Bringing your little one home is an amazing feeling. But how to get things done with a baby… not so much LOL. You’ve probably noticed that your life has changed since bringing them into the world.
The life you once knew is no more, even if you already have older kids (like me). But don’t worry, you’re not alone mama.
Many moms struggle to figure out how to get things done at home while caring for their little bundle of joy. The good news is that there are lots of solutions, and it’s just a matter of finding what works best for you.
Here we’re going to cover the best tips on how to get things done with a newborn or baby at home.
[Disclaimer: Please note this post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a commission if clicked at no extra cost to you. Though the opinions remain my own.]
Table of Contents
Best Tips to Get Things Done with a Baby
Alright, so it’s finally time to help you improve your new life with a newborn or baby at home. These tips below will help you finally learn the best ways on how to get things done with a baby (at least on most days LOL).
Take advantage of naptime
Yes, you really want to take advantage of their day naps as babies tend to sleep for long periods at once.
Get them on a sleeping schedule
As a newborn, babies tend to confuse day and night, so you’ll want to help them learn the difference.
To do this, you’ll need to help them get on a solid sleeping schedule. Newborns should be sleeping around 8 hours during the day, which then decreases to about 3 hours as they get older, according to Stanford’s Children’s Health.
If they aren’t already on a similar sleeping schedule, this Taking Cara Babies course did wonders for us when my baby girl was only 2 weeks old.
Learn sleepy cues
You also want to pay attention to their sleepy cues. An overtired baby is harder to put asleep, even though you would think otherwise.
Some early sleep cues include yawning, red eyes, staring into space and rubbing their eyes. If you’re waiting until your baby cries to put them to sleep, it’ll be a bit harder to do.
And yup, I learned all about sleepy cues and how to use them to help us create a solid sleeping schedule with our baby girl from this course too.
Related Post: Taking Cara Babies Newborn Sleep Program Review
Set up baby centers around the house
Unfortunately, babies tend to take over the home when they arrive. So the idea here is to have centers around the house to make it easier to get things done with a baby, without having to move things around each time.
It may seem like a pain to set up baby centers all over the house, but trust me, it’ll be worth it.
Here are some key baby essentials we personally have set up throughout different areas of our home, which also create fun distractions for babies so you can get stuff done.
Master Bedroom
We have a changing table in our bedroom which includes all the essentials we need for our baby girl. This includes our diapers and wipes, onesies and pajamas, socks, wash cloths and more.
This changing table is probably the most used baby furniture in our home, and we highly recommend having one.
Living Room
Sometimes you’ll need to get things done near your living room, so having a swing like this one where your baby can relax for a bit helps with that.
This swing even rocked her to sleep at times as a newborn and now that she’s older, it just helps her have a clear view of everything I’m doing close by.
Kitchen / Dining Table
Once your baby gets to a certain age, they’ll become a sitting member at the dinner table. You can designate a chair for their baby feeding chair to avoid having to constantly remove and replace.
And if you grab a feeding chair like ours here, you can even sit them down in it while you clean dishes or prepare a meal as they’ll be distracted by the fun toys.
Home Office
Now, I spend most of my day in my home office and if I didn’t have these baby items, I would never be able to get any work done.
So if you want to know how to get things done with a baby while you work from home, I highly recommend these two baby products.
1) A playpen: We started with this small playpen, but as she got older and started learning how to crawl, we invested in a much larger one like this one here.
It’s large enough for her to move around on the ground without being on the dirty floor, and build up her baby muscles. Plus, there’s so much entertainment inside that she can stay there quite a while.
2) A jumperoo: If your baby is quite active like mine, they’ll love being able to bounce around in this jumperoo. The bright colors, the sounds and the fact that they can jump makes it a fun little baby ride for them.
My daughter loves it and goes crazy jumping in hers LOL.
Related Post: Insanely Helpful Tips When Working From Home With Kids
Use a baby carrier
Sometimes we can’t avoid the fact that our baby just wants to be held to feel our warmth. This is where having a baby carrier would make the world of a difference.
There’s no harm in holding your baby to comfort them when crying, and a baby carrier like this one makes it much easier to do.
Simply put your baby in your preferred carrier and take them around the home with you as you get things done with a baby in your arms (somewhat arm-free LOL).
I’ve even seen the idea tossed around about getting a mesh baby carrier so you can bring them in the shower with you. I haven’t tried this myself, but if you’re finding yourself showering less because your baby is always crying, then this may be worth trying out.
