When you have kids, shampooing your carpets can be a struggle. Not only do you have more stains to scrub out than the average childless adult, but you also have to figure out what to do with your little ones while you're busy scrubbing the carpet.

Here are a few tips that will make carpet cleaning in a home with kids easier and more effective:

Treat the stains the day before.

Working in spurts to clean your carpet is often easier than setting aside one big chunk of time to tackle the whole project. The day before you actually plan on shampooing the carpet, focus on spot-treating your stains with a carpet stain remover spray. If you have to, do one stain at a time between bath time, play sessions, and lunchtime.

Keep your kids out of the room where you're working, so they don't come into contact with the stain remover before it dries. If they're really young, this might mean working during their naptime.

Shampoo around the furniture.

Yes, the carpet underneath the furniture should be shampooed eventually, too. However, it does not receive as much traffic as the carpet you walk on daily, so it can wait until you're less busy or the kids are away for the weekend. Focusing on just the bare areas of the carpet saves so much time – you don't have to move heavy furniture, and you're shampooing less space.

Set up a play pen on one side of the room while you shampoo the other.

Shampooing the carpet requires your close attention. So do your kids. If they're not old enough to be left alone in another room for an hour or so while you shampoo the carpet, place them in a playpen on one side of the room while you shampoo the other side of the room. The next day, after the first side has dried, do the same thing with opposite sides.

Use an all-natural, green carpet cleaner.

Carpet shampooers don't suck up all of the shampoo they deposit. Whichever shampoo you use, you can count on some of it staying behind on the rug. You don't want your kids crawling through dangerous chemical cleaners, so use a green, all-natural shampoo. Simply cleaning with white vinegar and water might be a good choice, too.

When you have kids, it is important to keep your carpets clean, since your kids probably play on them. By following the tips above, you'll have an easier time balancing the carpet shampooing process and responsible childcare. To learn more about green carpet cleaning, try contacting a company such as Southwest Chem-Dry for more help.