Reply to Help me decide if I should stay at home or go back to work (baby is 6 weeks old)

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Reply to "Help me decide if I should stay at home or go back to work (baby is 6 weeks old)"

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[quote=Anonymous]OP there are soo many factors that play into this - we would need more information to really help you with your decision. Here are some questions:

Are you eligible for FMLA? If so, claim it and take as much unpaid time as possible. Try to negotiate for even more unpaid time. This is one thing I wish I had done more of - I negotiated for 4 months (most of it unpaid after I'd used my leave) but I only wish I'd just said I really need 6 months. they would have kept my position because it takes too long to fill anyway and I'm doing it unpaid. If you are able to financially do this which you can based on your OP, do it.

How flexible is your career/current job? Could you work earlier hours, work from home, etc, so that working will feel more tenable? How much does you partner work? If a lot is going to fall on your then that should come into consideration. Working more flexible hours doesn't solve all the issues but it helps.

Could you leave your job for a year and easily get a new one? Staying home the first year is ideal (for some, not all - some really enjoy going back to work! that's ok too) because you avoid those daycare bugs in the early days and then when they are mobile and better able to engage in the group setting (I mean still limited, it's just parallel play but my son still likes his little daycare buddies).

How would being at home impact your relationship with your partner? Sometimes that can be a hard aspect of being home because you become the "expert." Working full time has been a struggle for me as I'd like to be home more with my son, but one positive is that it is definitely the great equalizer. We're both working full time and the expectation is that we both give and take as needed to balance both. If that won't be the case even if you're both working though, that's something to consider (for example if your partner thinks his job needs to be prioritized because he makes more money and you all haven't already worked that out)

With your chosen profession how would leaving impact your career in 5-10 years if you decided to go back?

Could you go back part time? [/quote]

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