What part-time schedule would you choose?

[Anonymous]

Ok, so if you had a lot of freedom to design your part-time schedule upon your return to work after baby is born, what would you suggest (this question is porbably better for second-time moms and beyond who have been through it all)?

I am wondering if maybe afternoons like 1-5 would be good because of sleep deprivation? At least get a nap in later in the morning before coming to work for a few hours?

Or maybe would it be better to just get it overwith in 3 days like 8-5 MWF?

Other ideas?

[Anonymous]

Knock out work in the am. Getting home at 5:30 feels like a full day regardless of when you went in. If you work four hour days work 9-1 and you'll be able to relax beginning at lunch.

[Anonymous]

Go with your first option.
The every other day thing is crazy for your baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Knock out work in the am. Getting home at 5:30 feels like a full day regardless of when you went in. If you work four hour days work 9-1 and you'll be able to relax beginning at lunch.

+1, and I am not a morning person, at all!!

[Anonymous]

Can you work like 10-2? That would give you a relaxed morning, minimize traffic, make it easiest to find sitters (they can drop their kids off at school then work for you then meet the bus). If you work 8-5 you will barely see the baby on work days and the inconsistency will make it hard to build a good nap schedule.

[Anonymous]

I would work full day Tuesday/Weds/Thursday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would work full day Tuesday/Weds/Thursday

This is what I do, and honestly, I like it. It gives me a full day to fully knock through things, whereas if I just had a half day, I'd spend the first just faffing around getting my head in the game. I honestly find it hard to jump immediately from babies to work without a bit of a buffer to just relax and have a coffee, so a full day of work is ideal. But having it three days in a row means my son is able to adjust to the nanny-share for those three days in a row, rather than every other day.

Ultimately you won't totally know until you try it out yourself - it's hard to predict what you/your baby will settle into!

[Anonymous]

If you truly have flexibility, I'd suggest 3 full days before DC is in school. Then when your DC is school age, I'd transition to 10-2 ish Monday through Friday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would work full day Tuesday/Weds/Thursday

This is what I do, and honestly, I like it. It gives me a full day to fully knock through things, whereas if I just had a half day, I'd spend the first just faffing around getting my head in the game. I honestly find it hard to jump immediately from babies to work without a bit of a buffer to just relax and have a coffee, so a full day of work is ideal. But having it three days in a row means my son is able to adjust to the nanny-share for those three days in a row, rather than every other day.

Ultimately you won't totally know until you try it out yourself - it's hard to predict what you/your baby will settle into!

Yup I agree. The hardest part of the day is actually getting to work and starting the day. If I could do that for 3 days instead of 5 that would be awesome. Going in every day still feels like working full time to me, and you'd have to be a stickler for staying to your exact hours otherwise you're working for free. Then you could have 2 entire days off to get stuff done so the weekend is less hectic. I wouldn't make a choice based solely on having an infant--that goes by very quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you truly have flexibility, I'd suggest 3 full days before DC is in school. Then when your DC is school age, I'd transition to 10-2 ish Monday through Friday.

Agree with this.

Also, what is your commute like? Are you able to telework at all? If you have to commute each day you work, I'd ABSOLUTELY do less days/more hours each just to save on commuting time.