How has having children impacted on the cleanliness in your home? Share your stories with Cif to win a £250 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

Cif have asked us to find out whether having children has had an impact on your family's cleaning habits.

Here's what Cif have to say: "We all know that children see the home as a playground, and playgrounds get dirty. But we also understand how difficult it can be to clean up after your child, so we want to help make that process as easy as possible."

Do you and your DP/DH (if applicable) find yourselves doing more cleaning since you've had children? Or less? How have things changed post children in this regard? Do you find yourself looking for the anti-bac cleaning products now or were you always partial to this type of product? If your home gets cleaned more now, is it more likely to be a quick clean here and there to tidy up after teatime etc? Or is it do regular deep cleans as well/instead? Are you now more likely to look for quick convenience products like wipes? Or – has nothing changed?!

We'd love to hear your views. Everyone who adds their comments to this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £250 Love2Shop voucher.

Please note your comments may be used by CIF on their pages on MN and possibly elsewhere (anon of course) please only add your comment if you’re happy with this.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Yes, it's dirtier, messier, and we spend a LOT more time clearing and cleaning up. All the many pets don't help either.

No we don't like convenience products, we go for the eco products which are perhaps less effective but we're used to them.

We all have terribly good immune systems!

I fantasise of a clean tidy minimalist house once the dc have left home...

I can't really say my house is messier - it's just now got more kids stuff rather than my own stuff. I do different cleaning now - I clean the floor more often than I used but then that's just because there are more people. I think it's just that everything is different. DH tends to use wipes more as he finds the convenience easier.

We definitely do more cleaning as DD has SN and crawls, so I clean floors / hoover everyday.

Generally I don't think the house is dirtier as we have no shoes in the house, and food eaten at kitchen table only, messy crafts in kitchen only too. Kitchen table gets cleaned with an anti-bac wipe after every meal. I didn't do that before having kids.

Toilet gets cleaned with bleach at least once a day as I am paranoid about little fingers touching the loo and not necessarily washing properly after use.

I am definitely more one for quick regular wipes and wash-downs as opposed to deep cleans.

Worst thing for me is in their rooms where there are lots of dust-gatherers on shelves, window ledges etc, that is definitely extra work to try and keep on top of now.

As with other people, the house can be pretty messy by the end of the day, but I try to keep on top of the dirt!

Once DS2 came along we decided to get a cleaner once a week so we didn't end up spending our weekends cleaning rather than enjoying our time with the children.

The house is definitely messier and at times dirtier. I found it wasn't too bad with a baby, but from 6 months old with weaning,the potential for dirt increased massively.
Now DD is a toddler it feels like a constant uphill slog to tidy before she makes the next mess, so products that save time and are easy to grab for 2 minutes here and there. I'd rather play with her than spend an hour scrubbing.

I have learnt that our dog is a hairy malting machine, I feel like im following him around with the hoover or brush especially as I spend a lot of time on the floor with my 4 month old, I dont think im as precious about other things though as I would rather play with the baby

Despite constantly cleaning and tidying AND getting a cleaner to come in weekly since having DC, I find my house always dirty - crumbs everywhere, surfaces smeary, grotty stovetop. Makes me quite depressed really.

I hoover more since the children became mobile! there's nothing like a pair of filthy knees on a newly crawling baby to motivate me to hoover!

the house is probably messier but a bit cleaner since I became a SAHM though, as I'm home more to clean it - but then so are the children home more to untidy it!

luckily I had pretty low standards before having DC though, otherwise I'd spend my life weeping at the state of the place :(

I think i have less time now than i used to,i dont think your house should be too clean as that stops children building up a good immune system! As long as been hoovered n bleached down the toilet n surface clean i'd rather be having fun with my lovely children.

My house is less tidy and less clean! When I clean I look for products that I think are safe for my children. I don't like spraying chemicals everywhere.

I would say my house is less clean since having children simply as I have less time. The time I have is more spent on tidying up rather then cleaning as I often need to tidy to clean..ie actually get to floors and surfaces!
I also hate the constant monotony of tidying/cleaning so sometimes put it off. Generally my house looks a bit grubby but acceptable! I clean everywhere atleast once a week and the kitchen every day and sittingroom prob every 2-3 days. I only use natural based cleaners and add tee tree to disinfect surfaces/toilet seat etc. I have always used these products so nothing has changed there. My place prior to children was definately a bit cleaner and tidyer due to more time less mess generated.

I found it was ok to keep on too of the cleaning after one child but after two - the mess was massively increased. I don't mind a bit more clutter but not happy to live in a messy home. So I do get the kids to help me tidy up and clean wherever possible. Not a massive fan of convenience cleaning products as a lot of the tend to have dozens of chemicals. Microfibre cloths are good (used wet or dry)

• top (not too)

At the moment, I seem to be cleaning the toilet(s) at least once every day, whereas before DD was toilet trained, it was just once every few days (hope that doesn't sound too unclean... I like to think I'm hygienic..). I also clean floors - using floor wipes - all the time, particularly in the hall and front room. I did this every day when my DD was crawling/learning to walk.

