Ironing with a young baby / toddler… how?

[Am99]

How does one find the time to iron with a young baby?! As he’s getting older (6 months) I’m finding I have more time to do stuff - cook more elaborately, clean more, but ironing is still a no go because 1. He’s starting to move now and so it’s a real hazard. 2. It is more effort than just loading the dishwasher, hoovering , mopping the floor? 3. I obviously can’t baby wear when ironing.

thankfully we don’t wear many clothes that require ironing often, but I’m sure my mother and grandmother managed to iron and I’m feeling a bit of a failure because of it…. Our baby cosleeps so about 50% time when I leave him for a nap he wakes up so I can’t even do it in nap time.

its a non-issue as like I say, unless we have an event it’s not a big deal to have ironed clothes but just wondering if anyone had any tips?

I can only imagine it’s gonna get more tricky when he starts toddling

A playpen or while he’s asleep

I rarely iron but if I needed to, I did it in the evening after dd had gone to bed.

Edit to add that I also co-slept when dd was a baby but I wasn't going to go to bed for the night as early as she did.
I settled her in our bed and then went back downstairs.

Why and what are you ironing?

The odd shirt here and there yes. Anything else, why?

This. Unless you have someone in your family that needs a crisp shirt for work you don’t need to iron. Barely anyone does anymore.

I agree, the odd shirt maybe but really, do people still these days? If it has to be done, wait until they’re asleep. Are they shirts for your husband for work? If so, he should be doing it in the evening.

No I don’t need to, I just wondered how people did it if they needed to but I do have a playpen and my husband does stay with our son when he’s asleep so if I HaD to I suppose I can do it the.

No he rarely wears a shirt to work. I was more asking for holidays- I have lots of linen but my son will be 15 months next summer so I’m sure it’ll be a very different picture

Omg we’ve started doing this I just get so scared he’s going to wake up fully and then take ages to go to sleep again. But I am trying to get some autonomy back slowly 🤯

I guess it’s hard as a single mum to do things like that except when the kids are asleep
if you are not a single mum - dad can do the ironing or handle the kids

Buy some crease ease spray. Your Mum and Grandma didn’t cosleep and put the baby in a pram at the bottom of the garden. Even know I can’t iron around my kids and they’re much older!

Agree, what and why? Haven’t touched an iron in over 30 years, there is no need. Very rarely one of the boys will have a formal shirt but then we just get that dry cleaned with the suit and it’s no more than once a year if that. DH has been buying good quality no iron business shirts for the last 30 years, they do the trick and look fine (not cheap either last I looked but worth every penny).

Forget the ironing. Get one of those handheld steamers to give anything crumpled a refresh before wearing. They work brilliantly on linen. As for what our mums did mine definitely used to send work shirts to the dry cleaners once a week…

DT’s went in their cots or playpen when I needed to get things done. Putting them in there when you iron, have a shower, prepping a meal meant they are safe and you can get things done.

Only on mumsnet!

I used to do it when they were asleep during daytime at that age. Then we had a few years of no daytime naps so standards had to be lowered.

When mine were toddlers I had a baby gate on the kitchen door so I could cook and keep an eye on them in the babyproofed living room, so I would pop the ironing board up and do it in there if needed something urgently. Or I would do it when they were in bed.
i do now sometimes use the crease release spray which is brilliant although everyone on mumsnet hates the smell of fabric softener so would probably hate it.
noone on mumsnet irons though so you will get a lot of answers to not bother, but I like to wear nice increased smart ironed clothes, my husband wears shirts to work, and I like my children to be in smart ironed school uniform so I always made an effort with it. People say that you can’t tell if things have been ironed or not but if you are watching a school assembly with a hall full of children in white shirts, it is very clear whose parents iron their clothes, and also people that don’t separate whites and darks.

I would either put dc in a playpen or an upright bouncer chair. Put toys on their mat or table and get on with the ironing or whatever needs to be done.

There are some really good cotton non iron shirts on sale. Really, provided they are handled well, you can’t tell they were not ironed.
Just put anything that requires ironing away for a few years.

This is a good question OP - I don’t have a good answer though 🤣 My mum takes a few bits of ironing for me occasionally, which is very lovely!

I haven’t ironed since having DC, but there are some clothes which are just unwearable without it. The non-iron clothes often use “forever chemical” type coatings I think, so I’d steer clear of those, especially for children.

lol yes my mum came round before we went on holiday and ironed and packed everything but I expect that for the rest of our life 🤣

I just don’t iron.

I used to do mine on a Sunday while DH took the DC to the park or something.
My friend puts everything away unironed and then irons things as they are needed. Her kids don’t need shirts for school though and her husband does his own stuff, at one point I had 25 shirts a week to iron 😩
My other friend tumble dries everything and hangs it folds as soon as it’s done.

Your mother and your grandmother used a playpen.

Playpen
Baby gate
Nap time
DH irons
Don't bother ironing

Yes, this.