Sometime near the end of your third trimester, your nesting instincts will kick into high gear. You’ll get sudden bursts of energy and have the desire to prep for the new baby’s arrival.
The real question is the best way to use your second wind to get your house ready in time.
Many women lean into cleaning and organization to help soothe the nesting beast.
These helpful tips and list of tasks will move you through the last few weeks of your pregnancy and prepare your home to bring home your precious little one.
Quick Tips for Pre-Baby Cleaning
While you may feel the urge to jump right in, a certain amount of preparedness will help you in the long run.
Follow these tips to stay safe and clean most effectively.
Work From Top to Bottom
The best cleaning advice for any season is to work from the top of your home to the bottom. Otherwise, when you brush crumbs off counters and dust light fixtures, your clean floors will get dirty again.
Clean top to bottom, or you’ll have to do tasks twice.
Enlist Help
Asking for help from friends and family will get you through the next few weeks with your sanity mostly intact.
The timing of your nesting instincts makes completing the tasks you’re dying to get done challenging. The discomfort and awkwardness of your big belly can get in the way. Plus, your energy bursts may not last as long as you like.
Getting assistance from your loved ones will allow you to take more breaks and step back from tasks that are too difficult.
Use Safe Cleaners
It’s important to remember you’re still carrying life inside of you — skip the bleach and harsh chemicals to keep your little one safe.
Plus, the whole purpose of this cleaning frenzy is to prepare for the baby’s arrival. You wouldn’t want them to come in contact with any dangerous substances.
Take Your Time
Cleaning while you’re pregnant should be a marathon, not a sprint. Your nesting instincts will give you a natural sense of urgency.
However, you need to remember your safety and energy levels. Take it easy. Hydrate and take plenty of breaks. Rely on the help from your loved ones to cross the finish line.
Be Careful
Moving too quickly and not taking breaks can cause you to make dangerous mistakes. Slow down and think before acting.
At this stage in your pregnancy, your center of gravity is drastically different, as is your range of movements.
You should avoid twisting too far, lifting heavy objects and standing on counters or chairs. Ask someone else to help you with these types of tasks or save them for later.
Essential Cleaning Tasks
When you have limited time, energy or help, tackle these cleaning projects first to prepare your home for your little one’s arrival.
1. Dust Everywhere
Babies are especially sensitive to dust and dust mites. Their noses can’t filter as effectively as an adult or older child. If you’ve been avoiding general dusting for a while, now is the time to tackle all your surfaces.
You should also go over the less commonly cleaned spots like ceiling fans and light fixtures — even though your child won’t touch them, clumps of dust will occasionally fall from these heights.
2. Clean the Floors
Between tummy time and learning to roll over, your little one will spend a lot of time on the floor. You want your carpets and hardwoods to be as clean as possible to keep your baby safe.
Now is your opportunity to give them a deep scrubbing. Ensure you’re using clean and green products as you go. Otherwise, you’re trading one danger for another.
3. Deep Clean the Bathroom and Kitchen
Bathrooms and kitchens are a veritable nightmare of germs. You’ll never think of them the same way once you have a newborn and then a crawling and toddling machine.
Before you bring your baby home, you should sanitize every surface, especially floors, counters and handles. Give your toilets, sinks and appliances a good scrub too.
The cleaners for these projects are sometimes more harsh, so you may need to use your helpers to finish off these rooms.
4. Wash the Baby’s Clothes
Babies have sensitive skin to match their easily irritated noses. As such, you should wash their precious new baby clothes before tucking them into the dresser.
Clothing straight from the store has any number of unknown chemicals that can irritate baby skin. Avoid rashes and reactions with a few loads of laundry.
Once you finish, you and your nesting instincts will love organizing all the little onesies.
If You Have the Time
If you’ve knocked everything off the essential list, these tasks will prepare you even further for the arrival of your little one.
1. Declutter
Babies come with a lot of gear. Make more room in your home by downsizing your closet and going through every cabinet and drawer.
2. Clean Out the Fridge
Once your baby arrives, friends and family will bring you lots of food. Clean out your refrigerator to accommodate the influx. You should also make room in the freezer if you plan to store breastmilk.
3. Do Spring Cleaning Tasks
Traditional spring cleaning tasks like washing the windows and flipping your mattress won’t seem important when you’re experiencing newborn sleep deprivation. Tackle these items now, so they’re done for another year.
Remember to Enjoy This Time
With your hormones urging you to keep crossing items off your to-do list, it’s difficult to slow down and take stock of this momentous time in your life.
Getting your home clean before the baby arrives is important.
However, you also need to take the time to enjoy these last few weeks without a newborn. Whether this is your first or fourth child, your life is about to change dramatically.
Pause and bask for a bit.