I use antibacterial cleaning sprays several times a day (do you really want to know this?) and also antibac wipes for tables.

Unfortunately, my house is much less tidy now than before I had my DD. I wish it were ultra tidy, but I can't seem to keep all rooms tidy at the same time.
I certainly vacuum less than I used to, unfortunately, and the windows haven't been cleaned for about 6 months...

Sorry I haven't got a witty or fascinating thing to tell you - my life is just very child-and-cleaning-centred, but only in a mundane and repetitive way.

It's not children that have altered the cleanliness of my house for the worse, it's sharing a house with my parents! Honestly I must have blanked out how much clutter they kept lying around and how generally messy they were. Instead of cleaning up after two boys and a husband I'm now cleaning up after two children, my husband and two oldies. It's driving me crazy!!

cleaning jobs have increased 100 fold since we started potty training, pun not intended

I clean more now I have a DC, especially round the toilet, he generally sits down, but even then there seems to be sprinkles everywhere, and don't even go there with the other!

I Hoover everyday now, biscuit crumbs, peas, shreddies, lego men heads, you name it I Hoover it up daily.

With the arrival of our baby, we have just given up and hired a cleaner as we now have more mess, less time, and a greater sense of the importance of keeping the house clean. So, we buy the products our cleaner says are best. She likes Cif.

Would say I'm less house proud since having children! Used to love a tidy house and initially used to get stressed when couldn't keep on top of housework etc but now I appreciate that my children are only young once and the tidying will still be there tomorrow!!

I have less time to clean since I had children but the house definitely is more hygienic. I've had to be creative about when I do tasks: cleaning the loo while supervising them in the bath, sorting the dishwasher and washing out while juggling making dinner. The products I use have changed a little- I tend to buy only bathroom cleaner/kitchen cleaners which have bleach in and/or anti bacterial. I am conscious that with kids there are a lot more bugs and illness brought into the house now!
I also like products which save me time and reflect the lesser amount of time I have to clean, eg I will buy floor cleaning wipes as I find it quicker to deal with numerous spills and sticky food marks in the kitchen than having to get the mop and bucket out each time. General purpose anti bac wipes are strategically placed around the house for the same reason!
It is sad, but if I have a day in the house I will usually spend it doing a thorough blitz of each room, concentrating on kitchen, bathrooms & kids bedrooms. That's when I tend to do a deep clean using every product I can lay my hands on! It gives me peace of mind for a bit!

Before children we used to do big 'blitzs' where the whole day could be dedicated to cleaning. Now I'm trying to do it little and often and do reach for anti-bac wipes etc for convenience.

Our house is definitely much less clean than pre-children! We have 4 children, two large and hairy dogs, one cat and we live in the countryside, whereas we used to live in town. This house is 140 years old and appears to exude its own filth. The window sills are littered with fresh insect corpses every day. I sweep the floor every single day, sometimes several times, yet it is always floating in dust and fur bunnies. So I am doing far more cleaning than pre-children, but the house is always dirtier than pre-children. I must be doing something wrong...

I would say it is much more clean then it used to be but more messy... I hope this makes sense...
We clean more often and use much more disinfecting products then we use to but our house change from "law and order" to "free form"...
I am not able to make it perfect and keep all things where they should be at all times so it might look as disorganized mess at times but it is very clean mess :-)

Erm, my standards have lowered since having DD! I clean and tidy more but it looks messier than it ever did before I had her . I try to get DD to 'help' me. She loves squeegying the shower when I've finished (she's 2 so the bits she can reach) and she cleans the bath taps for me whilst I clean the bath. Other than that it's very hard to do much cleaning when looking after her as I have to play with her all the time

Saw this thread and had to comment. It is a subject close to my heart. I remember (pre-children) reading a newspaper article saying that a women with a family did an average of - cannot quite remember - but must have been about 12 hours of actual housework each work. I remember laughing out loud and thinking that couldn't be possible as it was way to much.

Roll on a few years and way hey - 12 hours of housework doesn't even tough the sides of our house.

I live in a male household, and the amount of general mess and dirt is incredible. I used to be very houseproud, but have had to lower my standards a little - but not on cleanilenss I hasten to add, just the mess bit! Kitchen and bathroom's get once over daily. It is things like fingerprints on the walls that really irks me. Went to a single friends house the other day, and it was as if I had stepped back in time. That was how I used to live with everthing immaculate. On the plus side, I am very happy with my lot and wouldn't change it for the world!