One thing that I planned to have was a nesting party. Three days before my baby shower, my mom and sister were coming with the plan of putting together the postpartum care stuff as well as cleaning and meal prepping like crazy to be prepared for baby’s arrival.

However, due to house projects that we were way behind on due to my husband injuring his knee and, shortly after that, having surgery, it became more of an organization and heavy-lifting fest. Either way, it was still SO helpful but, for our next kid, hopefully, things will be a bit more livable so I can actually enjoy the nesting instead of being up at 11 pm crying because my house is destroyed and 4 different things are cooking at once so I can’t go to bed.

ANYWAYS, moving on to the reason you are here now – taken straight from my extensive documentation, here is how to make sure you don’t miss anything when prepping for your little one, broken down room by room:

This is based on the rooms I have in my house, obviously, if you have different spaces, your list will look a bit different and have more things. By then, you will likely have a flow down pretty well though!

1. Kitchen

Deep clean all appliances

MICROWAVE

A bowl of vinegar microwaved will loosen everything up and make wiping it out easier)
Make sure to pull the tray out and wash it

REFRIGERATOR

All shelves, door compartments, and sides
Exterior as well

STOVE

Pull off knobs! Clean those too!

OVEN

The cleaning cycle will be long but makes everything come off so much easier!
Soak the grates while you do this! They (usually) aren’t supposed to remain in the oven

DISHWASHER

A bowl of vinegar with a hot cycle can work wonders. It likely has a cleaning cycle as well

COFFEE MAKER

Again with the vinegar but, what can I say, it works. Run vinegar through and then make sure to run water through a couple of times after to get rid of any aftertaste.

TOASTER

Dump out all crumbs and wipe out!

Scrub out the sink and drying rack

Wash out trash bin!

Wipe all counters and cabinets

Underneath EVERYTHING

Sterilize all baby items

This can be done either in boiling water or via your dishwasher if there is a setting for that. Just make sure the items to specifically say not to as somethings are sensitive to high heat. This includes pacis, bottles, and pump parts

Reorganize any area that is bringing you stress.

For me that meant various drawers that ended up being catch-alls as we were doing renovations as well as our pantry.

Organize the freezer making sure there is room for breastmilk

Vacuum/sweep all floors and then scrub.

My husband and I have very different ideas of “clean” so, despite being 8 months pregnant, I did this myself. I WANTED TO DO THIS MYSELF AND HE HAD A KNEE INJURY SO PLEASE DON’T THINK HE IS THE KIND OF MAN WHO DOESN’T CARE THAT HIS WIFE WAS DOING IT!

2. Dining room

Wipe down table top and legs as well as any other surfaces

If your chairs have fabric seats:

Sprinkle a bit of baking soda and then vacuum OR shampoo/steam clean them

Vacuum/sweep floors and then scrub

3. Bedroom(s)

Wipe down all nightstands, dressers, curtain rods, head/footboards, and ceiling fans

Wash sheets and mattress cover

Steam clean mattress and curtains

Go through your closet and declutter anything you don’t wear or like anymore

Steam clean baby’s bassinet

4. Nursery

Yes, I know you likely won’t be using this space for a while…but still

Steam clean mattress and put on clean sheets

Based on the fact that you’re researching every possible place to clean, I’m sure you’ve by now come across the hack to put on a mattress cover-sheet-mattress cover-sheet so you don’t have to fully remake the bed when accidents happen

Wipe down all furniture

Hang all WASHED baby clothes

Do a wash cycle of your washing machine FIRST and clean your dryer (mentioned below when I detail the laundry room!)

5. Bathrooms

Wipe down fan (take off cover if necessary)

Clean all mirrors

Wipe down and disinfect

The sink, any cabinets, and the shower door & track.
If you have a shower curtain, steam clean it and replace the liner.

Clean or get new toilet brushes

SCRUB THE TOILET

Clean your hairbrush and replace your toothbrush head

Stock all postpartum care in any bathroom you plan to use regularly!

Go through all medication

Pull out anything that is expired/combine where able.

**You can recycle expired medication (some pharmacies take it or the police station)**

Snake the drains

Scrub grout lines to get rid of soap scum build-up

6. Living Room

Steam clean all furniture

Wipe down all shelves, wall decor, end tables, mantles, bookcases, etc.

Vacuum/sweep the floor and scrub the hardwood

**MAKE SURE TO GET UNDER THE COUCH

7. Hallways & Stairs

Vacuum or scrub floors

HACK: I recommend getting motion-activated lights on the route from your room to the bathroom/nursery. This will avoid turning them on when you get woken up in the middle of the night and will keep baby from waking completely up, you from waking completely up or tripping, and you don’t have to try to find the switch!

8. Laundry Room

Run a cleaning cycle on the washer

Vacuum out the dryer vent and make sure there is nothing on the inside of the drum or door (we had this and didn’t realize and it led to quite a bit of staining on our clothes!)

Wipe down all buttons/knobs/doors as well as any counter/drying space you may have

Sweep around (and under if you’re REALLY feeling it) and wash floors if necessary

9. Garage

Organize and make sure there is enough room to get the car seat in and out

Sweep or leaf-blow out any and all debris

10. Car

Vacuum all carpets and into the nooks and crannies

Wash the inside of windows

Wipe down

The dashboard, steering wheel, and all dials/door handles

Install the car seat base

Accessories too! This includes any mirrors/cameras/window shades

Get a carwash!

BONUS: Misc. Tasks

These aren’t necessarily cleaning but still good to just knock out as you go:

Stockpile things you need by doing an inventory of what you have

Make sure all smoke detectors have new batteries

Put stoppers on all door hinges so little fingers don’t get pinched!

While you’re at it, WD-40 the crap out of the hinges! Nothing worse than figuring out a hinge is squeaky as you’re trying to transfer a sleeping infant!

Do yourself a favor and just get the baby gate up now

Baby will be crawling before you know it and, when that happens, you’ll be glad you did because you’ll never be able to find the time otherwise

BONUS: All Spaces

Window sills

This steamer also has an attachment for this!

Handles including door knobs or drawer/cabinet pulls

Wash windows and light switches

Declutter as you go!

If you’re organizing an area and find things you haven’t used in forever or that are broken or you don’t know why they are still in your house, GET RID OF THEM! It’s less to find a space for and it will help declutter your head as well!

Wipe down baseboards and door casings

BONUS: Errands you’ll have to do once done

Salvation Army or similar for donations

**If you live in a bigger city, a lot of times you can even just schedule a pick up from your doorstep!

Medication recycling

The carwash

RECOMMENDATIONS: Tools I found helpful

Steamer

Dryer cleaner

BEFORE YOU DO ANY OF THIS, I highly recommend getting your ducts cleaned. Unless you do it regularly, it has likely never been done or not been done for too long. Ours weren’t bad but we had done quite a bit of house work including demolition as I mentioned. This air circulates through the entire house and babies have very delicate lungs until they mature

That’s it! If you would like a printable version of this list to check off as you go, click HERE! This is totally free so you don’t have to spend extra time writing it down and you can just get ‘er done!

Happy cleaning, mama! You got this!