Mу son іѕ due іn mid-July. Aftеr mу maternity leave іѕ over, I wіll hаνе tο gο back tο work full-time, bυt mу employer hаѕ allowed mе tο work frοm home 2 days οf thе week.
Arе thеrе аnу mothers out thеrе caring fοr thеіr children whіlе working frοm home? Hοw dο уου balance keeping up wіth уουr work whіlе tending tο thе baby? I work аѕ a project manager programming аnd designing websites. Occasionally I’ll hаνе a phone/conference call here аnd thеrе. I’m concerned аbουt meeting mу deadlines аnd being аblе tο respond tο mу clients whіlе аt thе same time mаkіng sure mу son feels secure аnd cared fοr.
Anу tips wіll bе appreciated. Thank уου.
make sure u and the baby is comfortable OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s hard to work from home w/ an baby. While he/she is young it will be easy because they are not crawling around and are generally quiet longer during the day. When the baby gets older you will probably see that you’ll have to discipline your self to really set a schedule to do things while you are home. Conference calls during naps – organized playtime for the baby while you are in the middle of doing some work. As he gets older and you are able to you could hire a mother’s helper to watch over the baby when you really have pressing matter w/ work that need your full attention.
I am working quite a bit from home right now, even though I’m on mat-leave (don’t ask). My son is 7-months. It’s very tough. A babies’ schedule is so unpredictable, so it becomes hard to plan anything around his naptimes (he may not nap exactly at 3pm just because I want him to since I have a conference call at 3pm). And now that he’s becoming mobile, it’s very dangerous to just let him go free without watching him all the time. I’m buying a playpen this week so he can play in there for an hour once in a while so I can use the computer then. The only thing that has saved me is that I’ve hired a babysitter to watch him for 3 hours per day. . . . during that time, I take care of all my critical stuff.
Newborn babies sleep upwards of 14 hours a day, and so this will mean that in between feedings (every 2-3 hours at first) and changes about every 3 hours that your son will be snoozing peacefully while you work for the first month or two. But babies, as you’ll find out do gradually start to stay awake for longer and longer periods in between naps until they at around a year or so are only taking one nap of an hour or more duration a day. So what I recommend is that no matter how you choose to feed pay attention to your son’s hunger cues for a week or so, allowing yourself to become accustomed to when he needs to eat, this will change as he goes through growth spurts and you will have less productive days but this is the way you set up your schedule, around his. There will be plenty of time to get your work done if you can delegate much of the housework to others. Honestly you will have a huge challenge if you try to do it all. You will need to prioritize between your son and work in order to balance the responsibilities effectively. But it can be done. I’ve been doing freelance graphic art on the side, whilst a full time mom for the last 7 years. The money supplements my husbands income. I have two girls ages (almost) 4 and another 15 months and baby #3 (a son) on the way. It will take practice but you can manage. If you use the time he is sleeping to get your work done. Congratulations and best wishes to you and your new little one!
I would definatly find someone to help you every day. My sister is a nanny for parents that both work at home. and I have another friend who works at home as well as I do. She fianlly hired someone to help her out. I take my daughter to her grandma’s a few days a week. and sometimes my husband comes home early. If you are able to do things when your husband is home, do things then.
It takes a lot to be disciplined to work at home, and not go running to you baby everytime they cry. if you have someone helping you, let them do it all.
Before I had my son I worked from home a couple of days a week and when he was first born I thought there was no way I could go back to doing that!
However, he’s 3 and a half months old now and things are much more settled and we have some sort of routine. Basically, as soon as he goes down for a nap I run around like a mad thing trying to get stuff done! His naps are becoming more predictable now though in terms of when and for how long so hopefully this will become more established over the next couple of months before my maternity leave is up.
Good luck xx
I went back to work after having my son 16 months ago, I worked at home for 3 days and at the office for 2, I must say it was great being at home and working, Baby slept most of the time so I had time to do the house work, office work and spend time with my new baby.
I am sure it will come naturally and you will love every minute of it.
Good luck
I took my baby to work with me, and it worked great until he was about 4 months or so. They sleep a lot when they are little so it isnt hard to juggle it until they are older.