How to Work From Home with the Baby?

[Anonymous]

22:34--glad you have a set up that works for you, but, I still don't think it's possible for someone with the average office job to work at home while caring for a child and do both well.

I think your situation is pretty unique in that:
1) you are the boss (perhaps even the owner),
2) it doesn't seem that you have to put in 40 hours a week;
3) you have a husband who helps out with the childcare.
Also, you at least recognize that there are times when you need childcare.

So, all in all, I don't think OP can really model what you're doing given what she said in her original post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not 15:16, but I'm another boss who works from home with children. I've weighed in before, but not recently, about working from home. While nobody asked me how I do it, I'll tell you anyway.

First of all, we are end-result and goal oriented. I don't pay my employees to punch a time clock or to spend 40 hours working. I pay them to accomplish tasks; both short-term and long-term. I have some employees who are able to meet their goals and objectives in 25-30 hours per week. I have other employees who need closer to 35 or 40 or even more hours to accomplish similar objectives. Each of my employees controls his or her own schedule to the extent it is possible.

I'm 15:16.

That's exactly how it works here. I care about goals being met, not about how many hours are worked. Some weeks it could be 40, some weeks it could 25, and some weeks it could be 70 depending on what's going on.

So do I work 40 hours a week?- Sometimes. Do I work double that-yes. Do I have weeks were 20 hours will suffice- yes indeed.

I think sometimes that's a hard concept for people to understand because I always get asked questions by people who seem to refer to this mysterious "they" and how many hours "they" expect me to work. My hair dresser never fails to bring that up.

Since you shared some tips, I will share some as well.

-I sometimes start work at 4am. Not daily because I am not a morning person and it's very hard for me to get up that early. But that gives me 3 hours before the baby wakes up.
-I work on my husbands off days if I find that I need more time. I can work an 18 hour day, no problem but now that I have the baby, I only do that when my husband is off because once I get into my "super work bursts" I get very annoyed if I am interrupted.
-My office is setup so I can see the baby at all times. There's play area, there's a nap area, and there's no reason to leave my office at any time and roam the house.
-I use a Moby wrap.
- I use a headset for the phone. If I answer my cell phone most often I put it on speakerphone if I need to feed the baby or whatever.
-I am very organized as far as what tasks need to be complete. I try to break overall goals down to a daily schedule.
-I stop when I need to stop. It's no big deal if I need to change a diaper, or feed the baby, or read him a story. I get it done and get back to work.
- I type quickly. I think if I typed slow like my husband I'd struggle. Every little bit helps when it comes to productivity.

Were things easier pre-baby? Yes. Do I wish I lived near my mother so she could babysit sometimes- Yes. But that's not the situation I am in, so I have to make my situation work.

Anonymous wrote:
While it does not happen often, I have certainly participated in calls where my child could have been heard chattering in the background. I simply state "I'm at home today," and hit the mute button when I'm not speaking so the noise does not distract others. If you are rolling your eyes behind my back for no other reason than this, congratulate yourself for being the type of person who makes it harder for women to have it all.

I bought a great noise canceling headset about 5 years ago. This was pre-baby but it seemed to do a great job as I would blast the TV in the background and make a call and ask if it could be heard. Now, it seems like I need a new one, but I guess 5 years is a pretty good run. But yes, the mute button works too.

[Anonymous]

"It's not cute when your baby coos during a conference call; it's not funny to hear Dora in the background; I don't care if you can't answer my IM because you have to soothe a fussy baby. If your boss is fine with it that's one thing but please don't subject me to his ill-informed decision. Either work or don't work. "

Ditto. The screaming kid in the background is a big turnoff. I take my business elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

See, I think a lot of this is the nature of a job. If you are in a position of being able to answer questions without staring at a document or computer screen; great. If you are talking line by line about data listings; well, multi-tasking isn't going to work for you there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Since you shared some tips, I will share some as well.

-I sometimes start work at 4am. Not daily because I am not a morning person and it's very hard for me to get up that early. But that gives me 3 hours before the baby wakes up.
-I work on my husbands off days if I find that I need more time. I can work an 18 hour day, no problem but now that I have the baby, I only do that when my husband is off because once I get into my "super work bursts" I get very annoyed if I am interrupted.
-My office is setup so I can see the baby at all times. There's play area, there's a nap area, and there's no reason to leave my office at any time and roam the house.
-I use a Moby wrap.
- I use a headset for the phone. If I answer my cell phone most often I put it on speakerphone if I need to feed the baby or whatever.
-I am very organized as far as what tasks need to be complete. I try to break overall goals down to a daily schedule.
-I stop when I need to stop. It's no big deal if I need to change a diaper, or feed the baby, or read him a story. I get it done and get back to work.
- I type quickly. I think if I typed slow like my husband I'd struggle. Every little bit helps when it comes to productivity.

