Do you bother de-babying after bedtime?

[marron]

I have to tidy up, because anything left out overnight my dogs consider fair game!

 

[MrsPear]

I was well on the slippery slope long before Joni was born. She's just been a brilliant excuse not to keep the place ship-shape.

 

[pompeyvix]

Yes, everything is put away, can't relax otherwise. My husband is on bed time duty and I am downstairs preparing bottles and milk and putting away her toys! Can't relax in the evening otherwise.

A carpeted kitchen sounds horrible! Who would chose to do that, so impractical. My mum has a carpeted bathroom (also rented) and that's a nightmare too.

 

[polaris]

Yes every night, I agree that it's best to make it part of the routine because it only gets worse as they get older! My three year old has to help with the tidy-up now though before he gets to watch his programmes before bed. Having said that, even after we've tidied up the place still looks like a toy shop because there just isn't enough space for everything.

 

[Mrs_Random]

I just move enough toys to be able to walk through the living room without falling over them!

They all go in a big box and I regularly put things back in it during the day. I think half the fun if the toys for my son is taking them out the toy box!

Once a week either me or hubby go through the box and put all the puzzle pieces back together and books in his cupboard tidy the toys all nice and neat for him to mess up and get out again.
Sometimes we also need to move the sofa for the puzzle pieces which is why we do it to make sure they don't get lost or left behind the sofa for too long as the dog would help herself thinking we didn't want them.

She's usually pretty good at not touching the kids toys, it's only teddies or soft things we have to watch her with.

 

[babydust1990]

Yeah, we have the same system as others. I do bedtime and OH tidies up.

 

[onetwothreebp]

i don't have food problems because LO only eats in the kitchen where the floor is easy to clean. also, we spend 15 minutes as a part of his bedtime routine of having him help put his toys away so eventually he will be able to do it all on his own

 

[LilyValley]

Yeah I try to, my LO is 12 weeks so I suppose it's a bit easier for me at the moment. I just get the bottles sterilised and bibs, muslins, clothes etc put away out of the living room so we can relax. Upstairs is a different story though! As long as I have one room tidied of baby things then I feel ok and can relax.

 

[Kittyran]

Yes we put everything away, but only because we have cats and I don't want them laying on his rug/toys/jumper. They have a habit of vomiting on anything I don't want them to vomit on...lovely!

If I didn't have cats, I would leave them out all night since I put everything back out first thing in the morning.

 

[mellyboo]

We put all the baby stuff away every night I don't feel comfortable if things are a mess

 

[Pink Sunshine]

I'm really wierd about needing everything clean. Maybe I should pay a visit to that OCD thread I was a bit ago. I can't relax if everything isn't spotless. So far things are great because LO doesn't move around yet. I'm wondering what is going to happen when she's mobile. I already have plans on how to keep the floors clean when LO starts solids next month. I totally need to relax a bit when it comes to the cleaning.

 

[x__amour]

No, usually the weekends are my big cleaning days. I work 40+ hours a week and get home late because of my commute so I'm tired damnit, haha. If there's a spill or something, I'll clean it up at the time but I don't really go out of my way to make everything spick and span every single night. Sundays are my big cleaning days.

 

[minties]

I keep things tidy all during the day, simply because I am lazy. If there was a huge mess at the end, it would stay that way.

Both kids are asleep by 7:30, between 7:30 and 8:00 I hang out the days nappies to dry for tomorrow, put on another load, fold and put away clean ones etc. And OH does the dinner dishes and tidied up any toys or discarded clothes and stuff.

So between 8-10 we can relax, it's all tidy for the morning.

 

[CertainTurton]

We tend to tidy up the toys and hide them all behind the curtain (long ones covering an alcove!) so that we can sit and watch tv/eat/chat without them there. But I'm not the best at tidying the rest of the house every night (e.g. the table etc).
As a PP said, my DD loves going behind the curtain in the morning and bringing it all out again....the mess within minutes is amazing!!

 

[XJessicaX]

ohh yes! Im not an anally tidy person but while DD1 is in the bath with OH looking after her I de-baby the whole lounge. I like the evenings to be adult (even though DD2 is with us asleep) everything is put away, the rug is straightened, the kitchen is cleaned, cushions plumped, TV switched off Cbeebies, glass of wine on side and I bustle around so when OH comes down the whole house is suddenly our couple time and we become husband and wife rather than feeling like nursery staff!

 

[Amy2701]

I like my evenings to be mine and OH's time together. I make sure DD is in bed by 7:30pm at the latest (DS is asleep in Moses basket in the living room with us until we go to bed). Toys are tidied straight away by whoever isn't on bedtime duty and we have our dinner and watch some TV. I have kids TV on for DD during the day, but this goes off at 4pm so DD knows that it's teatime, then she'll have some playtime before bed. X

 

[xsadiex]

I feel so much more relaxed when Jasper's mess is cleared away! It's annoying having to do it everyday but this is what our lives are like now haha.

 

[SassyLou]

Yes
While I bath and booby dh tidies kitchen and our sons (12 & 14) tidy away their toys, when their big brother now 23 was a teenager he used to tidy away the boys toys when they were little!
Teenagers can be useful!

 

[KatieB]

I tidy up when I get the chance throughout the day. Just sat down with a cup of tea (at last)! after tidying up Louis' tornado of toys all over the front room, washed up and done some ironing. Hoping they both stay asleep so I can drink it OH does his fair share when home from work, too. He is more than a bit anal about the floor being clean and reclycling

 

[NotNic]

Yep I tidy up baby things every night, wipe down the leather sofas, the high chair and sweep and wash the floors. I clean and do a few jobs during his naps. By doing a few bits every day its much easier to stay in control. I found it soo frustrating when I was bfing a newborn and could see the house getting messier.