Those of you with toddlers??

Question

How often do you clean? I feel that their level should be spotless, therefore I vacuum daily and go through toys and wipe the plastic down with Clorox wipes daily,dust her room and change her sheets every other day. My husband feels that this is a bit much. What say you??

Yes, only child and I am a stay-at-home Mom.

Answer 1

OMG YES TO OBSESSIVE !! its actually unhealthy too be to clean ya know! a normal level of dust and bacteria protects u and immunizes you! clean! but not soooo much ha ha must be ya only child huh?

Answer 2

I think it is great that you care so much about keeping a clean and safe environment for your children. It is important to have a clean place for you child to play but it does not need to be sanitized/sterile. It is good for children to come into contact with some germs, it helps them build immunities. Strong immunities means a strong immune system and your child will actually get sick less often than if they had been in a perfectly clean environment. Vacuuming daily is a good idea but you may want to cut the Clorox wipes, dusting and sheet changing to once a week. This way it would actually be better for you child and easier on you. You can spend more time playing and less time cleaning.

Answer 3

That's really a matter of your own opinion. Children are tougher than what most people give them credit. No, I do not think that "their level" should be spotless....you will drive yourself insance trying to keep "their level" spotless. The dusting her room and changing her sheets every other day is a bit much. Vacuuming daily, I would agree with, but not something that HAS to be done. I hate to clean, and only clean like once a week, and my child is just fine. Your husband is probably right...it is a bit much.

Answer 4

I do little things everyday instead of being a clean freak..I pick up the house everyday and do dishes everyday but I do the extra stuff a little each day so not to be overwhelmed. Like one day I will do laundry including bedding (I only wash bedding once a week unless needed otherwise.) The next Day I will dust and do floors.. The next day I will scrub showers and toilets.. Then I start over... When I go through each room though, I do lysol most everything, and I do use clorox wipes, but I only use them on counters, sinks, tables and other big things.. Not toys... there are to many to go through..

Honestly my cleaning agenda is kinda hard to put into writing, but with the way I do it.. I only spend 2 hours a day mon-fri cleaning.. (usually at nap time... ) and I get the weekends to laze around with my 2 1/2 year old son and my husband!!!




I just want to add, that I do clean my childs toys..... The ones that he plays with, at the end of the day I dump out his toy basket, and spray them with lysol, unless they are really dirty, them I throw them in the dishwasher.. As far as his stuffed animals, I wash those the same day I wash his bedding, and I always scrub down everything insight while and after anyone in the family gets sick.. However it has been almost a year, since anyones has been that way!!!!

Answer 5

I am a clean freak! I am also obsessive compulsive! If you just can't keep yourself from cleaning you might want to see a Doctor about that. Have you always been like this or just after the baby? Unless there is something harmful on toys like poop or blood, etc.
once a week with the Clorox is probably enough. And same on the sheets, unless she is soiling them. Baby's need to be exposed to germs. Getting sick every once in a while will help build a stronger immune system. I still would vacuum everyday! Just because kid's love to put crap off the floor in their mouth! And although most things won't hurt her, you save your self from wondering what the hell she just swallowed! Good Luck!

Answer 6

I don't go that far with it. I make sure the bed sheets are changed on a weekly basis unless soiled. I also vaccume every two or three days. I only dust about once a week.
I LOVE Clorox wipes though!! I also like to put some of his toys in the dishwasher (top rack).
I don't feel like you're being over protective or what you do is too much. It's obvious that you love your little one and want to do everything in your power to keep things clean for her.
I guess i'm just relaxed a bit now that i've got 4 of them and only one left at home.

Answer 7

I agree that you should vacuum daily!! The other things I feel are a little over kill. Unless your child is ill or you have had others playing with your child's toys there is NO reason to sanitize toys everyday. Do you change your sheets every other day?? Why would you change a child's so often? Unless a child has in some way soiled their sheets there is no need to change them more than once every week or so. I am a Grandmother with 41 grandchildren and I raised 31 children to a very healthy adulthood. Relax and enjoy your child cleaning can always wait.

Answer 8

I vacuum and dust once a week, change her sheet about once a month, and spot clean her toys when needed.

I am a stay at home mom and have an 19 month old daughter and one on the way.

For me, life is too short to worry about keeping the house spotless. She'll ingest much worse and probably already has when she's outside or at public places. I play with her most of the day and then she 'helps' with dusting and moping, etc..

Answer 9

I'd say you have a lot of free time on your hands to do all that cleaning....

I think its a lot too much and really at this point you'd want to help increase her immune system by exposing her to a few germs and bugs - not try to completely isolate her and then deal with her being possibly sicker with illnesses for longer periods of time in the future.
Of course it depends on the traffic in your house, but changing sheets (unless there's an accident) and dusting once a week, vacuum twice a week, and don't worry about the toys (again unless there's an accident) would be fine.

Answer 10

I have three kids and a toddler right now I used to clean just like you then I slowed down and started getting frustrated with the mess of everyting. So maybe you clean a little too often I vacumn everyother day and i only wipe down the toys if they are really bad or if someone in the house is sick I know dust builds up but think how much time you could be spending with your beautiful baby. I know that is what causd me to not besuch a "neat freak " I do still clean a lot but I pace myself and my boyfriend helps out a lot too.

Answer 11

I vacum every other day or so. I never change the sheets every other day (my water bill would be over 200.00 a month if I did that and I would be in deep with hubby then.) I change the sheets when I feel they need changed, about once a week or every other week, unless they are sick. As for the toys I usually won't wipe them down unless they are sick. Unless they put them in there mouth a lot (toys shaped like food) and I toss that in the dishwasher (that is how the box said to clean them). I would go with hubby, vacum a little less, dust less, and don't worry about over cleaning the toys, if they get yucky then clean it. You are spending a fortune on cleaning products that you really shouldn't have to. Good luck.