I am another work at home mom, and have child care. It's great that you have made this work for you without child care. But I am not understanding how this is sustainable for more than a few months, particularly the bolded points. It sounds as though you are able to mostly leave your baby be (or wear him), whether he is awake or not. Saying that your office includes a play and nap area, and that you can just take a break to read a story then get back to work, just doesn't make sense to me as the mom of a one-year-old. My child would be screaming and trying to jump on my lap if I did this. I can barely send an email when I'm spending time with him. He wants my full attention, and he deserves to get it.

Maybe your son can just occupy himself most of the time, but it's really really hard for me to imagine any older baby or young toddler putting up with this setup.

[Anonymous]

Most of the people who have posted that they can work at home with a baby are, I think, just talking about infants.

This situation changes fast -- at about one year of age, unless you plop the toddler in front of Baby Einstein videos for a few hours or something.

[Anonymous]

I'm not even going to read all these other responses because I know I'll just get annoyed.

I worked from home with my daughter 2 days a week when she was this age until 18 months. It was fine. I wasn't working non-stop all day, but I wasn't doing that when I was in the office. Don't listen to people who say you are ruining it for them. They need to get over it and mind their own business. I brought her into work for the few months and nursed while working and she'd sleep, but as she was older, it was easier to work from home.

My tips:

-Get up early and do important stuff before he wakes up.
-Take an hour off from work in the morning as he gets older and tire him out -- pool, running in park, etc. This helps give you a longer nap in the afternoon. My daughter slept 3-4 hours during the daytime.
-Have toys that are just for when you are working. My daughter would play with some things for an hour by herself. She'd sit and "read" for a long time, especially sticker books.
-Wear him in a sling or carrier and he'll be happy longer maybe - I did this when she was that age.
-Have someone available to come over if you have something important like a conference call. For me it was a single friend who had Tuesdays off and she was happy to stop by and be back-up if DD wasn't sleeping.
-Expect to be answering some emails at night once your partner gets home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not even going to read all these other responses because I know I'll just get annoyed.

I worked from home with my daughter 2 days a week when she was this age until 18 months. It was fine. I wasn't working non-stop all day, but I wasn't doing that when I was in the office. Don't listen to people who say you are ruining it for them. They need to get over it and mind their own business. I brought her into work for the few months and nursed while working and she'd sleep, but as she was older, it was easier to work from home.

My tips:

-Get up early and do important stuff before he wakes up.
-Take an hour off from work in the morning as he gets older and tire him out -- pool, running in park, etc. This helps give you a longer nap in the afternoon. My daughter slept 3-4 hours during the daytime.
-Have toys that are just for when you are working. My daughter would play with some things for an hour by herself. She'd sit and "read" for a long time, especially sticker books.
-Wear him in a sling or carrier and he'll be happy longer maybe - I did this when she was that age.
-Have someone available to come over if you have something important like a conference call. For me it was a single friend who had Tuesdays off and she was happy to stop by and be back-up if DD wasn't sleeping.
-Expect to be answering some emails at night once your partner gets home.

Sounds like you got lucky with an easy-going child. Many are more demanding. Even when tired, some kids will not do things like sleep for 3 to 4 hours at a stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not even going to read all these other responses because I know I'll just get annoyed.

I worked from home with my daughter 2 days a week when she was this age until 18 months. It was fine. I wasn't working non-stop all day, but I wasn't doing that when I was in the office. Don't listen to people who say you are ruining it for them. They need to get over it and mind their own business. I brought her into work for the few months and nursed while working and she'd sleep, but as she was older, it was easier to work from home.

My tips:

-Get up early and do important stuff before he wakes up.
-Take an hour off from work in the morning as he gets older and tire him out -- pool, running in park, etc. This helps give you a longer nap in the afternoon. My daughter slept 3-4 hours during the daytime.
-Have toys that are just for when you are working. My daughter would play with some things for an hour by herself. She'd sit and "read" for a long time, especially sticker books.
-Wear him in a sling or carrier and he'll be happy longer maybe - I did this when she was that age.
-Have someone available to come over if you have something important like a conference call. For me it was a single friend who had Tuesdays off and she was happy to stop by and be back-up if DD wasn't sleeping.
-Expect to be answering some emails at night once your partner gets home.

