Cleaning Hacks 101: How To Keep A House Clean With A Toddler


how to keep a house clean with a toddler

This question is frequently asked by a lot of new moms. They worry that their homes might become messy and disorganized instead with a toddler around.

It’s common for homes with kids to be messy, so there’s no need to feel ashamed, but make sure that your cleaning process and organizing your home are not hindered by your kids. You can include your kids in the process after meals and ensure they take responsibility for tidying up their own messes.

Keeping a house clean with kids can pose challenges, especially for busy parents with limited time. Today, we will talk about a method to assist you in keeping your house tidy despite the presence of a toddler.

So, don’t let your young kids stop you from keeping a neat and orderly home. Implementing these brilliant tactics inspired by the wisdom of many moms will help you transition from disorganization to being incredibly neat and organized.

Is It Possible To Keep A House Clean With A Toddler?

Maintaining a clean and tidy home is possible with a small child, but it may require effort and flexibility. Kids frequently create messes while playing and exploring due to their curiosity and enthusiasm.

You can maintain a neat and orderly living space by implementing specific procedures and strategies.

Establishing a cleaning routine and organizing tasks must be your initial step. Tasks should be divided into smaller parts and finished when the child is asleep or occupied with other activities.

Including little kids in cleaning, routines can help cultivate their sense of responsibility and create an enjoyable opportunity to spend time together.

Afterward, remove any unwanted items and clean up and arrange the entire house. To reduce the chances of having a messy environment, keep kids stuff in a designated place. Utilize storage containers for all the toys and keep dirty kids’ clothes in the laundry room.

It is important to establish boundaries and teach the child the importance of a clean and tidy house. They should avoid eating in the living room or family room and only play in specific areas.

Additionally, it would be wise to invest in furnishings covers that are easy to clean and carpets that can be washed. This will help minimize the amount of maintenance needed. This will help you handle any spills or accidents effectively.

It is important to recognize that a certain level of chaos is unavoidable when trying to keep a clean house with kids.

How To Keep A Clean House With A Toddler

To avoid the feeling that domestic tasks take up your entire life, establish specific time frames for cleaning.

The kitchen, which is heavily used, is cleaned every night. Following the meal, the entire family cleans up the kitchen by storing the food. Set a time restriction for yourself, usually when the kids are done getting ready for bed. One must be proactive and adaptive to maintain a clean house while caring for small kids.

There Are Some Things You Can Do:

  1. First, create a regular cleaning schedule that includes effectively cleaning up while your little one is playing.
  2. Pay special attention to the living room and kitchen since these areas are more often used.
  3. Include your little ones in various cleaning tasks as well to make it a fun and instructive experience.
  4. Encourage children to pick up their toys after playing.
  5. It’s essential to take preventative measures to save the house from risks and clutter; this makes deep cleaning the house easier.
  6. To efficiently manage any unforeseen spills or mishaps, use materials that are easier to clean.

Limit The Number Of Toys

Toys play an important role in a kid’s life. Limiting the number of toys is one practical way to have a tidy house. Even while it could be alluring to have many toys, too many might cause clutter and make it hard to organize them.

Think about changing toys frequently, keeping only a few collections available, and storing the rest in kids’ rooms. By doing this, you may lessen the mess while simultaneously encouraging your kid to play actively with the toys.

Choose toys that are simple to clean and keep. Avoid playing with toys with many tiny pieces since they might become messy or difficult to organize. It will be simpler to keep toys neat if you choose sturdy and easy-to-clean toys, particularly after a messy play session.

Additionally, helping your kids organize and clean up their toys may help them learn important lessons about responsibility. To give kids the opportunity to take control of their play area, encourage them to think about which toys they would want to play next with.

 Clean When They’re Napping Or Down For The Night

When you have a small kid, an excellent time to clean the home is when they are napping. Take advantage of these peaceful times by organizing and finishing home duties that require attention.

Try not to do anything that could disturb or make noise when they are asleep. Use this opportunity to clear up any clutter, put toys away, clean the dining table, wash dirty dishes, and put dirty clothes in the laundry basket.

Deep cleaning a house is a daunting task, and you would feel overwhelmed, but consider dividing your home duties into smaller tasks for the whole family.

By making the most of quieter moments, while your child sleeps, you may keep your house clean and organized without succumbing to the pressure of cleaning while simultaneously taking care of small children.

Teach Them To Clean Up After Themselves

In addition to helping keep your house tidy, teaching your young kid to clean up their own messes instills valuable life skills and a feeling of responsibility. Start by setting a good example and show how to arrange toys and declutter properly.

Since kids often imitate their parents’ actions, organizing your surroundings will inspire them to do the same.

Add music to the organizing process to make it more enjoyable and engaging. Make a particular toy area and teach your kids where each toy goes. They can quickly distinguish where various goods should go by using colorful containers or distinctive labels with illustrations.

After the games and fun are gone, assist your small kid in tidying up the area together. Make them feel gratified and pleased with their excellent results by expressing your respect and support for their diligent efforts. Try not to be irritated; instead, concentrate on appreciating the effort they made.

