There’s this hilarious, yet slightly unhinged moment in late pregnancy where your brain just snaps into “must deep clean everything that has ever existed in this house”, that’s just nesting for you. Like, there you are just resting, you’re waddling, barely staying awake through an episode of a comfort show, and then that instinct comes and you’re scrubbing baseboards at 1 am like royalty is coming over. Oh, and to top it, it’s not just any royalty. The late Queen. Beyoncé. Dolly Parton. Your Grandma, your mother-in-law. All at once. Like, that is how strong that nesting feeling is, that urge is so strong.
But yeah, nesting does that to pregnant women, and somehow even the most exhausted of pregnant women magically get strength. But hey, wanting the house to be nice before the tiny human arrives is fair. It’s already overwhelming bringing a baby home, so the house feeling calm (or at least like it won’t give them allergies on sight) is kind of the dream.
Just Start with the Air They’ll Breathe
Babies act like the air should be filtered through angels and imported from a mountain top. Well, their little lungs are sensitive enough that where it seems that way. So yeah, making the air fresher is a solid place to start. It’s easy enough, you just open some windows, shake out curtains (or wash them if you can), maybe switch on an air purifier (but one if you haven’t already). And if something smells off, trust that pregnancy nose. Yeah, even after the first trimester, you still have a strong sense of smell, so use it to your advantage during nesting.
Focus on the Stuff Everyone Actually Touches
This includes door handles, remote controls, fridge handles, light switches, and that one random drawer knob that everyone grabs with grubby hands. Like yeah, seriosuly, it’s wild how fast those things get, like, questionable. So, just give them a wipe. Yeah, obviously, your baby won’t be crawling and licking random things in the house just yet, but it still helps to consider this.
Don’t Forget the Soft Surfaces
Yeah, washing curtains was already mentioned earlier, but it needs to go further than that, ideally. So, maybe you knew this, maybe you didn’t, but anything soft in your home is basically a sponge for smells, dust, pet hair, and whatever particles have been floating around (which is gross). So, sofas, rugs, nursery chairs, carpets, curtains… yeah, they all need some love and a good scrubbing.
It can be a lot of work, so it could even help to look into bringing in a steam & house cleaning service to deep clean the carpets and upholstery, so you don’t have to do it. Besides, overworking yourself and stressing is bad for the baby, as in, you could accidentally get yourself to go into labor early (this has literally happened to people). So maybe let professionals do it for you, please.
Your Expectations Need to be Realistic
Yeah, every mom wants to have a perfectly clean home before having their baby, there’s no doubt about it. But you need to have realistic expectations. You probably can’t (or shouldn’t) get on ladders to clean nooks and crannies of the house. You shouldn’t stress yourself about this.