To ask what your routine for housework is as a sahm with a toddler

[GilbertMarkham]

Mostly due to covid I am.currently a sahm to a toddler (turning three soon); what is your routine so you're not stuck doing bits and pieces of housework, along with meals, all day and have time to do some constructive play, activities etc with your toddler.

I feel like my little one spends a lot of the day watching TV and playing by herself (obviously not good) while I'm vacuuming, putting on washing, washing dishes (no dishwasher), making food etc.

(She will try to do a bit of washing up occasionally but loses interest very quickly, same with loading washing machine, and has developed an aversion to the hoover).

Do you do it all in the morning, or wait til they're in bed?
Mine is a not easy to get off to sleep and is a poor sleeper to boot so housework isnt appealing at 8/9.

(8/9pm obviously).

I follow the organised mum method. Really helped me out so much.

DH takes over the toddler at 5pm and I go and do a bit of housework. Tidying downstairs and filling the dishwasher is done by whoever isn't putting DS to bed. Hoovering gets done at weekends, same with bed change and bathrooms.

I don't do much during the day. DS is almost 2 and needs constant supervision and wants to be out walking for hours and hours a day.

Mine are 4 & 2. While schools were closed my house fell into an awful state, I mainly did it when they were asleep (both were asleep by 8 at the latest though), or at the weekend DH or I would take them out and the other would blitz the place. DH and I share the evening chores evenly, but we really felt like we were never endingly cooking/cleaning/wiping/hoovering etc.

Now that the big one is at school I do it while the 2 year old naps, but I imagine your little one doesn’t nap at 3? I wouldn’t feel guilty about getting a bit done while they play independently. As long as you’re spending some quality time with them during the day then a little bit of housework while they are occupied is fine and necessary.

2 year old and six month old baby here. House is slowly crumbling under the weight of dust and crusted on food that I haven’t managed to wipe up. No help to you on the cleaning advice but try to cut yourself some slack about your DD watching TV and playing by herself. Being able to play independently is a really positive thing and not something to feel bad about!

I am kind of resigned to my house being a shit tip until my kids are at school and therefore slightly fewer hours at home to destroy it. Hope someone is able to give you some constructive housework advice.

Another fan of
The Organised Mum method here

I'm an organised mum method follower too. She's ace.

You'll probably spend an hour max a day cleaning?

Check out her website. She's got downloadable stuff and an app. Perfect.

Some of it I did when DS was asleep (like cleaning windows - no point when he's still running around smearing yoghurt on the conservtory windows 🙈) but most of it I did whilst he was in the room with me.

I'm not a SAHM but I've recently returned to work after maternity leave so now working full time. Which is kind of similar really.

I do the majority of things in the evenings once DS is asleep or in the morning before work (but normally don't have much time before we all need to be out the door). I'm happy to let pots pile up next to the sink until after he's in bed. I'm also not too fussed if there are toys on the floor if he's been playing before we set off for the childminder in the morning.

I also batch cook so I'm only cooking every other night.

I try to do a little bit all the time. Even down to giving the shower a quick wipe while I'm in there.

Big jobs are normally reserved for the weekend but generally, at the weekend there isn't much that needs doing. It does really help that we have a robot vacuum. If I didn't have that I'd probably only vacuum once a week at the weekend. We also get a grocery delivery, which saves a lot of time.

The other big help is that I have a DH who pulls his weight and does as much as me. I keep saying 'I do this' and 'I do that' but we share the chores.

I'm sahm to a 2.5 year old and can do the regular stuff like washing up, tidying the kitchen and dusting with her around. Only our lounge has carpet downstairs and I just hoover that when it looks bitty, maybe every other day (upstairs a lot less often!). Mopping gets done when she's in bed else she runs in and slips. Ironing I can do if she's engrossed in TV or a film with her brother. In the mornings DH and DS empty previous day's dishes and pop in the breakfast stuff which helps me so I'm not faced with it after the school run. I don't really spend long dusting downstairs so she doesn't seem bothered. The only thing o really have to occupy her with is when I do the bathrooms on a Friday. I'm afraid I usually employ a good dose of Bing or Blippi which she watches sat in my bed whilst I clean.

Also follow the Organised Mum Method here. SAHM of 4, 2 home during the day and my house has never looked better following this method. I love it.

Could you have some special kitchen toys that only come out in the kitchen while you clean? I used to have one cupboard that DS had access to full of Tupperware type stuff and safe things he could mess with. He also had an aversion to the Hoover and would get hysterical and I hated not being able to hoover so we bought a mini cordless thing so I could just get the worst bits and he wasn't scared of that. I'd then do a proper hoover at the weekend when DH was around to watch him.

