To ask how you did any housework when you had small children

[RosettaR]

I have twins who are 8 months and for various reasons not much support other than my husband who works full time. They have eczema so I really need to keep dust levels down and get rid of any mould. But even finding 5 minutes in a day to do some hoovering or dusting seems impossible. They are currently not napping without me or my husband there. They have moments of being quite chilled and happy to play but that gets taken up by basic things like washing and sterilising bottles, loading and unloading dish washer, and preparing all their meals. When am I supposed to hoover and dust? They are also not sleeping well at night so I can't face getting up an hour before them to get it done. After they go to bed is an option although recently we're not getting them down until 10 or so and by that point I'm knackered. I feel like I'm letting them down and they are suffering because of me. What am I supposed to do?

Sometimes you have to just put them safely in a bouncy chair strapped in (or a play pen) accept that they might fuss a bit, and do a few mins cleaning up.

Have a google of some nap/sleep routines and consider gentle sleep training methods so that everyone gets more sleep, makes life easier

You have it harder than most having twins. With one baby people often put them in a sling/carrier while they vacuum etc.

You can save time by giving them mostly the same food you eat - you really dont need to spend hours and hours hand making annabel karmel cheese and broccoli muffins and blending stuff.

You have two babies, of course it is hard to find time! Tbh my partner did most of the housework after work while I endlessly breastfed and slept whenever I could, and I only had the one.

I did find a roomba a big help if that is an option for you.

It won't be long until you can get the dc to "help" while you dust which makes it a lot easier.

Get them a playpen. Put them in there. Then vacuum . Or get a robot vacuum cleaner.

In your situation I would get a robot vacuum. Also might entertain the babies.

Eight month old twins are hardly the same as small children in general, such as a toddler having an afternoon nap while a three year old plays quietly. I wouldn't expect to get much done until they are 12 months or older and on one regular nap. What does preparing meals involve? Babies only need very simple foods.

Eufy robot vacuum. Ours comes on at 7am each days whilst we are still upstairs getting ready. Otherwise 1 year old chases it.

It isn’t a full replacement for hoovering corners, or some rooms it doesn’t go in, but it keeps the dust and general crumbs at bay in main living areas

Certainly invest in a roomba vacuum cleaner they are best things ever invented.
After feeding time put them both down and spend 5 mins with a duster,you can wizz around a room in 5 mins it doesn't have to be pristine.

I didn't bother much but obviously that won't work in your situation.

Can you afford a cleaner?

Playpen, tv on and accept they might whinge for a bit. That’s just life.

I didn’t have twins, so that’s obviously a bit different, mine were 18 mo apart. I did what I could when they were asleep and made use of things like door bouncers and walkers, outdated now but jumperoos are probably the new replacements. Plus playpen or in my case, travel cot, with safe toys to play with whilst I did short bursts.

Woman's hour on radio 4 was decreed to be housework/putting on laundry time. I sat the baby in the walker or the playpen and cracked on. I think the wall of voices became comfortingly familiar after a while. When it was over, that was it for the day.

Playpen my daughter will play with her toys while I clean

We did baby led weaning so often would sit them in high chair while we did a bit of hoovering etc but the lay out of our house made that fairly straightforward

That’s a difficult age they are very whingey.. I used to put mine in the cot with the iPad on the floor in view and some toys when I needed to do something. That might give you enough time for a quick hoover and dust?

Or high chairs ?

@RosettaR

I have twins who are 8 months and for various reasons not much support other than my husband who works full time. They have eczema so I really need to keep dust levels down and get rid of any mould. But even finding 5 minutes in a day to do some hoovering or dusting seems impossible. They are currently not napping without me or my husband there. They have moments of being quite chilled and happy to play but that gets taken up by basic things like washing and sterilising bottles, loading and unloading dish washer, and preparing all their meals. When am I supposed to hoover and dust? They are also not sleeping well at night so I can't face getting up an hour before them to get it done. After they go to bed is an option although recently we're not getting them down until 10 or so and by that point I'm knackered. I feel like I'm letting them down and they are suffering because of me. What am I supposed to do?

Nap time was the easiest, other times when they would sit in the bounder, I was also very lucky and had quite a lot of help from my mum and brother (and still do).

Also boring stuff like housekeeping did slip at points when my kids (now 5 and 2) were not sleeping well, purely because like you broken nights sleep are horrible, but it also got back on track and then things feel much easier, although I did have it a lot easier with only one at a time rather than twins.

I can say is that it will get significantly easier and regardless of how you feel right now you are doing well and you are not letting them down.

I don’t have twins, but we employed a cleaner once our eldest was about 7 months. We both work full time and I hate doing housework, so it was the best solution for us.

I used a Jumperoo at this age - it was a life saver!

I had/still have a quick tidy up and zolm round with the Hoover while dh gives them a bath before bed. I used to take them out on a Saturday morning while he did a big clean of the kitchen, bathroom etc. It's very hard, we still struggle at times and our twins are nearly 5!

I had 8 month old twins and a 3 year old.
Put them in bouncy chairs or a jumperoo and made sure they could see me whilst doing the absolute basics ie laundry / hoovering / wiping table.
Everything else got left. He’d didn’t get changed for weeks, lots didn’t get cleaned.
Time moves swiftly and before you know it they are starting pre school. Try just to do the very basics and leave the rest for now.

I didn't really do much at all! My DH tends to do the Hoovering. I never really remember dusting when on mat leave. I would clean the bathroom and kitchen but very little else.

You don't worry about housework with a small child, with twins you forget it! You just survive each day and do not worry about it

Or rope your mum/dad/sister/brother to do some now and then for you

I didn't do very much at all! None of mine were happy doing anything like bouncy chair, baby gym etc for very long so just did short bursts as and when. Hoovering at weekends.

I think try to get their sleep sorted. Sounds like some sleep training would be helpful to get them napping independently and sleeping at 7 pm. They will then probably also be happier and less whingy so you can leave them to play slightly longer. Then worry about the housework after sleep sorted. Can you cut any corners with preparing meals in the meantime?

Can you afford a cleaner ? We got one for 2 hours a week and she literally hoovers and dusts and does the kitchen and it does make a difference