One of the things you should not do while expecting a baby is to allow yourself to be so overwhelmed by the anticipation of welcoming a baby that you forget to prepare the home where said baby is coming to live in.
Baby-proofing your home usually means picking out a space for where the nursery will be, cleaning your house thoroughly for the first time in a lifetime, or upping and relocating to a new house altogether.
One thing is clear; you have to start as soon as possible because while you might dislike the fact that your wife has to clean up after you now, you don’t want to wait until she’s into the second trimester of pregnancy.
Follow these few tips to prepare your house for the arrival of your baby.
Give your house a thorough safety check
Even the most organized homes can turn into disaster sites in no time once a new baby arrives. Plus, the idea of crawling into the kitchen at home and opening cabinets that contain toxins has got to be one of the scariest thoughts ever. So you’ll want to do everything you can to avoid that. Babies start to gain mobility in practically the blink of an eye. One minute they’re cuddly bundles of joy who can’t hold up their necks, next thing, they’re crawling all around the whole place. It’s much easier to get rid of potential hazards before the baby comes than when you’re sleep-starved later on. Cleaning products, medication, and other chemicals should always be kept out of reach or sight, locked away in inaccessible cabinets.
Unclutter
Try to make your house as clutter free as possible before the baby arrives. Bundle extra baggage and seldom used things and find storage units near you to store them. You want to get as many things as you can out of the way to have more space. When you need a particular stored item, you can always retrieve it.
For Spills: Use microfiber cleaning clothes in place of paper towels in favor of microfiber cleaning cloths, they are reusable, absorbent and dry really quickly, plus they are less likely to choke a baby.
For Cutlery: Load and unload the dishwasher. Keep everything clean, wipe out the plates you’re less likely to use in the coming months and store them away. Leave only unbreakable plates as they are less likely to cause injury.
Do Laundry Ahead of Time: Wash and fold clothes and put them away. Things are going to get all over the place once the baby arrives, worse if baby blues hit the mother, so don’t slack. Remove the brand packaging and tags or labels from clothes. These might irritate the baby’s sensitive skin. Use dye-free detergents and perfumes. Better still, use only cosmetic products marketed for infants.
Plan to Get Help
Keeping a clean house while tending to a demanding new baby is one of the hardest tasks in the world. You’re going to have a lot of things to do and think about, chief of which is you’re your next shuteye will be. Consider asking for help in advance, whether paid or voluntary.
