10 Tips for New Moms Bringing Home a New Baby

Being a Mommy to three under three, I'd say this is my forte! I have bringing home new babies down, and here are some tips for you new mommies to be on how to keep your house clean and germ free!

1. Micro-Steam Bags - These bags are great for pump parts, pacifiers, syringes and bottles. They are a quick and easy way to disinfect anything small.

2. Hand Sanitizer - I keep this all over my house whenever there is a newborn around. That way it is easy to ask visitors to wash their hands real quick before they pick up the baby.

3. Spare Pacifiers - These things are devious. They will fall on the ground, and they will bounce under the couch, in the dog water, under the toilet, pretty much wherever you don't want it to go. Sometimes it is easier to just grab the spare, or the second spare than clean the lost binky.

4. Clean Now, Before the Baby Comes - A few weeks before your baby is due, clean everything in the nursery. Wash everything with a mild cleanser, and don't forget to wash things like the Boppy or other cloth items with Dreft or another mild detergent. If you do it now, you don't have to worry about doing it later.

5. Disinfecting Wipes - These suckers are great to keep around as your child gets older, or for quick messes. You will have to clean up poop, urine, spit-up, vomit off the floor, your clothes, the bed, etc. These wipes are great for when you need to do a quick clean-up on the floor or another hard surface. I like to keep these around because I can wipe it and disinfect with one swipe, which prevents my big kids and dogs from getting into the mess.

6. Breastfeed - If you are bringing home a baby in the winter months, during flu season, the best thing you can do is breastfeed. Breastmilk builds up your baby's immune system, and changes with each feeding to match your child's needs. Even if you can only nurse for the first few weeks or first few days, do it!

7. Oxi-Clean - You will be amazed how many outfits a newborn can go through in a day. Oxi-Clean is the best thing I've found for getting out baby stains. I ususally just mix it with a little water and slather it on. If it doesn't work the first time, I have a stain bucket, and once I have enough stained clothes to fill it I make an Oxi-Clean soak overnight and then wash the clothes. I've gotten every stain out this way!

8. Dishwasher - This may seem obvious, but the dishwasher is a great sanitizer. It steams everything, so using it to wash and sanitize baby bottles is the easiest method I've found. It's also great for pacifiers, sippy cups, and syringes.

9. Have Mulitples - You will need several crib sheets, mattress pads, changing table covers, receiving blankets, and onesies. Having multiples of these makes it easy to toss out a messy one and throw on a clean one. You are going to have your hands full, so you might not get to the laundry right away. Or if you're like me, you might not get to it in the next three days, so having multiples keeps everything clean and germ free and allows you to take your time doing the laundry.

10. Bleach - Bottom line, bleach is your friend. It's cheap, and diluted it is a very good disinfectant. You can use bleach to disinfect any hard surface, and I use it all the time when a little one has an accident in the bath tub. After I clean the tub out, I just fill it back up with water put all the affected toys in, and put in the appropriate amount of bleach.

These are my favorite tips for keeping a clean and germ free house, which makes for happy and healthy babies. And everyone knows that a happy baby means a happy mommy!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Lysol® Wee Wisdom blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.