Tips for housekeeping with a new baby

[Thyeternalsummer]

Expecting my first baby in a couple of weeks, and getting a bit annoyed by all the assumptions that I'll be happy to let the house go to pot. Midwife mentioned that obviously it wouldn't be a priority post child-birth and that I shouldn't worry about hcps seeing my house in a state - and lots MNers of made 'your in for a rude awakening' type comments when I've previously mentioned my preference for ironing pants and socks (they fold neater this way!)
Whilst I will be wanting to spend time caring for/bonding with with my new son, and undoubtedly I'll need to rest up - I have no intention of letting my home turn into a chaotic mess. I'm reasonably fit and healthy (could easily run 15k before pregnancy), and am happiest in a well organised and comfortable home.
Looking for tips/advice on how other MNers managed with a new baby. Any advice on how to keep my home reasonably comfortable during those first few turbulent weeks would be gratefully received!

Love the list from parsnipcake.

I too was v houseproud pre-DD and reluctantly downed tools once I'd had DD as I was told my immaculate home would go to shit and I would have to let it happen. Then after a couple of weeks I started cleaning again and no one came to get me. I think it must depend on how you feel and your baby's temperament and your priorities. Everything could change for you. Or you could find you still get satisfaction from ironing smalls. I run screaming from ironing but could hoover all day.

I prioritise the work and normally do things whilst DD naps as I love cuddling her and playing with her (she's only 7 weeks so I just smile and coo at her a lot, but this takes up more time than you'd think!). So when she has definitely gone to sleep, I:

1. have coffee and a wee, very important stuff
2. clean the room most in need of attention.

Finding 2 still a bit tricky. I clean as a sort of calming mechanism, like meditating but standing up, with a duster. I used to clean from the top of the house and finish in the kitchen. I do try to have a tidy round every morning whilst DD refreshes herself from waking me up at stupid o clock (I can't nap, I have tried) then in the afternoon I'll do a room, which takes about 30 mins. It's hardly a big deal, certainly not for me anyway. It's not a show home but its a nice clean home and that will do.

if you enjoying the cleaning as an activity in itself, then knock yourself out. But, if it's a clean house you like, I would look into getting a cleaner - if you end up having an emergency C section you will have your feet up for a number of weeks, in which case a cleaner will be a godsend. Likewise if you find feeding difficult, or have a colicky baby or whatever.

Cleaning is so not my bag, but if it's something that makes you feel calm and happy then go for it! And maybe start training your DH now - in the early days when I struggled with bfing, DH did everything - cleaning, cooking, shopping etc - and I believe that, more than anything, helped me persevere with bfing.

Oh, and I used to iron tea towels. Very therapeutic and you can fit more in a drawer. I [heart] tea towels.

And yes I was breastfeeding too. But he wasn't attached to me 24-7, he slept in his bouncy chair, he did things with DH. Honestly if you feel like this about cleaning (as I do - and in not saying its healthy, it's just the way I am) then you find the time. You will already be organised and have routines, you just have to be more adaptable. I even work... And commute to work.

Other mums come to my house and remark how clean it is and 'how do you find the time to Hoover?'. All I think is 'how do you not find time to Hoover!!!

Congrats on your pregnancy... I detest ironing and avoid it at all costs but other than that I was like you and wanted to keep the place clean and tidy if I could... I accepted all offers of help! My fab DH took over the laundry and vacuuming, DD went into the sling during the 'witching' hour every day so I could wash up and get dinner. Do your shopping online if you don't already, convenience microwave meals/pasta boxes will not kill you for the first few weeks. DH used to make a packed lunch for me every day. I would shower and give the bathroom a quick clean with anti bac wipes while DD napped. I set up a travel cot in our living room which is where all DDs toys go now - anything that doesn't fit in there goes to the garage or charity. You will be fine, you will find ways to cut corners if you need to.

Of course it does. Some babies sleep some don't.... But what I'm saying is that if you are like me (to the extent where your friends think you have OCD - even though you don't). You find time to clean because it's important to you. But of course it varies and the first few weeks of having a baby are incredibly difficult but you do what you've got to do, what's important to you etc...

My DH also (like a previous poster) made me packed lunch... I'd forgotten that. Every day he made me sandwiches and put them in the fridge.

I reckon as long as its all ship shape before baby comes, you'll be fine. I can relate to getting annoyed with the 'you have no idea' comments from others all the time, everyone and every baby is different and we all have different ways of coping and standards etc. I, for example NEVER iron anything, but my bathroom is always looking immaculate, even if i only get time to wipe it over with my damp towel when i get out of the shower and quickly go round the toilet bowl with the brush. I refuse to believe i wont have time to even do that once baby comes as it takes 2 minutes (tiny bathroom).

JR I didn't get in the shower until day five with one of my demanding babies... You'd be astonished how many shortcuts one takes, or how quickly you can wee/wash/shower while the wee one screams.

Also I don't think women should feel ashamed of wanting to sit quietly with their babies. I'm a big believer in the "fourth trimester" and don't think a newborn should come second to ... well, just about anything.

horry that's what i meant by we are all different. Some people don't have any time, some people will find the time no matter what.

I don't think in going to want to put mine down when they arrive, but i know that if it bothers me enough, when dh is home and taking care of the little one, I will grab 5 mins to wipe the bathroom over. Dh is pretty good with everything else (as long as i ask him to do it, not just hope he will) but the bathroom is my territory and i must do it myself!

