 mo in the house, She hates it and shakes with terror so I usually have to wait for DH to come home and take her into the garden.

We have tried everything to get her used to it but it really upsets her so until she is at an age of reason I just don't do it around her.

KnittedC · 20/05/2013 09:32

I hoover when the baby is asleep, as long as I start in the next room with the door shut then she doesn't notice the noise getting louder when I move into the room she's in. If anything the white noise of the hoover keeps her asleep.

Saying that I've only hoovered about 3 times since she was born and she's 11 weeks old Grin

saycheeeeeese · 20/05/2013 09:33

Also, she loved the hoover but that changed when she started crawling for some reason.

ladygagoo · 20/05/2013 09:33

I have an 8 month old baby. He loves the noise and enjoys the hoovering. The cat, on the other hand, hates it.

I would point out though that hoovering is very very far down on the list of priorities. When you have a baby don't fret about it :)

GirlWiththeLionHeart · 20/05/2013 09:34

My ds loves it when I Hoover, but he's a big white noise fan :) I do it every other day and he sits there watching very intently

DontmindifIdo · 20/05/2013 09:36

Some babies don't mind, or even like the noise, mine was the opposite. I solved this problem by buying a roomba, setting it going as we went out.

(he also has an issue with the hair dryer noise, at 3 he still tells me off when I dry my hair, some dcs are just more sensitive to noise than others, hopefully you'll get one who doesn't mind)

polkadotsrock · 20/05/2013 09:37

DS, 18 months, now hates the Hoover with a passion. I have to do it when DH is around... Though DH is in the military so this approach will cause some issues going forward!

MiaowTheCat · 20/05/2013 09:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

jacks365 · 20/05/2013 09:37

19 month old who is terrified so I hover while she sleeps. I mostly have wood floors though so not many carpets to do

Fairylea · 20/05/2013 09:38

Ermmm well I used to Hoover everyday. Then I had a baby who is absolutely terrified of the Hoover. He thinks the world is ending and can hear it even if he is asleep upstairs.

So now I have to wait till dh is around to take ds out for a very long walk..!!

Ds is now 11 months!

KatyTheCleaningLady · 20/05/2013 09:38

Hoover when the baby is crying.

Seriously. It will put them to sleep.

CandidaDoyle · 20/05/2013 09:40

When my DTDs were tiny babies the sound of the hoover would send them to sleep within about 30 seconds. Gave me the only opportunity for a hot cuppa all day!

Original poster
Hercy · 20/05/2013 09:40

I do realise this is all very trivial, and I wouldn't say I'm worried about it, more curious. I was hoovering earlier, thinking how much easier it was before we had a dog, and it made me think, if I think it's bad now, just wait til I have children!

Thank you for all the responses, it's good to know that a lot of babies don't seem to mind the noise, it seems the main issue is finding the time/energy to do it in the first place!

OP posts:
DorothyMantooth · 20/05/2013 09:40

My DD (8 weeks) doesn't pay any attention to the hoover, awake or asleep. However I can't claim to be doing any hoovering myself these days (yet another new task DH has acquired)!

Flobbadobs · 20/05/2013 09:41

Ideally you start as you mean to go on and just hoover when you need to! With DS I would take him out of the room and only vac when he was awake Confused and frankly making a very large rod for my own back. He would have a meltdown as a toddler whenever we hoovered.
Didn't do that again, with his sisters we would just get it out and get done as and when needed!
The white noise thing is weird, what is it about that type of noise that soothes babies?? It's the same with the washer, DD2 sits at the kitchen gate and sings along with the spin cycle!

CalamityKate · 20/05/2013 09:41

I've got a mental image of a newborn scampering about on all fours chasing the Hoover.... Grin

I just did it when it needed doing really. I probably started off doing it while the baby was awake but it really does tend to send them to sleep and within a week or so you find that you can turn it on during a nap and they won't stir.

perplexedpirate · 20/05/2013 09:41

As rarely as possible, just like before I had a baby. Wink

valiumredhead · 20/05/2013 09:42

I just hoovered every day (those were the days!)

PaleHousewifeOfCumbriaCounty · 20/05/2013 09:42

Yea mine falls flat out to the sound of Hettie within a few mins. Don't worry, all will be fine!

TigerSwallowTail · 20/05/2013 09:47

Stick them in their bouncer and Hoover when you need to.

Katnisscupcake · 20/05/2013 09:49

Simple answer, whenever you need to.

My DSis had an obsession with hoovering when she was PG with her DS1. She would hoover 4 or 5 times a day (crazy) and once he was born, she continued to do that. It was the one thing that was guaranteed to make him sleep, afterall, he'd heard it from when she was PG with him so it was a sound he was used to, albeit it was slightly more muffled then... Smile

anastaisia · 20/05/2013 09:51

ClamityKate - my baby (nearly 5 months) now likes me to hoover the floor while she's on it and chase the hoover round by rolling over.

Generally though I throw her up on my back in a sling to hoover and do housework that doesn't involve a lot of up and down actions (like picking up the big girl's toys with her). That's much harder than hoovering OP!