Clean as you go
Trying to clean a messy home with a newborn or baby can be quite challenging. You may think it’s easier to just wait until they go to sleep, but cleaning may be the last thing you want to do when you finally get this break.
So what you can do instead is to create a habit to clean as you go, so that way you’re not letting things pile up to the point of overwhelm.
You’d be surprised at how much you can accomplish if you just clean and declutter little by little rather than trying to have one huge day of cleaning.
For example, wash the dishes as they’re done being used instead of letting them pile up. If you spot something out of place, quickly put it where it goes. This is one of the ways on how to keep your house clean with a baby.
This Busy Mama Cleaning Planner can help you create an easy cleaning and decluttering schedule, even with a newborn or baby around.
Related Post: Realistic Cleaning Schedule for Working Moms
Create a flexible routine
Trying to create a strict routine for you and your baby will only lead to frustration as babies are unpredictable. They may be on a good schedule one day and the next you’re thinking “what the heck happened?”
That’s why I recommend you create a flexible routine that adapts as needed. And trust me, there will be lots of moments where you’ll need to embrace change.
Decide on a morning or evening routine
You’ll want to decide whether you want to use the morning or evening to get certain things done, like work, exercise or other tasks that are important to you.
Whether you’re a night owl or a morning person, I recommend you follow your baby’s sleep schedule instead. If they like to sleep in, then perhaps you can commit to waking up early to get things done while they rest.
On the other hand, if they’re early risers, then consider staying up a bit later to take time to do the things you want. But remember, you should still aim to get at least 7 hours of sleep yourself.
Related Post: Reliable Working Mom Morning Routine Tips to Be More Productive
Use baby trackers
There are so many fantastic baby trackers and apps that help us plan our days better. This in turn helps us stay on top of things when caring for our newborn or baby.
By using a tracker, you’re becoming more aware of the times your baby may need something versus always waiting for their cry. I personally use the free Baby Tracker App and literally track everything from feedings, diaper changes, sleep and more.
For example, thanks to the tracker, I know my baby girl tends to eat every 3-3.5 hours. So if I’m working on something but see it’s getting close to feeding hour, I can start to wrap up what I’m doing so that I’m not bothered when the time comes.
Related Post: Time Management Strategies for Working Moms
Set realistic to-do tasks
It’s important not to try to accomplish too much at once because you’ll only end up feeling overwhelmed and discouraged. Instead, develop a to-do list with realistic activities that can be completed each day.
Prioritize tasks
The best way to make sure you’re not going overboard with the number of tasks on your to-do list is by prioritizing them.
First, start by brain dumping all the tasks you wish to accomplish. Then, prioritize the tasks into separate timely categories like monthly, weekly and daily. This Ultimate Brain Dump Journal here can help with that.
This way, you know when certain tasks need to be done so you can focus on these when the time comes.
Check out this Ultimate Brain Dump Journal here.
Use a planner or planning system
Similarly to above, I highly recommend you write out your daily, weekly and monthly lists on a planner or a planning system that can be viewed on any device like Trello.
By doing so, you can see what all needs to be done and when, so that it doesn’t feel so overwhelming and can actually get things done with a baby.
Plus, it helps you plan everything out and visually see what has been done and what’s left to do without letting your mind run like a squirrel (yup mine does this too LOL).
Do tasks in 15 minute increments
You don’t have to spend a whole hour cleaning your house, preparing a meal or even getting things done for work. You can do all of those things and be productive doing them in just 15-minute increments.
This is a great strategy because you’ll be more likely to take on task after task as the day goes on. You’ll be more focused on the tasks knowing that in just a few minutes, you’ll get to go back to doing something else, whether it’s working or feeding your baby.
Simply be sure to set your reminders to get up and do the 15-minute tasks.
Related Post: Productive Things for Working Moms To Do at Home
Implement systems
Another way on how to get things done with a baby at home is to implement productive systems.
By doing so, you’ll become more efficient and productive all around when you need to get things done quickly so that you can go back to caring for your newborn.
Have groceries delivered
Some systems you could implement include ordering groceries online and having them delivered by a trusted service like Instacart, which can deliver your items in an hour or less.
This way, you’re saving yourself hours from having to go to the store and risk having a cranky baby while you’re there. This is precious time you could get back to do other tasks instead.
All you have to do is pull up the Instacart app on your mobile and pick your groceries. You can even do this while nursing your baby, seriously.
Take a look at Instacart’s current promotions here.
