Cleaning jobs become a lot more complicated when you have a newborn baby in the home. Not only is your attention divided, you need to be sure that you’re not creating a dangerous environment.
Fortunately, there are ways to make cleaning with a newborn baby in the house easy and as safe as possible.
The first few weeks of a baby’s life at home are joyful — but they’re also hard work. You have extra laundry, cleanups and clutter to deal with. And that’s as well as the everyday cleaning you had before.
If you can find ways of making jobs easier and quicker, you, as a new parent, should embrace them. Fortunately, we’ve compiled a list cleaning hacks and tips for parents of newborns. And here are a few of the most exciting.
1. Use baby monitors
One of the reasons cleaning with a newborn can be so difficult is the need to leave your baby unattended. But the latest baby monitors mean you can get on with household cleaning tasks with your baby right beside you — at least in a virtual sense.
The latest baby monitors don’t just deliver high quality sound, they deliver HD video coverage. As you’re vacuuming your living room carpet or cleaning out the fridge, you’ll be able to see and hear your little one. Choose a model with pan, tilt and zoom functions to give you maximum control.
2. Clean for short periods
As a new parent, you don’t want to leave your little one alone for longer than is absolutely necessary. This is why cleaning for short periods is usually the best way to go.
You also have to think about your own energy levels. Caring for a newborn is wonderful, but it’s also an arduous task. You’ll need to keep your energy levels as high as possible, which isn’t always easy if you’re losing sleep through the night.
Stick to simple cleaning sessions of 15 minutes. Just three or four of them a day should be enough to keep you on top of essential vacuuming, laundry and dusting. But be strict with yourself. Set a timer. When the 15 minutes is up, take a rest.
3. Prepare your home in advance
It’s always easier to clean when you’re starting from a clean and tidy place. This is why it’s important to clean and declutter your home during the weeks before your baby’s arrival.
Get rid of possessions and furniture that aren’t absolutely essential. Either find a temporary home for things, or sell them to raise a little extra cash for baby essentials.
4. Make cleaning a family affair
Raising a newborn is an energy-sapping task — it doesn’t leave a lot of time or energy for essential cleaning tasks. This is why you should enlist the help of family and friends.
But don’t wait until you’re knee-deep in dirty nappies to get help. Organise a cleaning schedule a few weeks before your baby arrives if you can. Draw up a rota, sharing jobs as fairly as you can.
If you live in a busy household, get everyone to take part in a daily “power clean” once a day. Everyone should spend around 30 minutes decluttering and cleaning. This doesn’t take a great deal of time out of everyone’s day, and it makes everyone feel that they’re in this together.
5. Clean while they sleep
Newborn babies have irregular sleeping patterns. This can make the life of a parent very difficult. Of course, your first priority should be your health. When baby starts snoozing, you should do the same. But when you’ve grabbed 40 winks, take the opportunity to clean. You’ll be able to concentrate all your efforts on the job at hand.
6. Keep a cleaning station in every room
Time is of the essence when cleaning a home with a newborn. Every minute is precious, so you don’t want to be spending time searching for cleaning agents and tools. Speed up the process considerably by creating a cleaning station in every room. Each station should include essentials such as paper towels, microfibre cloths, natural cleaning products and wipes – just make sure they are kept safely away from any older brothers or sisters in the house.
7. Stock up on effective cleaning tools
Cleaning is difficult at the best of times, particularly when you have a baby to look after. But it’s even more difficult when you don’t have the tools for the job. A powerful vacuum cleaner with a range of attachments and tools will make your life a lot easier, and as many are now cordless and lightweight you can move from room to room with ease, removing dust, dirt, . allergens and contaminants.
Another great cleaning tool for parents of newborns is a steam cleaner. Steam cuts through dirt and grease with comparative ease — and the minimum of effort. But, crucially, you don’t need to use cleaning chemicals. Superheated steam doesn’t just remove dirt, it can also clean and sanitise surfaces to remove bacteria.
8. Look after yourself
Caring for your newborn requires an enormous amount of energy. If you’re not looking after yourself, you simply won’t be able to tackle essential cleaning jobs in your home. This is why grabbing naps whenever you can is vital.
A huge part of keeping yourself fit and healthy during this wonderful time is maintaining a good diet. Too many parents survive on snacks and unhealthy, processed foods when they’re caring for a newborn. While this offers speed and convenience, it’s not doing you any favours in the long run.
You don’t have to do without nutritious, home-cooked meals when you’re raising a newborn. Kitchen gadgets such as pressure cookers and air fryers can help you prepare healthy, delicious food in under half the time it can take to pre-heat and cook using your oven.
9. Multitasking
Multitasking is just something parents get used to — through necessity. Fortunately, there are various ways to multitask when you have a newborn to look after. For example, you can wash dishes with your baby by your side in a Moses basket. You can do almost any household chore with your baby strapped to your chest in a baby carrying sling.
10. Organise regular help
You may be the type of person who prefers to get all of their main cleaning jobs done in one session. If you don’t want to clean in 15-minute sessions throughout the week, ask someone to care for your baby for a few hours every week.
Family and close friends are probably itching to spend quality time with your newborn. If that time falls on the same day every week, you can plan your time accordingly.
Raising a baby is one of life’s most challenging and rewarding tasks. But maintaining a clean and organised house is still essential. If you’re organised and have help at the right times, cleaning and caring for a newborn don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
