If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you know that I have a new little man in my life. Baby River was born about six weeks ago and is our first child. We had been told that life would change immediately, but didn’t know exactly what to expect. While we have been lucky with the fact that River sleeps in four-hour chunks each night, likes to sleep in each morning, and is generally in a good mood most days, it’s still been an adjustment trying to figure out how to get stuff done each day.
My husband and I have been married for almost 10 years, so to say that we had some routines established in our home is a bit of an understatement. Now that we have a newborn, we’ve had to throw out many of our old habits and come up with new ways to get things done. From working in our businesses to getting the housework done, it’s amazing how this little baby can make us change how we accomplish our daily tasks. Here are a few of the ways that we have figured out how to get stuff done with a new baby in the house.
Adjust Your Expectations
First and foremost, if you have a new baby in your home, it’s time to cut yourself some slack. For the first few weeks we felt like we were literally just trying to keep our heads above water. We were adjusting our sleep schedules, entertaining visiting family members, and dealing with all the physical changes my body was going through, all while keeping a tiny human alive. If you have a newborn, you are probably dealing with all of these, and possibly more, changes in your home.
Even the most organized and tidy person will find it difficult to keep up with everything in the first weeks (or months!) of having a new baby. Just remember: tasks like dishes, vacuuming, and laundry are pretty small in the grand scheme of things. If you get behind on things, you can catch up later. If you have people coming to visit you and the baby, they will understand if your sink is full of dishes. Recognize that your primary role right now is being with your baby, so be easy on yourself if you let the other things slip.
Think in 5 Minute Blocks
One of the biggest things that is helping me get things done around the house with a new baby is to think in 5 minute blocks. Before baby, I would focus on making sure I finished a task when I started it. Now with baby, I focus on spending just 5 minutes on a task. Instead of thinking I am going to empty the dishwasher, load the dishwasher, and wipe down the counters, I often head in to the kitchen intending to only unload one rack of the dishwasher. If I can get more done, it’s a bonus, but at least I accomplish something. I feel like I never know how long the baby is going to stay happy or asleep, so when I have the chance to do something, I set the bar low and get as much done in a few minutes as I can. Taking this approach has helped me to break up the household and work tasks over the course of the day.
Ask for Help
Like many women, I’ve always prided myself on not needing help, especially around the house. When our son was born, that all had to change quickly. During labor I had femoral nerve damage which means that I left the hospital with a leg that was “dead.” Overnight I went from being a healthy, active pregnant woman to being a woman who couldn’t even get out of bed without help from my husband. It was an incredibly humbling experience, but it made me learn how to ask for help because I couldn’t do a lot of basic things for weeks.
If you were someone who came to my house in the first month after the birth of my son, you probably heard something along the lines of, “I can’t wait to see you! Can you stop and pick up a couple things at the store?” or “Here’s the baby. Do you mind watching him while I take a nap?” or even, “Thanks for coming over! Could you cut up a watermelon while you’re here?” No joke, I asked my friends and family to do so many things when they came to visit and not a single person told me no. Even if you don’t have an injury, recovering from giving birth is a process. Give your body a break and ask for help.
Wear Your Baby
As I mentioned earlier, Baby River is a pretty good sleeper, but there are still some challenges. One challenge in particular is that he prefers his afternoon nap to be spent being held by mom. While I love staring at his little face, it kills me to know that I could be using nap time to get stuff done. To help me do both, I use a Boba wrap. River gets to snuggle up next to me, and I can have both hands available to fold laundry, prep food for meals, or work on my computer. It took a bit to learn how to use the wrap, but now that I have the hang of it I can get an additional 2 hours of productivity each day. It’s fantastic!
Multitask
Nap time is so important when you need to get things done, but what if your baby doesn’t want to nap? Baby wearing can be a great option, but what if you just need a little space to yourself? That’s where multitasking comes in to play. In our house, the bouncy seat used to be a great place for River to nap. He used to sleep for hours in the seat, but now he only sleeps when he’s being bounced. What’s a mom to do? Multitask. While I’m writing this episode, I’m actively bouncing him with my foot. The second my foot stops moving the seat, his eyes pop open, but as long as I can keep bouncing him he sleeps and I get my writing done.
Whether you are working on your computer while bouncing the baby with your foot, eating while you are feeding the baby, or doing squats while you are walking a fussy baby around the house, multitasking allows for something to get done while you are still tending to your baby.
Communicate Your Roles
The final thing that we’ve discovered helps us get stuff done is communicating our roles. My husband and I have always split a lot of the work around our home, but that was before I had a little person demanding I be at his beck and call 24 hours a day. My husband and I quickly discovered that, when faced with a miscommunication and a lack of sleep, we could both turn nasty pretty fast. When we had clear expectation on who was going to take care of specific tasks around the house, we were much more civil toward each other. We’ve also realized that we need to check in with each other about once a week to see how the other is doing and determine if we need to adjust any of the task allocation. If you can maintain clarity over responsibilities, you’ll likely also find that you get along with your partner during this transition time.
Having a newborn is an adjustment for everyone in the home, but with a little extra communication, a bit of creativity, and a lot of patience, you can find ways to get things done with the new baby. Keep trying new things, and soon you’ll find yourself in a new routine that works for everyone.
Until next time, I’m the Domestic CEO, helping you love your home.
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