Meal planning
Another system you could implement is to meal plan. How many times have you found yourself not knowing what to cook? Then, as you’re getting ready to prepare dinner, you realize you don’t have an ingredient and off to the drive-thru you go.
Yes, I’m speaking from experience and am superrrr guilty of this LOL. But the weeks where I’ve been on top of my meal planning, we’ve had some delicious cooked meals .
Related Post: Delicious Meals for Picky Toddlers
Let go of perfection
Yes, I know this is difficult for most mamas, but by holding onto perfection, you’ll only be stressing yourself out when things aren’t perfect.
And trust me, when you’re trying to get things done with a baby, your outcome isn’t always going to be perfect.
It’s almost unrealistic to think that everything will be exactly how you want it to be when you now have much more limited time in your hands. So instead, just focus on making the most out of whatever you’re trying to accomplish.
And don’t worry, it won’t be this way forever. As your baby gets older and depends on you less, you’ll be able to focus more on other tasks once again, though I would still recommend to let go of perfection either way LOL.
Don’t try to do it all alone
I know as moms, we tend to wear this invisible “Super Mom” tee under our clothes and we try to take on everything ourselves. However, this isn’t how it should be, and you definitely deserve more help than you’re probably used to receiving.
Have older siblings help out
This is where having older kids can come in handy. Depending on their age, there’s different things they can do to help out.
However, regardless of their age, a talk with them on how their responsibilities are about to increase would likely be a good idea.
You can assign them additional chores, or if they’re old enough, let them help take care of their new little brother or sister (even if it’s just watching the baby monitor for you while they sleep).
They can even hold them on the couch for a few minutes while you knock out some small tasks around the house. These are all things I have my 8-year old help me with and he even gets excited to do so.
Rotate “shifts” with husband
Another thing you can do is to rotate “shifts” with your partner. This means that one of you will take care of the baby for a period of time either to feed them, put them to sleep or even just hold them.
Then, you’ll rotate either after a certain period of time or the next time your baby needs something from either one.
Here’s one way my husband and I do this… I’ll normally breastfeed our baby girl, rock her to sleep and then place her in the crib.
There are times where she’ll cry once she’s placed down. If this happens, it’s my husband’s turn to rock her and place her down to sleep.
The way we have our “shifts” set up is super informal and it kind of just happened out of nowhere. So figure out a way where your spouse can help you get things done with a baby by helping out themselves.
Ask friends and family for help too
As you know, family members love babies and want to see them grow up. So if your mom or mother-in-law wants to babysit, let them. They’ll likely be more than happy to do so, even if it’s only every once in a while.
I mean, they do say it takes a village to raise a baby right?
There are many ways that friends and family can help. If they aren’t able to help you watch the baby, there are other ways to help a new mom too.
Hire a babysitter
Lastly, if you work from home with your kiddos, you may want to consider hiring a babysitter, even if it’s just for a few hours each week.
This will help you be able to focus on your work without distractions, or even gain some freedom to do other things that need to be done around the house.
Related Post: How To Help New Moms (& How Not To)
Take some breaks
You don’t always have to be on the go-go-go. You deserve to take breaks too. In fact, you should go the extra mile and take care of yourself too.
This may be foreign to you, but taking care of your own needs is actually really important. Otherwise, you’ll burn out fast and it’ll be tough to recover from this burnout.
So make sure to take time out for yourself each day to rest or practice a little bit of self-care. Use the time you’re saving by doing the tasks above to take a break and do something you want.
By taking these breaks, you’ll be a much more refreshed and less grumpy mama which in turn helps you have healthy relationships at home.
So take time for yourself and watch your days transform.
Related Post: Uplifting Ways to Practice Self-Care as a Busy Mom
Enjoy your baby
Lastly, cuddle with your baby. Time flies way too fast and they grow up in a blink of an eye. So enjoy this special time with your baby too.
Play with their baby toys, watch them master their baby milestones, take naps together and more. Do it all mama. Pretty soon they’ll be grown and want less of you as they explore the world.
So slow down and enjoy your baby. You’ll be soo incredibly happy you did.
Time to Get Stuff Done With a Baby
By following these tips on how to get things done with a baby or newborn, not only will you get more done, but you’ll also feel accomplished at the end of each day too.
You’ll be getting more done by doing less, yet enjoying those first precious months of your new little bundle of joy.
So tell me, have you tried any of these or have other strategies that have worked for you? Let me know in the comments below as I would love to hear from you.
And don’t forget to leave with your FREE Time Management Strategies Cheat Sheet to learn how to be more intentional and productive with your days.
