Btdt: cleaning after birth?

When were you able to get back to your cleaning routine after giving birth? I know it sounds silly, but it will stress me out quite a bit if the house gets messy after we come home from the hospital, especially with having visitors.

Originally I wanted to hire a housekeeper for a visit or two afterwards, but now DH says he really doesn't want to and that he'll clean instead. Um, he's never once cleaned our house. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't even know which cleaner to use on what or where they even are.

So how long did it take after giving birth to start doing things again?

Re: Btdt: cleaning after birth?

I actually got a lot done after. Babies sleep a lot. lol. I had a cs so I couldn't lift. DH helped b/c he was used to it since I was on bedrest. I had him carry laundry and I did it then he carried it back.

Re: Btdt: cleaning after birth?

I am a neat freak and always cleaning. It's easy when they're little. When they slept was when I cleaned. Even vacuumed. Funny thing is my older DS has some sensory issues and doesn't like certain noises (he's outgrown a lot), but he doesn't flinch when I turn on the vacuum. The OT was impressed with that and I told her he doesn't know any other sound.

BTW... I did have a cleaning person the first 3 months just to help. Especially since a lot of people come over. I keep a shoe free home.

Re: Btdt: cleaning after birth?

DS is almost 10 months old and I still haven't gotten into my old cleaning routine. I don't think I ever will! He's crawling so I need to keep the floors clean but we just have so little free time. Instead of doing my big cleaning every 2 weeks, DH and I just clean here and there whenever we can fit it in.

Re: Btdt: cleaning after birth?

I had no problem cleaning after baby. The first few weeks where ruff since I was in pain and getting used to sleep deprivation. I just made sure my DH knew the house needed to be spotless when I came home from hospital. I didn't want to deal with a messy house.
Baby sleeps a lot, you will have time.

Until the start crawling/ walking its easy to keep everything oragnized and clean.

Now with two kids it's hard to keep up.

Message edited 11/20/2013 5:24:48 PM.

Btdt: cleaning after birth?

This is all good to hear.

How soon after coming home from the hospital were you able to do things?

Btdt: cleaning after birth?

if you have a vbac you can pretty much do things right away (aside from heavy lifting and driving)
for me though, i found cleaning, cooking, etc very tough bc i was SO exhausted. dd wasnt sleeping long stretches, we had visitors almost all day every day so i could never nap. housework def took a toll bc if dd was napping or dh was taking care of her, i was much happier taking a nap myself.

Message edited 11/20/2013 3:47:52 PM.

Re: Btdt: cleaning after birth?

I still haven't (4.5 weeks PP here). My mom stayed with me for 2 weeks so she cleaned a lot, and DH is cleaning often but honestly I'm so tired that when he sleeps I try to rest, or I'm pumping to build a stash, or I do small things. I'm slowly starting to do more but I am definitely not as clean as I used to be.

Btdt: cleaning after birth?

When I got home. The only thing that really changed in my life is the fact that I function on less sleep. I still cook, clean and get up everyday and work. I am up later at night and get up an hr earlier so I can get things done.

Re: Btdt: cleaning after birth?

Re: Btdt: cleaning after birth?

I had a vaginal delivery with my first and I was in pain for a while. I couldn't stand for long periods of time. So it took me about 2 weeks to start getting back to my old routine.

Second pregnancy vaginal as well. I felt pretty normal within a few days. Such a quick recovery.

I just read your original post again. If you have the money get a house keeper for a few weeks. Less things you have to worry about. Give you more time to adjust to being a parent. If your husband never cleans your house, you know he is not going to start now. He is going to be tired too. I never said no to any extra help anyone wanted to give. You never know how it truly is going to be until that baby arrives and everyone adjust to the situation differently. After a while you will for sure be able to clean and get back in to a routine, but a little cleaning help can't hurt.

Message edited 11/20/2013 5:23:43 PM.

Re: Btdt: cleaning after birth?

I'm a little over 3 months pp & my house is a disaster. I don't think I'll be back to my normal cleaning routine any time soon

Btdt: cleaning after birth?

I'd get a cleaning person if you can afford it. Everyone told me "all newborns do is sleep" and I was counting on doing certain things but my baby did not sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time at first and then progressed to cat naps of 10-20 minutes. In addition, all he did was cry due to a milk allergy and reflux (they attributed the crying to this). He wanted to be held constantly and I couldn't do anything.

Also the recovery for me was much worse than I expected for a vaginal delivery. Physically it took me a few weeks to not feel sore and my legs/feet were holding so much water for about 2 weeks after birth.

I'm hoping for a better round this time! Lol

Message edited 11/20/2013 6:56:48 PM.

Btdt: cleaning after birth?

Can I just say that I opened this thread expecting it to be about cleaning the after birth as in the placenta! LOL And I'm wondering, don't they do that in the hospital for you?

Re: Btdt: cleaning after birth?

My main issue was the cesarean - I couldn't lift or do stairs. So, I hired a housekeeper. BEST money ever spent.