Toddlers are a lot. A lot of energy, a lot of spirit, sometimes a lot of tantrums, & always a lot of fun. But when it comes time to clean the house, the aftermath of all that spirited energy can be a lot as well. And unless you’re Carol Brady, a live-in housekeeper is not in the budget. But there are things you can do that are within your reach. Read on to discover my 5 tips for how to keep your house clean with toddlers.
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How to Keep Your House Clean with Toddlers
Trying to maintain a clean house with toddlers running around can feel nearly impossible. The constant sweeping of crumbs and wiping of handprints is enough to drive anyone to drink. But with a little hard work on the front end, you can improve things in the long run. Investing a little bit of energy, time, and money into your family’s cleaning routine will help you keep your house clean despite the recurring hurricane that is your toddler.
Why It’s So Tough to Keep Your House Clean with Toddlers
Before you can find a solution, you need to understand the problem. And the problem is not actually your toddler. In fact, it’s not really a problem at all, but more of an untapped resource. Your toddler is like a player on the bench, just waiting for coach (you) to put them in the game. Sure, they’re currently coloring with permanent marker on said bench, but they will still jump at the chance to help out the team.
The thing is, toddlers are going through a lot in terms of development. And with all of those developmental milestones laying around, your toddler is bound to make a mess. 🙂
Here’s why your toddler’s developmental stage makes it tricky to keep your house clean:
- They are explorers. Their brains and bodies are telling them to push the boundaries, see what’s around the corner, and pull out every single thing inside the junk drawer.
- They are learning to be independent. Toddler independence means lots of good things for your family. They will be more self-sufficient and won’t require as much work from you. But in the meantime, their push for independence means they will be trying to do things they’ve never done before, and that can get messy. They will unlock achievements like eating at the table like a big kid, picking out their clothes, pouring the milk and even getting some of it in the cup.
- They haven’t mastered cleanliness. Your toddler will want to help you clean, but that doesn’t mean they will help you clean. Often it’s quite the opposite. Their “help” with cleaning usually means an even bigger mess to clean up. But trust me, it’s worth the investment. Instilling those skills and making cleaning fun will definitely pay off in later years.
- They do a lot of playing. Toddlers are constantly learning through play, and that means a lot of activities, which means a lot of supplies, which means clutter!
- They take up most of your time: The biggest reason why most parents struggle with how to keep the house clean with toddlers is due to the sheer amount of time they require. Though they are learning to do things for themselves, they still need a lot from you. The hours of the day leftover for you to clean are minimal. That’s why involving your toddler can help. Not only do you capitalize on the time you have available, but you model good skills for your toddler in the process.
5 Tips For How to Keep Your House Clean with Toddlers
So with all of that in mind, just how do you enlist your toddler as a house-cleaning ally instead of a homewrecking enemy?
Here are my best tips for how to keep your house clean with toddlers:
- Involve Your Toddler in Household Cleaning Duties
- Make Cleaning Automatic
- Employ Clean Up Songs
- Become A Savvy Storage Pro
- Make Cleaning Part of Your Toddler’s Routine
- Involve Your Toddler in Household Cleaning Duties
As mentioned above, including your toddler in household tasks is a double-edged sword. It may get messier for a time. But the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.
When my 2 year-old helps me fold the laundry, it usually doubles my time spent on the job. BUT, when I involve her, I model vital skills, encourage learning, enhance our bond, and I can keep my eye on her while crossing something off of my to-do list.
Also, pro tip: get your toddler a few toys specifically designed to encourage cleaning. I’ve included some of my recommendations below.
We like to put our toddler to work in lots of ways, including the following:
- Unloading & loading the dishwasher
- Folding laundry
- Washing the windows (she uses the squeegee that came with her LOVEVERY play kit)
- Sweeping the floors (this mop and broom set from Melissa and Doug is functional and adorable – pictured below)
- Dusting tables and other surfaces (our daughter uses the duster from the Melissa and Doug cleaning set and also this super cute hedgehog duster from Amazon)
- Putting dirty laundry in the hamper (this short mesh hamper from Amazon works well for our kid)
- Cleaning up toys (these fabric boxes make it easier for our little human to straighten up)
- Wiping the table after dinner
- Make Cleaning Automatic
When manufacturers innovate, they often find new ways to automate. Automation levels up your processes and buys you more time to do other things. When it comes to managing your household, there are several ways to make cleaning automatic.
Here are a few examples on how to best automate your cleaning routine:
Go automatic with a cleaning product subscription
You could easily set up a Subscribe and Save on Amazon for your favorite cleaning products. That will save you time and money. I get a lot of my household staples delivered via Amazon’s Subscribe and Save and I really appreciate the service. It saves me from having to spend time shopping for the products every few weeks, and because it’s shipped all at once, it helps the environment with less shipping expenses and emissions.