Gradually give your kid bigger responsibility as they improve their cleaning skills. For instance, kids might assist in clearing their dishes after meals placing their shoes in the shoe rack, or placing their clothing in the hamper.

Children learn that maintaining a clean home is a family duty by being given age-appropriate activities to do. When teaching children new behaviors, it is crucial to be consistent.

As kids grow, they will acquire a feeling of ownership over their surroundings and possessions, increasing their propensity to keep things tidy.

Deal With Messes Right Away

Deal With Messes Right Away

When you have a little child, it’s important to address dirt to keep your home clean. Young toddlers are curious adventurers, and unexpected accidents can happen at any time.

When stuff is quickly taken care of, the mess is cleaned, and the spread of dirt and germs is reduced.

It’s very important to have the necessary cleaning supplies within easy reach in places like the kitchen and living or activity areas where accidents and messes often happen.

By quickly dealing with any untidiness, you can make sure that the living area of your home is cleaner and more comfortable. Plus, it’s a good example for your little one, showing them how important it is to keep things clean and deal with spills right away.

Do Small Batch Of Laundry Every Day

Doing a load of laundry daily is a favored time-saving strategy for moms. You can no longer hide dirty clothes by washing them weekly. It is crucial to establish a regular habit of washing, preferably after dinner.

This is not time-consuming; all you need is twenty minutes, and you will have your clothes cleaned. As you go about your day, the washing machine can take care of the laundry. Make sure to move the clothes to the dryer.

Tidy House As You Cook

Cooking dinner can be quite challenging when you have small kids.

When cooking, it is advisable to clean the kitchen while you cook. After you finish, remember to wash the used utensils and cutting board and then put them in their right place. Dispose of food scraps and garbage. Make sure to wipe down the counters.

Once you start practicing the habit of cleaning the kitchen while you cook, it will be easier for you to keep it that way.

Make a Fun Cleaning Routine

When you add fun and engagement, cleaning up with a small kid can become joyful and engaging. You may turn boring chores into thrilling experiences for your young partner by bringing creativity and playfulness to the cleaning process.

Set exciting objectives or use a timer to keep track of time to make organizing more engaging. Have a friendly competition to see who can organize a certain area fastest or see how many toys your kid can pick up in a minute.

Encourage your child’s ingenuity to make cleaning up fun rather than tedious. Introduce a variety of cleaning supplies and products made for kids to encourage their participation and accountability. Children may utilize specially made little brooms, mops, and lovely dusters. These instruments are attractive and simple for little hands to use.

Make sure you have a cheerful and motivating outlook during the whole procedure. Make cleaning a team effort, and thank your kids for their hard work. Be patient and allow them to learn quickly so they don’t associate cleaning =with anything bad.

You may teach your young kid to have a favorable attitude about keeping things clean by making cleaning up a pleasant and engaging activity.

Use Electric Appliances For Cleaning

Automation improves your cleaning processes and frees up your time to accomplish other things. Regarding home management, there are numerous techniques to make cleaning automated. You can utilize a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom for sweeping the floor or a dishwasher instead of washing dirty dishes manually.

Why Do Little Kids Make Cleaning The House So Hard?

To find a solution, you must first understand the problem. And your child isn’t the problem. Toddlers do go through a variety of developmental phases. Additionally, your child will ultimately leave behind a mess with all of those scattered developmental milestones.

Here are some reasons why your toddler’s growth stage makes it challenging to keep your house tidy:

  1. They enjoy exploring. Their minds encourage them to test their limits and find out what’s next.
  2. They are working on themselves and gaining independence. Your toddler’s independence benefits your family in numerous ways. They’ll require less support. They’ll want to be independent by doing things they don’t know how to accomplish, which might create complications. They’ll succeed when they dine at the table like adults, choose their own clothing, pour milk, and even get some in the cup.
  3. They spend a lot of time playing. Toddlers learn via playing, which means a lot of activities, toys, and, eventually, messes!

Final Thoughts:

In other words, caring for a small kid might make it challenging to keep your home tidy and organized. This activity is easier to complete and more attainable by using effective cleaning strategies. The idea is to include your little one in the action and implement these clever strategies into your everyday routine. When you do it this way, it makes the actual deep cleaning process quite fun, and the help you get from your kids is such a blessing that you’ll never think twice about it!

Parents may help their children form healthy habits and learn vital life skills by providing a safe and organized environment. It is crucial to remember that maintaining a clean house while caring for a small kid requires considerable tolerance, flexibility, and optimism.

You may reach cleanliness while still enjoying the satisfaction of caring for your surroundings by using these distinctive cleaning tips and customizing them to meet your particular scenario. Not only is it healthy to keep your living space tidy and organized, but it also contributes to your children’s general growth and development.

Stephanie Edenburgh

I'm Steph, a mom to 3 beautiful children and lover all things having to do with my family and being a mom. I've learned a lot raising my own children and working in education and healthcare roles throughout my career. Living in beautiful Southern California I enjoy documenting and writing about all of the hard work us mom's do on a daily basis.

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