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How to Work From Home with the Baby?
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Anonymous
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I just got permission to work from home with my son, who is 5 months old. My DH has Mondays off, I now work from home on Tuesdays, so he'll be in daycare Wed-Fri. We did this because we want more time with him than before and after work can give. But I worked from home for the first time yesterday and I didn't feel like I had time at all!! In fact, I was panicking getting him to his nap before my 11:00 conference call, worrying about how I'd get some lunch in my stomach while nursing him before I had to finish a memo, and worrying about missing emails while I played with him.
I know it is my first time, so it should get easier, but I was hoping for hints from any parents who do this dual role and how you make it work. |
Anonymous
| Sorry - i work at home and you need a babysitter to take care of the baby while you work. |
Anonymous
| Wow, what kind of work do you do? I can't imagine ever being able to do this nor can I imagine my employer green lighting it. |
Anonymous
| Most employers require you to show proof that you have childcare while working from home. Not sure how you expect to work a full day while also taking care of your child. |
Anonymous
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Agree with 10:42. You can squeeze in some work during naps and while they're playing, but they generally want your attention / need something if they're awake, and it only gets worse as they get older. I think the most you should expect to be able to accomplish while simultaneously watching a child is monitoring email traffic so you can know if a crisis happens on your day off. But trying to actually get real work done while watching children is asking for trouble.
Generally, working from home doesn't give you more time with your kids by doing both at once, but by saving you the 'wasted' time of commutes and daycare dropoff/pickup. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Hmm, I think the idea is that the one day I'm home I am not going to be getting as much done, but they are ok with that. And yes, I am lucky. I am also an exemplary employee in terms of getting my projects in ahead of time and well done so it was worth it to them (I would have left if they had said no).
I'm hoping I get better at doing tasks during nap times and when he's having some play time on his own (which he definitely wants and likes to have), but anyone who has successfully done this and has other tips, I'd love to hear them. |
Anonymous
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I currently work from home exclusively, and my child is in daycare. In my opinion, this is the only way to be fair to my employer and my clients, who all expect me to be 100% available during my work hours. Which is what I'd be if I was in an office. Your employer might also have child care stipulations for working-at-home.
I'm saying this as kindly as possible - when you're nursing, playing, encouraging sleep, etc., you are not working at your paid job. Having children at home when you're "on the clock" for a paying job is one reason why so many employers resist telecommuting. Please, for the sake of those of us who had to fight for the opportunity to work at home, and who have to continually remind our employers that when we're at home, we're NOT caring for our children but are focused on the job, find somebody to come in and care for the baby on the day you're working at home. |
Anonymous
As you get better at tasks, your child will get better at getting underfoot. The people I know who have done it successfully have had a college student or mother's helper or someone come in and help with the baby. |
Anonymous
| 10:53 My employer knows exactly what is going on. I asked for it for one day a week until he was 1 and then we would re-evaluate. I don't really appreciate being told I'm ruining it for you. I'm not pretending that I have help and will be there consistently. My work is very very demanding and I meet those demands, this is my boss's way of saying he understands that and wants to allow me some extra time with my son during this crucial age. |
Anonymous
| hi OP, I work from home one day per week and keep my infant home from daycare on that day. I found it was easier when DS was very young, e.g., 3-5 months, because he was content to sleep a lot and sit in his swing, bouncer, etc. When he got mobile it was too distracting, so I now hire a mother's helper. it's worth the cost because I can still see him and nurse, etc., but can focus more on work. |
Anonymous
OP, even if you can get snippets of time like this now, the likelihood of this continuing consistently is pretty low. The older they get, the more engaged they get, and, often, the more attention and interaction they want. To be honest, if you are having a tough time now working from home right now, it will only get more difficult. At the very least, you should have a babysitter come in for at least part of those work from home days. |
Anonymous
| OP I can't imagine working any kind of reasonable day with a baby home. But I'm attorney and the nature of my work means it doesn't matter when I do my work as long as I get the hours in. Can you wake up early and get a couple of hours done before DH leaves, and then do a couple of hours of work at night after DH gets home? |
Anonymous
NP here. OP, that 's fine that your boss gets that you want extra time. But acting like you are going to be very productive on work at home days with no childcare is just unrealistic. If you boss is super understanding, and you are able to meet your deadlines working your regular hours, that's great. But it rubs experienced moms the wrong way when you seem to expect to be able to do it all with no childcare. You need to look at those days as "freebies" of a sort, do what you can, and then just scramble on the days when you are at the office. |
Anonymous
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This just sounds really stressful for me, and maybe it's temporary, but there is no way this will work once the baby is mobile. It will be really dangerous.
I work four days a week and get paid for four days, but on the fifth day home with my child, I do check in. It is stressful even just having an unpaid work day with baby (who is now a toddler). If I were you I would work from home to save commuting time but not try to get even half day work done with baby for much longer. |
Anonymous
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If your employer is okay with it, that is great. I work from home exclusively and have had one or both of my kids home on random days (daycare is closed, someone is sick, etc.). For the type of work I do, it's not necessary that I be sitting at my desk for 8 hours straight. When I have done this, I actually can get quite a bit done while the baby naps. He is 8 months old now and generally takes a 1-2 hour nap in the morning, and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I just tried to work around that schedule, and anything I couldn't get done that I absolutely had to get done, I finished in the evening.
I am a firm believer that work performance should be about results, especially if you are in a professional-level job. I know I can get a lot more done in 20 hours than certain people I work with would in 60 hours. People who work in the office (at least at my company) seem to forget that they spend a lot of time during their day "not working", either walking around, chatting with others, etc. It totally depends on the type of job you have, but I think you can do it, especially if it's only one day a week. |