How much cleaning etc do you do when your toddler is awake?

[IcouldstillbeJoseph]

DS is just 2 and goes to a cm one day a week for a few hours (I'm 38 wk preg). This 'time off' is spent mainly catching up with cleaning. I was talking to a friend with a 2.6 yr old the other day and she happily leaves her DS downstairs watching tv playing and will go upstairs and strip beds, hoover etc.
I don't really do any cleaning when DS is awake but thinking perhaps this would be useful for him to see? And please no one suggest I involve him in the cleaning as a) he would lose interest after 5 min and b) would be trying to eat Mr Sheen/suck dirty cloths etc etc!

I don't do any; I have 2 yo twins (and a 5 year old) and all cleaning is done when they are at school or asleep. DD1 helps me with laundry after the babies are in bed though. They try to help so much that everything takes ten times as long, and I lose my temper, so it is easier all round not to try.
I do give the babies a wipe for their high chair tray after each meal, it doesn't help much but they seem to enjoy it.

I do most cleaning with dd 20 months in tow. Everything does take a lot longer with her 'help' though! The only things that I haven't worked out how to do with dd are cleaning out our ducks and cutting the grass.

I am also 38 weeks and dd is 18 months and I do most of the cleaning in the evening when she is asleep, apart from the hoovering as the Hoover sounds like a plane taking off its ridiculously loud. Our kitchen needs cleaning all the time, dishes need doing etc and that's when she will watch a bit of tv as she cannot come in the kitchen, store floors make it a massive danger zone. I'm saving up for a cleaner though lol

I do all my cleaning when dd 2.6 is awake. I either leave her in the living room playing or give her a cloth and a little dish of water if she wants to "help". she has her own Broom too to do sweeping :)

I have DD (3) and DS (6 months) and do pretty much everything with them both in tow. DD either helps and we dance about to music or I set her up with an activity and potter around her. DS just gets lugged around from room to room or chucked in the pram when he's tired.

I'm so knackered in the evening that I really can't be arsed doing housework and want to veg.

I could with the just turned 3yo but not with the 17mo. Well, I could do upstairs with her in tow but not the kitchen as she can only tolerate her highchair if there's food involved and if not in her highchair, she would be racing round eating the cat food, turning the oven on, switching the freezer off, emptying cupboards, putting the washing machine on, putting stuff in the tumble dryer etc etc!
No more DC planned so hopefully by this time next year, I'll be winning

Very little, but anything I do do has dd (16 mths) trailing behind me. If I dust she insists on taking over, if I hang put the washing she pulls it all down again, if I clean the bathroom she follows and trails loo roll everywhere ... Catch my drift!!

I don't do any other than washing dishes, wiping kitchen work tops and sweeping up their mess. Also will do some laundry including hanging to dry, and lots of cooking/baking - they like to watch and lick the spoon, or just play together in the next room (14 mo twins)

if your DS is happy to occupy themselves/watch Cbeebies etc while you get on with something then do it - he will have occupy themselves a bit I imagine when your new baby is around anyway. it does depend on the child though - my DS1 had stages like BlablaSos where it wasn't worth it -

Also very little. DS (2.3) will 'help', but in a v unhelpful way.
Today for example, I was trying to mop melting snow off the hall while DS was sweeping his grubby mini-broom through it. He 'helps' me unload the dishwasher by putting random clean items from the cutlery drawer back into the dishwasher.. I could go on.

If left in front of the TV, he either climbs perilously up the back of the sofa, or does this weird thing where he has his hands on our (sharp, wooden) coffee table, while walking his legs up the sofa.

Today I had to make a few household admin-type calls. Within a minute of starting the first one, DS had charged across the room, tripped over, and cracked his head off the skirting board. "WAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!" Bloke on the other end said, "And how did you hear about our company...actually, I'll let you go shall I?"

Not only does he not nap, he only sleeps for about 4 hours at a time at night. Roll on nursery!

I do most of mine when DD (almost 16 mths) is awake. She has always been very good at entertaining herself, and we have a safe zone where she can play where there isn't anything she could hurt herself on, so I pop her in there when I need to get on with something. It's in the middle of the house so if I'm downstairs I am continually passing her and talking to her or stopping for a few minutes play etc.

She only naps for 30 mins a day, and her bedtime and DH getting in from work tend to run into each other which means once she is in bed I'm usually doing dinner so can't really do it then and by the time that's done I'm knackered!

She likes to 'help' push the vacuum around and she likes to dust so I often let her help me do the dusting.

She is fine to be left whilst I run the vacuum around upstairs, or clean the bathroom, strip beds, whatever. I do tend to do one upstairs job, then go play for a while, then do another job and so on - but I honestly think that's more about me worrying that I'm not engaging enough than her being bothered.

Things like ironing, we have a room divider, so I will be on one side ironing, DD on the other with toys, so we're in the same room chatting away, but I get stuff done and she is safe and not trying to swing off the iron flex.

The thing is once they stop napping you have to do things while they are awake or nothing would get done! So yes, as much as I could get away with... either leave them with Cbeebies for 10 mins or do things with them in tow.

Er I trail after my 18m old trying to rectify the carnage he leaves in his wake.

If I try and do the dishwasher he grabs stuff out of it including sharp knives. If I try and hoover he keeps switching it off at the wall. If I try to do washing he gets busy shoving clean dry clothes in the washing machine or dirty clothes in the drier or just twiddles knobs and pushes buttons. If I try to make beds he rampages around the bedrooms pulling books off bookshelves, switching switches on and off, taking the phone and making phone calls to goodness knows who. If I mop he plays with the mop water. Honestly, people who say get them involved have never met my youngest . The older two weren't quite as bad but they'd still get bored and grumpy if I was doing HW.

Despite all the above I do get a bit done when he's awake but I definitely do the bulk of it while he naps or sleeps.

None unless I invoke the power of CBeebies. Even then I wouldn't let him out of my sight!

I have a handful and a half though...

Bits and bobs.

DS (2.3) likes to help empty the dishwasher, he enjoys sorting the cutlery which is actually relatively helpful as long as I have managed to grab all the sharp knives / potato peelers etc out of the cutlery basket before he gets to it. He also likes taking the washing out of the machine and sorting out which bits go in the tumble drier.

I've given him a washed out spray bottle full of water because he loves trying to spray surface cleaner into his face so he sometimes 'cleans' a little patch of floor for me while I do the rest. Hoovering doesn't really happen becuase he either wants a turn or switches it off at the wall. Washing up is tricky without cbeebies because he wants to join in, so then I have to wash the floor again.Tidying anything is also a non-starter, because at the same time as I am tidying he will be un-tidying something else behind me.

My best trick is letting him have a big bubbly bath with lots of music and toys while I clean the bathroom!