Slings are fabulous. A stretchy like a Moby or Kari-Me is ideal for newborns.

I loves parsnipcakes list, having priorities is a great idea. Fed, clean baby, then fed, clean and dressed mummy, then food arranged for later, pots clean, laundry under control and then its pretty much whatever you need after that.
I would advise not having little outfits for babies as they aren't as comfortable for them, onesies/romper suits/sleepsuits day and night. Then you don't have to iron tiny collars and match up little outfits etc.
Babywipes are good for cleaning all sorts.
If you can get decluttered now, and put in systems for dealing with possible clutter ie. what happens to post, coats etc, then whizzing a duster and sweeping brush is no problem.

Online grocery deliveries. You can also get lots of groceries, nappies etc. from Amazon.

They really don't need a lot of toys.

When they're bigger have a designated food/craft area.

Just wanted to say that I have a clean, tidy house and a baby that has been bathed and is wearing a dress. I am also bathed and clothed. It is possible. The house doesn't have to go to shit and you don't have to dress your baby in sleepsuits forever either.

purrpurr how old is your baby?

I think the key is, like everything else with having a baby, to try to concentrate on not being so worried about housework and you just have to see how you feel.

I'm having an elcs on Monday & currently organising changing stations & working out rota for when e.g. Bins will be emptied & how washing & drying will be done-I'm going to try baby stuff & underwear going in a separate wash which goes in the tumble drier for the first couple of weeks. I won't be doing anything & have the freezer full of food & take away delivery numbers on standby.

I just plan on feeding baby & keeping us both fairly healthy!

My thinking is:1st 2 weeks, doesn't matter-dh needs to feed us all & ensure there's enough clean dishes in kitchen for next meal.

3-6 weeks, I'll start to do smaller jobs & gradually work out where we can save time & change things.

Also, if you have a look on the good housekeeping board, there are some threads for time saving ideas etc on there.

Good luck but please don't put pressure on yourself just because you want to prove everyone wrong!

Sorry-baby brain, didn't realise this was on the housekeeping board, doh!

There is such a thing as seasonal sofa covers?

I'm always in awe of people who like cleaning. I don't even stress clean. I do have a (relatively) clean house but just wish the fairies (or one of you) would come in and do it.

Just loved your below comment - made me laugh in a nice way :) I may try it if I can fend off my 4 year old!

"Seriously though ironing underwear is not that crazy - it only takes a few seconds with the rest of the ironing and it maximises draw space as items fold flatter"

You will work out a system that works for you - I would recommend a cleaner for a couple of weeks until you have recovered. Believe me take your time to adjust / bond. I was super mum - think I was on some hormone high, I drove myself home next day as I was the safer driver and then unpacked / washed / ironed all pregnancy bag (after I had settled the baby). I had never been so efficient in my life. I paid for it months down the line - very exhausted all of sudden.

CaptainJamesTKirk - my 4yr old mops too :)

I'm a long way from being OCD about housework but I've come a long way since my early twenties. We have a one month old and a three year old.

Systems are of critical importance, our task this evening is to sit down together and reevaluate who does what - somethings which I've done since we had our toddler I cannot do with a newborn as well (like washing up) but the laundry which my DH used to do I can do with my mini helper. However its becoming clear that I need DH to get the toddler up and breakfasted and then hand her to me (feeding baby in bed usually) while he makes lunches and gets the kitchwn shipshape. Since I was six months pregnant he has done all the cooking and increasingly does the weekly shop as well.

Being organised beforehand again critical. We weren't. We've often said has we moved to this house prior to having our first DD we would all be happier, as it is its part renovated but the garden isn't safe for DD1 to play out on her own yet. My office in our last house has been set up in an inbetween lobby and all paperwork is just dumped there and it spoils the whole of the downstairs. We've booked a carpenter to build storage but cash flow is a slight issue at the moment.

We also have a lounge and a playroom. As long as mess (aka children) are never allowed in the lounge we always have somewhere clean and tidy, and as and when I get five minutes I target those areas where sticky fingers and crumbs end up.

Parnsipcake list is one to remember, my DD1 rarelu vomited, but DD2 projectile vomits several times a day requiring sofa cusions, throws, my clothes and her clothes all to be changed and washed. I have a set of indoor clothes and get changed just before going out. Staying on top of the laundry therefore is my priority after ensuring both children are fed.

Horry's mention of the fourth trimester however certainly is true in this house. And as many posters have said it does depend on your baby. DD1 cried 24/7 and rarely slept, it was a good day if I ate lunch and a great one if I got dressed and got out of the house. She was also very poorly as a baby. Some evenings we only ate because someone had kindly dropped in food. This time round DD2 lets me get on with things, she is mostly very good natured.

I don't iron though. Nothing at all.

purrpurr I dint keep my baby in sleepsuits because I'm lazy, I did that because I wanted her to be comfortable and she isn't a little doll to dress up. It just so happens it also makes life easier. I put her in dresses once she could walk for special. Dresses ride up round their waist on immobile babies and interfere with a crawling babies movement.

I have dc's in their 20's so Im from a different generation then most posting on here. I've always had madly high standards with regards to housework.

I've got 5dc & they have never ever worn an ironed piece of clothing!

Im expecting my 6 th baby & nothing will change. My 4thdc never stopped crying...i know most won't agree with this but sometimes he just had to cry, dinners needed to be cooked, etc.

I actually would like not to be bothered by wrinkles in clothes, clutter & dust but i always have been & probably always will be...

Both my babies hated slings. I was so disappointed!