4 Kitchen Hacks for Life with a Newborn

There are things I love about the newborn days and things I don’t love.  

I love kissing those soft checks, nursing, watching the baby fit seamlessly into the family.  

It’s such a miracle.

I don’t, however, love cooking and cleaning during these days.  

Josie is a sweet baby. But there are periods of the day, generally, a few hours in the morning and a handful of hours in the evening, when she is un-put-down-able.  

These hours, unfortunately, fall right when I am trying to get dinner made.

And Dominic is usually at my ankles screaming because he is STARVING!  

He is always starving.

Been there?  

People are kind and bring meals and help out.

But there comes a point when I just have to figure out a way to get back to life.  

We need to eat and have a clean kitchen and that falls on me.  

I feel the need to get back to work in the kitchen more quickly with every kid I have.  

Because, when you have older kids and are a stay-at-home mom, “maternity leave” is short!

And so, here is how I (try) to do it:

My 4 Kitchen Hacks for Life with a Newborn.

Kitchen Hacks #1: Use Better Garbage Bags

With a newborn I find myself sitting a lot more than usual as I nurse and nurse this fat little baby.  

There are 2 places I often find myself trapped under a hungry baby:

The nursery and the kitchen–the two rooms in the house that produce the most trash.

Now, as I nurse a baby the last thing I want to be smelling is garbage. Mostly because I am powerless, at the moment, to do anything about it.  

So, I use Hefty Ultra Strong bags with Arm and Hammer to fight odor.  

The citrus in the kitchen and the lavender in the nursery, because I’m fancy like that.

These bags are awesome and have been a total game-changer in the nursery.  

Because who wants to be smelling dirty diapers at 3 am while nursing a baby?  Not me.

Hefty Ultra Strong Garbage Bags offer top-quality performance with a new, lower retail price.  

They are a great price, and even better with this COUPON!  Save $1 on a box of Hefty Ultra Strong Garbage Bags.  

Also, I love that they are Ultra Strong.  

Since Josie likes to be held all of the time I usually find myself tugging the bag out one-handed. So I need the strongest bags I can get.

Kitchen Hacks #2: Invest in a Good Baby Carrier

The only way I ever get anything done is to put Josie in a carrier.  

This is my favorite.  

I love that my baby wants to be held all of the time…

I just needed to figure out a way to do that while still being able to cook!

This carrier is simple and she loves it.  

She snuggles right in and before I know it she is sleeping peacefully and dinner is on the table.

Kitchen Hack #3: Eat Outside As Much As Possible

My kids are messy because, well, they are kids.  

Tacos bust open and fall to the floor, milk gets knocked over, and sticky hands seem to find their way to the wall after every meal.

So, with the nice weather, we head outside to eat and allow most of the mess to stay out there.

I’ve sort of become obsessed with eating outside now.  

Most days the only meal we eat inside is breakfast and that’s because we aren’t dressed yet.  

Eating outside not only keeps my house a little cleaner but after they are done eating the kids generally get up and start playing outside, swinging, jumping on the trampoline, or digging in the sand.  

Most days Josie and I head in after the meal is done to nurse and clean up the kitchen while the kids continue to play outside and that is truly awesome.

Kitchen Hack #4: Lower Your Standards

And this is the key to it all, the only way to really survive with a newborn: lower your standards and let things go.  (I’m telling myself this as much as anyone).

I am far from a clean freak, but there are certain things that bug me.  

Hate going to bed with the kitchen messy.  

I hate leaving dishes in the sink and I hate, more than anything, not having a nice meal as a family each and every night.  

But, that little baby shows up and something has just gotta give.

I am still very much working on letting things go, focusing on what is important, and allowing a few things to go undone.  

I need to remember that these infant days will pass, quickly, and there will be plenty of hands-free time in my future.

And there you have it, a few simple tricks I use to get people fed around here during these newborn days.  

I know a lot of you out there have experienced this as well.  Any tips to add?

Thanks for being here,

Nancy