Sounds like you got lucky with an easy-going child. Many are more demanding. Even when tired, some kids will not do things like sleep for 3 to 4 hours at a stretch.

Yes, agreed. Just sharing my experience. I think she'd still be okay with it (almost two) but I missed being in the office. Some kids are more laid-back about playing alone than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

He wants my full attention, and he deserves to get it.




I am curious as to what the point of this statement was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am another work at home mom, and have child care. It's great that you have made this work for you without child care. But I am not understanding how this is sustainable for more than a few months, particularly the bolded points. It sounds as though you are able to mostly leave your baby be (or wear him), whether he is awake or not. Saying that your office includes a play and nap area, and that you can just take a break to read a story then get back to work, just doesn't make sense to me as the mom of a one-year-old. My child would be screaming and trying to jump on my lap if I did this. I can barely send an email when I'm spending time with him. He wants my full attention, and he deserves to get it.

Maybe your son can just occupy himself most of the time, but it's really really hard for me to imagine any older baby or young toddler putting up with this setup.

This is why I didn't want to answer the question.

Some of you are just determined to pick apart everything. If it makes you feel better to say that I must "leave" my child and your child gets your "full attention" because he deserves it- then kudos to you. Though it's odd that if I turned the your statements around on you the wolf pack would be ready to attack. But I have no need to take cheap shots, though it is tempting and your comments have left you wide open for a few of them.

I hope the people who genuinely wanted an answer, got some helpful info.

As for the rest, there's no reason for me to explain anything further. We have different jobs, we have different responsibilities, and we have different children- it is what it is. Diversity is what makes the world great- not everyone having the exact same experience.

Good luck OP with whatever you decide to do.

[Anonymous]

15:16, this is 22:34. Now I'm very curious about you because our routines sound very similar, down to the bursts of work and schedule and the superfast typing!

To the people who just want to pick it all apart, here are some answers:

1. my son is 14 months old.
2. He is not particularly "easy" nor is he hard. He's a normal child.
3. When he is awake he has my full attention. I rearrange my work to accomodate him. But rearrange does not mean "ignore."
4. As with 15:16, I wake up very early in the morning, before my baby is awake, to work
5. No, I do not have to work 40 hours. As I made clear, I have tasks to accomplish
6. No, I am not the owner; I am the CEO. I report to a Board of Directors made up of other CEOs (of companies -- I work for a trade association).
7. Of course my situation will not work for OP; the point of my message is to show her how I tailored my work schedule to my work needs. She will have to do her own figuring out, but of course she knows that. She was looking for tips on how to make it work. Maybe something in one of our posts will help her.

One thing I will say to OP is this. For me, a trade-off is less personal time. When I don't have much work to do, I can do normal mom things after baby goes down, like go out to dinner occasionally, take bubble baths, make long phone calls to friends. When work heats up, these things are the first to go. That part is hard and is a sacrifice. My husband and I carefully weigh the pros and cons of this. Right now it is working for us pretty well. Having mom or dad home with baby is more important to us, at this stage of the game, than getting a ton of extra personal time. We try, however, to make sure we take enough time each week for ourselves to keep from going crazy.

Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

I work from home pretty much all the time, and the only way it works for me is by sending my kids to daycare. Some of the posters claim that it's possible because their jobs are more result oriented. Well, my job is exactly the same way, and I'm sure most of the folks who work from home are in the same situation. The thing is I'm in back to back conference calls all day(some of which I'm running), so having my child with me during these calls would just be a nightmare. I've tried it- and it does NOT work. My personal feeling is- if you want your kid to be at home with you while you work and your job entails a lot of interaction with people via meetings/conf calls, then you need someone to come in to watch your child while you are working. This is what I did when I had to go back to work when my infant was 8 weeks old. I didnt want to send her to daycare at such a young age so I hired someone to come in and watch her while I worked. It would not have worked any other way, even with a baby who basically slept most of the time.

[Anonymous]

My husband works from home about 90% of the time when he's not travelling.

We hired a nanny. That's the only thing that worked for us. I am currently unemployed thanks to a geographic move where there are few jobs in my field, but take on contract work now and again from afar from folks I know 'back home'. When I work, I hire a babysitter.

That's the only thing that works for us. YMMV.

*********************
Enjoy all the bickering... yikes!

[Anonymous]

As another mom who works from home several days a week (without childcare for much of it), I agree with the poster who mentioned the loss of personal time. I can toss in a load of laundry, but I don't have time to relax, or do other household tasks. I take my ds with me to the grocery store, to count that as quality time together, even though I could probably do that in the evening by myself, but I'm still needing to catch up on work then.