Nearly two year old here.

Up 6ish. Breakfast 7ish in kitchen, I eat mine quickly and when finished I unload dishwasher / reload if needed. Wipe down surfaces if I’m feeling energetic. Drink coffee on couch while reading books together.

Morning usually put a load of washing on. Play together, when washing’s finished both go outside and she runs about while I hang it up.

Lunch. Nap for two hours. I clean up kitchen then and usually prep something for tea during that time. Tidy up toys a bit. Maybe do another load of washing if it’s built up.

Afternoon more playing / go out somewhere.

Tea 5pm. Leave all the mess where it is after tea. Play, read, bath and bed 7ish. Downstairs, dishwasher loaded. Bring in dry washing. Relax.

I have a cleaner lady who comes once a fortnight who deep cleans bathroom / kitchen and does all floors. I’ll be honest I don’t clean the bathroom in between her visits!! I don’t have time with juggling work, I have no free time. I would honestly rather play with my child than clean.

I am in a similar position to you. We get to between 7 and 8, breakfast and TV time for her then I get cracking with the housework straight away after my coffee. Probably 45 mins to do the organised mum method, then I shower and we both get dressed and ready for the day. Usually ready to go by 10am. If we have something else to do that morning, I do my chores after lunch instead while my girl is chilling after lunch. Try and get in a routine, and stick with it. Means you're used to it, and also your wee one. Mine knows it's time to do my jobs, and will watch TV or potter around behind me and help out.

It also helps to have a dishwasher, so you're not always washing up! I empty mine before I start making tea so I can fit breakfast and lunch dishes in the next day so none are sitting about all day which gets on my nerves, and I also don't need to empty it in the morning which is my WORST job of all time.

Thank you e everyone so far for your suggestions, I'll definitely check out the organised mum thing. I'd heard of it on here but was too .. disorganised (!) to get around to looking it up.

Well, trashy novels are more appealing at bedtime.

Hoovering gets done at weekends, same with bed change and bathrooms.

I don't know how it happens but crumbs, debris bits and pieces seem to appear on the carpet -especially the entrance hall carpet - on a constant basis, and the kitchen is as bad (though I suppose a brush does there most of the time).

I have a Dyson cordless, run the hoover round after I've tidied up while DH baths the wee one!

I’ve been a SAHM for nearly 6 years. Just the 3 year old still at home now. I won’t do chores once they’ve gone to bed. That’s my time to wind down! I’m naturally very organised so I’ve never read any advice on it etc but I will just do bits quickly. So I wouldn’t bottom the entire house during the week, but I’d whip round with the hoover which doesn’t take long in one go. Or surface clean the bathroom or dust the bedrooms etc. Anything that will take a while waits until weekend. Dishes are done straight after using them so that’s only a quick job as well! Some down time and entertaining themselves is good for them too so I don’t feel the need to be entertaining them every second of the day!

I bloody hate cleaning. I wouldn't really say I have a routine. DS2 is just 2. Elder DS is at secondary school.

I try and put a wash on in the morning if I notice. If the dishwasher is empty and there is crap in the kitchen I try to put it in while I'm making my morning coffee. DS2 is sitting in the living room at this time with DH who is WFH at the moment, usually watching TV but before Corona, he might have been playing in the living room or have wandered down the hall to see where I'd got to.

He naps at about 11. If I am feeling very virtuous I might clean a bathroom or mop the kitchen floor but TBH normally I mumsnet, make boring phone calls, nap, eat junk food or have a shower at this time!

In the afternoon I hang up the washing/put a second load in and put away all the washing from before or just put it into piles to languish in the corner of the bedroom. DS2 usually helps me with this or just plays in the bedroom while I do it.

After lunch/before dinner the plates are supposed to get cleared from the living room table, into the kitchen. Sometimes I do this, sometimes DH does or DS1 if he wants to do something on the table.

DS1 is meant to empty the dishwasher when it's done (usually after school) and do a quick check to see whether any bins need to go down.

DH gets DS2 to do a quick tidy up when he finishes work and puts the robot hoover on.

Then during the weekends we do the "big" cleaning - wiping down all the kitchen sides at once (not just the one we want to use), washing the floors, cleaning bedrooms, bathrooms.

a robot vacuum

I'm just reading the suggestions thoroughly now and that sounds like an amazing idea - though I think my DD will try her utmost to break it.

What make is the most robust or are they all much of a muchness?

We had Dirt Devil ones for about €100 which lasted a year.

2.5 years ago we got a €300 Roomba one which was a special deal at Lidl. We've had to get new brushes for it a couple of times but it's lasted really well even though DS2 is obsessed with it and regularly pushes it around like an oversized toy car.