Are you the kind of person who has always devoted large amounts of your time towards maintaining a clean and tidy home? Then it’s fair to say that when your baby comes along your approach to cleaning will change quite a bit. First and foremost your daily life will have a brand new focus. Time will take on a new meaning and you will begin to wonder what you actually did with your free time for so many years.
Are you the kind of person who has always devoted large amounts of your time towards maintaining a clean and tidy home? Then it’s fair to say that when your baby comes along your approach to cleaning will change quite a bit. First and foremost your daily life will have a brand new focus. Time will take on a new meaning and you will begin to wonder what you actually did with your free time for so many years. Your “disposable time” will be more precious than ever and you may find yourself having to be a lot more selective with where you direct your energy.
Cleaning is just one of those things, isn’t it? Some of us claim to love it and a lot of us admit to hating it. Wherever your feelings lie I think most of us would agree that living in a clean space has a lot of benefits. It feels nice. It also makes us feel like our lives are somewhat in order.
Don’t shoot the messenger but cleaning is also linked to our health and well-being. We can’t ignore the fact that living amongst dirt is a case of being in close proximity to all sorts of bacteria.
Even if we confess to having no interest in being house proud there is a duty of care when it comes to raising our children and part of that responsibility is ensuring that the space in which they live is as safe and healthy as possible for them. Cleaning plays an important role in this.
When time is precious it can be tricky to decipher which chores hold the greatest priority. In truth it really does depend on the stage your child is at. If we look at the developmental stages of eating and crawling, for example, we can see how suddenly certain areas of the house and daily routine will require more attention than others. For a crawler, we might focus more on a cleaner floor and less time on, for example, a neat and tidy hot press.
Despite being immobile there are some really important cleaning areas to consider when you have a newborn.
- Before you even consider chores remember that what your baby needs most is you. You are their source of food and comfort and your presence is more important than any household chore. Ensure that you wash or sanitise your hands regularly when handling the baby.
- Delegation is an art form and a chore in itself. You simply won’t be able to handle every household task yourself. Enlisting the help of your partner or a family member has it’s own challenges but the sooner you ask for help the better.
- Sterilizing is a non-negotiable as it ensures that the item is free from harmful bacteria. If you are bottle feeding it is really important to rigidly follow the manufacturer’s sterilization directions.
- Using the hoover is a great way of ensuring that you stay on top of the build-up of dust. Interestingly enough it tends to be popular with the parents of newborns as other parents credit the sound as the reason their baby grows to sleep through loud noises.
- The laundry will never be more important. It is recommended that you use a non-bio detergent so we suggest stocking up before the baby arrives. It can also be suggested that you wash all new baby clothes before placing them on the baby. It is hard to believe just how many vests, baby grows and bibs you go through with a newborn so having a good laundry routine is paramount during this time.
- Get a cleaner. It’s expensive but we are yet to come across many that regret hiring one. Has a family member offered to buy you a significant gift for the baby? A session or two from a cleaner is worth it’s weight in gold.
- Clean when the baby cleans. Sounds fair to us.
Written by Tracey Quinn staff writer at FFHQ who also blogs at www.loveofliving.ie.