Another idea is to make cleaning fun with a subscription box devoted to high quality, eco-friendly household products, like the Essentials Crate from Cratejoy. Each shipment is loaded with 3-5 premium, full size, home, personal care, beauty and/or wellness products. Items include things like cleaning solutions & supplies, kitchen gadgets & utensils, zero waste alternatives, aromatherapy products, skincare tools/products, and personal wellness products.
Get the most out of your dishwasher
If you already own a dishwasher, good work. Not only are you saving gallons of water every week, but you are saving yourself loads of time. If you don’t have a dishwasher and you are financially OK, I highly recommend you get one. If you are short on space, this highly-rated countertop dishwasher from Farberware is an excellent option.
Create a cleaning schedule
Choose one cleaning task to do each day of the week, draw it up on a visual schedule, and hang it up where you will see it. Visual cleaning schedules will help you stay on track and also ensure that everyone pitches in. You can involve the whole family and make a chore chart like the one in this tutorial from Penny Pinchin’ Mom.
Get a robot vacuum
Investing in a high quality robot vacuum is 100% worth it. And trust me when I tell you that it will make toddler life so much easier. There is nothing better than completing a task that normally takes several minutes with a simple click of a button. I recommend this amazing robot vacuum from Neato Robotics. The Neato D8 Robot Vacuum (pictured below) is Neato Robotics’ premium vacuum and it really gets the job done.
It’s got a big dirt bin so it can cover a lot of ground on a single charge, about 100 minutes of run time. Another awesome feature of the D8 is that it has two modes, Eco & Turbo – Eco mode for a normal level of vacuuming, and Turbo mode for a deeper clean.
Not only do robot vacuums make cleaning more automatic just by their very nature, but the Neato D8 Robot Vacuum allows you to use the Neato Robotics app to create a cleaning schedule that works for your family. And check out the Neato D7 for a more affordable option. Another awesome way to automate!
Use shower/tub cleaning spray
When you spray your tub down with shower spray after each bath or shower, the spray ingredients get to work while you go about your day. Daily shower sprays dissolve and prevent soap scum without having to rinse afterward. And in my experience, when it comes time to scrub the tub, the daily shower spray makes it so much easier and faster. My preferred daily shower spray is this one from Method. It smells amazing and works really well.
Get a table protector
While it won’t necessarily make cleaning automatic, it will make it easier. We use a table protector on our dining room table and we LOVE it. It makes clean-up after dinner really easy and it’s also perfect for arts and crafts time. This is the table protector we have and we couldn’t be happier.
Use an air purifier
A quality air purifier will automatically clean the air in your home and you won’t have to lift a finger. This air purifier from Brookstone is an awesome and affordable option that has a UV-C light that kills bacteria and viruses, making your home a safer space to breathe. It also removes up to 99% of airborne allergens and dust which is super useful for keeping your home clean.
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- Employ Cleaning Up Songs
Whenever I want to get my daughter excited about a task, I make up a song about it. Like ‘Here we go, time to pick up all those books you spread all over the floor, whoa-whoa-whoa, and now let’s put those three hundred Legos back in the bag before I step on them and fall down in pain, doo doo doooo‘ or something like that.
If making up songs isn’t a strength for you like it is for me, 🙂 then I recommend you stick with a classic. Barney’s Clean Up Song is foolproof and easy to learn. Your toddler will be tossing those toys into those bins in no time.
- Become A Savvy Storage Pro
To keep our toddler’s toys in some sort of order, we rely on cube storage, fabric boxes, and toy bins. I feel like cube storage and fabric boxes are the organized mama’s secret weapon. We love this system because our toddler has easy access to her toys, and it’s even easier for her to clean them up.
And for better or worse, our toddler has a lot of toys. Many of which we keep on rotation so they stay fresh and exciting. We have two toy bins where we store a portion of her toys out of sight, and we use cube storage shelving and fabric boxes in our living room to house her current selection of toys. Every two months or so, we will rotate a fresh set of toys into the living room. It keeps her excited about her toys and it cuts down on clutter.
- Make Cleaning Part of Your Toddler’s Routine
There are lots of great ways to embed cleaning into your toddler’s daily routines. For example, when it’s time to get dressed or change clothes, I will prompt my daughter to pick up her dirty clothes from the floor and put them in her hamper.
Additionally, any time we transition from playtime to another activity, we take a few minutes to clean up the toys from the floor. We usually sing songs while we clean. If the toddler is feeling particularly resistant to the clean routine, we will toss out a when/then statement like, “When you put your toys in the boxes, then we can go outside.”
For more on the best ways to embed cleaning into your daily routines, check out this excellent post from A Mother Far From Home.
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you got some helpful tips on how to keep your house clean despite those little toddler hurricanes running around! Join our email list for more awesome tips from The Centered Parent. 🙂
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