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We kept our house cleaner on the same schedule while I was on mat leave with DD last spring. Budget-wise, for me, I would pretty much give up every extra before giving up my house cleaner. My sanity and marriage would suffer without it. It was a bit of a PITA to be homeless every other week for a day but we made it work. We would mostly run errands, schedule lunch dates, visit friends, etc. And it was so nice to come back to a clean house.

Id probably give up wine before I gave up my cleaning lady. Well...wait..um..ok so it would be a really close tie. I stay home mostly; it is annoying to have to be out of the house for 3-4 hours no matter what the weather. It was harder when my second was smaller and taking two naps. But again...my cleaning lady = sanity.

Could you compromise? Have her come once a month instead of twice, and just tell her it's because your budget is tight on mat leave, that you appreciate her, and that when your budget loosens you will ask her if she has time to fit you in more.

@BadgerMom: this exactly. I'd seriously sooner cancel Christmas than give up our cleaner for a whole year while home with a newborn; I also kept ours on the same schedule during my leave with #2--but I was on a 4 month mostly paid leave, so it didn't affect budget. I just tried to stay out of their hair and the baby was often sleeping when they came, they frequently just would skip cleaning the nursery and it was totally not a big deal. I like the idea floated above of having your lady come monthly instead, although my cleaner charges more for monthly (we have 2x/month also).

I SAH and have a 5yo and 18mo. But I’ve had a cleaning lady ever since I moved in with my husband 8 years ago. Not the same one, but have had one.

It definitely sucks a little to feel inconvenienced for a day (which sounds awful because it’s a total first world problem to be “inconvenienced” when the cleaning lady comes). I should add we also were in an apt up until 3 months ago. So we really had very few places to get away from her while she was cleaning.

Like @LCTBQE: said, she either skipped the nursery (a lot) or I would have her do that room first so that when nap-time came around she was done with that part of the apt.
I also had her do the living room first or 2nd so that when the baby was napping I could hang in the living room without being in her way. At this house, I’ve had the trial cleaning do the whole upstairs first so that when he naps she’s done with that floor and won’t be making noise. And then if I’m there while he’s napping and she’s still there, I can lay on my bed.

I also try to get out a bit when she first gets there. I don’t totally mess up my day for it (lunch and nap need to happen) but even if I’m gone for 1-2 hours it feels like a good chunk. Then all that’s left is 2 hours and for that he’s eating and napping and I can sit in an area already cleaned. It’s about the only day I feel guilt free doing NOTHING during nap-time.
When we go out I’ll either run errands or make a play date. Or as they both got older it would be the day I’d schedule a music class or other baby class. So we could go out and get coffee/easy breakfast, do class, maybe an errand and just go home. I tried not to do anything that would really disrupt HER too much either. Like I wouldn’t do my grocery shopping because then the kitchen is a mess and she’s trying to clean while I’m putting stuff away or whatever.

Anyway, all this to say that it’s not a big deal at all, you just need to figure out the rhythm that works for all of you. Might take a few weeks to tweak but it’ll be fine! Don’t give her up! The help will be especially important after baby 2!

We have our cleaner come now once a month - it saves on money and is still amazingly helpful as I just maintain in between when they come and do a deep clean. It saves about half the price, and I really think its money very well spent so we make it happen...

I would ideally like every other week, but this is a big cost savings, and still very much worth it.