Housework. It's a dirty word, but it's very important now. It is NOT the be all and end all, do not let any health professionals tell you otherwise. You may or may not know by now that I'm quite lazy, and anything that requires less effort is good by me. You might get this way too with your baby, so these are MY thoughts on how often you should clean and do other tasks. The easiest thing I have found is if you set yourself ONE task for the day, aside from the things you need to do every day like sterilizing. Say to yourself, I have all day to do this one thing. It doesn't matter when I do it, but it needs to be done TODAY.
Sterilizing - needs to be done every single day. Even if you HAVE enough bottles to last a few days, it will build up so much you won't want to do it. A useful time to do the sterilizing is before your baby gets up or after (s)he's gone to bed.
Clean the floors - once a week. All floors, carpets and tiles. If you do it every week, you don't have to move everything and get behind everything, it's a quick once over. Do it when your baby is sleeping, when (s)he's awake, when (s)he's in and when (s)he's out. (s)he HAS to get used to the hoover noise. You can't live your life waiting for grandma or daddy to come and take the baby out of the house so you can hoover. They won't like it, but they'll get used to it, and you can set aside some time after you've finished for cuddles. I do the floors every MONDAY, because wherever possible, all deliveries would be made at the weekend, when my other half is at home, so if you're used to doing the floors every monday, anything they've tracked in will get cleaned up very quickly.
Clean the bathroom - once a month. Guess what? You're a mum now, and a bath is a LUXURY. You don't want to finally soak into a lovely hot bath, and it's grimy and has limescale all over it and you can't relax. Cleaning isn't just for your baby, it's for you too, so even though your baby won't even be coming in the bathroom yet, you still want it nice and clean so you can soak in peace.
Dusting - I never know with dusting. It's something you forget a lot. Once every couple of months is probably okay. I've only dusted once since my baby was born.
Washing - now this depends on a few things, do you have a dryer? How many hand-me-downs do you have? If you have a dryer and a fair few hand-downs, your normal once-a-week wash is still fine. I do the washing every FRIDAY, because casual friday. So all my other half's work shirts can be washed at once and I don't have to wait for one more at the end of the day.
Changing baby's bedding - don't let anyone scare you. You can change your baby's bedding the same amount as you change your own (once every 1-2 months) unless (s)he has actually got it dirty by throwing up or weeing on it, it's okay to leave it for a while.
Tidying up - you should nip around the house, putting things back where they were at least once a day, probably when your baby has gone to bed, but if you keep on top of it as you go things will be better. Put empty crisp packets in the bin when you've finished etc.
Bathing your baby - I've already said that 3x a week is fine. It totally counts as a chore. If your baby has particularly strong feelings either way, bathing her can take a really long time, anywhere up to an hour! This can be pretty draining and you definitely need to feel like you accomplished something by managing it!
Bathing yourself - At least once a month, preferably once a week. And I mean BATHE, not the usual quick shower to get clean. A nice long soak, with a book or some bubbles. You need to look after yourself and a relaxed mum is a happy mum. Do it when (s)he's gone to bed, or get someone to come babysit.
Shopping - whenever you need it. This might sound a bit blase, but it's an excuse to get you both out of the house. You don't need a big weekly shop, most people these days have a supermarket within walking distance, why not go out for a pint of milk every single day? And it's exercise that will help you get rid of the baby weight. What's the downside? Impulse buys. Write a list.
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