Home Improvements With A Baby In The House

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I know, this isn’t the kind of post you would normally find a site about home improvements, but I’ve been giving it a lot of thought lately. My wife and I welcomed our second child, a beautiful little daughter, into our family back in July and we’ve all been slowly getting acclimated to a somewhat erratic sleep schedule. Now you know why I haven’t had much time to write about my basement remodeling project (which is still moving… just a little slower than anticipated!)

What could possibly go wrong?

Now that I have a baby in the house I’ve also had to modify how I take the time out of my busy schedule to continue improving my home at the same time. While I worked like crazy to get most of my the larger aspects of my basement refinishing project done before our daughter was born, there are still some outstanding things which I’ve been finishing up. If you have never had kids or if you’re expecting to have kids soon (maybe that’s the reason for your sudden interest in home improvement!) then below are some things you should know and think about:

Home Improvement Time is Precious – When my son was born four years ago I figured I’d have all the time in the world to complete projects around the house while he slept “like a baby.” Unfortunately, sleeping like a baby meant he was up every 2 hours and eating or needing attention the rest of the time. I quickly learned how to carve little bits of time here and there to start and finish projects, from the 20 minute bath my wife would sometimes give him to the “long” nap during the day that lasted over an hour. I tried to only start what I was pretty sure I could finish or at least put down at a moment’s notice.

Do The Loud, Smelly and Dirty Work When Baby Is Not Around – This is probably the most difficult thing to get used to. When you have a baby or small children in the house, you’re really better off doing any sort of loud hammering, smelly painting or otherwise dirty work when the baby or children are not around. If they are around then you should try to minimize the impact on their environment by opening windows to get fresh air if you really have to use some sort of chemical with a strong odor. And though there are a lot of low-odor paints available on the market, you’re still probably better off making sure the little ones are out of the house when you begin painting or priming. If you’re hanging Sheetrock or doing some other sort of dusty or dirty work then you may want to take several precautions such as covering doorways with thick plastic (to prevent the dust from drifting into other parts of your home) and being sure to close off any intake vents in the area you’re working in. If you have done a lot of construction and you think some of that dust has settled in your air vents then for the sake of you and your family you may want to consider getting your air ducts cleaned (one of the few times I’ll ever recommend this!)

Clean Up After Yourself and Be Safe – Having a baby in the house is one thing, but when your kids begin to crawl and walk, you’ll probably want to do some serious baby-proofing (I still really think Tot Locks are the best cabinet locks out there), and that’s especially important around any sort of area where you might be working. You’ll want to go out of your way to make sure all your tools and supplies are put away and locked up tight after you’re done working on any job and you’ll most likely want to vacuum up and dust or debris and just double-check for things that your child could get into. Tools and building supplies can obviously be very dangerous with a young child, so it’s really best to keep your toddler completely away from where you’re working. And even though it may seem like fun, if your little one is visiting mommy or daddy in the middle of a project, then you should stop all your work focus on safety.

Wash Your Hands When You’re Done – This is one of the most forgotten, but also most important, things you want to remember when you have young children in your house. Whenever you’re done a project or stopping for the day be sure to not only put away tools and supplies, but also to wash your hands and change your clothes if you’ve been working with any sort of hazardous chemical or other substance that could cause harm to children. I usually try to do messy work around the house in old clothes so that when I’m done I can drop them off in the laundry room, wash up and put on a clean set of clothes before holding the baby or playing with my son. I don’t need either of them inhaling insulation or fertilizer or even getting their hands on a spot of wet paint that may be on my old shirt.

Know Your Limits – Being a parent is one of the greatest joys there is and even though it may not feel like it at first, kids grow up way too fast. I’ve had to cut back a little bit of the time I’d usually spend on projects around the house just so I have some quality time with both my son and my new daughter. And since I’m still a little sleep-deprived, I’ve also learned to give myself some time to relax and sleep when I know I can. On more than one occasion I’ve actually stopped working on a project because I could feel that I was tired and I was afraid of making a mistake that could get me hurt. I’ve purposely avoided any long work on ladders and I’m trying not to spend my entire Saturday zipping around the yard and house getting things done because I know that’s only increasing my chances of hurting myself either with a tool or just physically wearing myself down.

Last, but almost certainly most important, have an understanding partner! My wife is great about taking both the kids for short periods of time when she knows that I think something needs to get done in the house. She can’t read minds, so I usually have to tell her when I want some time to do something (lately it’s been completing the installation of new baseboards in our finished basement room). By the same token, I sometime take the kids and give her a chance to do her own things around the house.

This entry was posted on September 9, 2010 at 3:26 am and is filed under Home Improvement Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.