Reply to WFHMs…how are you working with your baby?

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Reply to "WFHMs…how are you working with your baby?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am so sorry that you are in this position. I can’t imagine leaving my baby in childcare at 6 weeks though I know plenty of people do it. That really sucks.

I do think that you might be able to manage it for another 5 or 6 weeks through babywearing and tag teaming with DH, but I agree with everyone else that around 12 weeks (max - could be sooner with some babies) you will definitely need and want childcare - for baby and for you. You might be able to manage a nanny share or something that’s more part time. There are tons available right now as kids are graduating to prek or daycare. [/quote]

+1 on this post. It's a crappy position to be in with a 6 week old. Even if you weren't WFH, it would be hard to focus with a baby that young, given lack of sleep, still stabilizing nursing (at least with my first) etc. Everyone here needs to have a bit more empathy.

I think babywearing and phoning it in at work for the first 6 weeks back is the best idea here; more if you can flex hours and aren t run ragged, but your sanity matters too. After that, yes, you will need paid care. [/quote]

+1 to this +1. I disagree with the sentiment on this board that you *absolutely* won't be able to do this -- you can make it work, especially because it sounds like you and your partner have flexibility in terms of work hours/responsibilities, but it probably won't be easy. The reality is that this will be super dependent on how your kiddo is with naps, and that's not something you know yet. Maybe the universe will bless you with one of those babies who naps well and like clockwork, in which case you actually probably can figure out a pretty reliable/doable schedule for when you and your partner on on baby duty, able to schedule calls, etc.  But maybe your kid will be like mine and sometimes nap for 30 minutes and sometimes nap for three hours, in which case scheduling becomes a much bigger challenge. As others have alluded to, this will also depend on how flexible your company/colleagues actually are and how dependent your job is on things like calls and meetings as opposed to just emails, editing/writing, etc. My company is still very understanding of childcare issues, so long as you're meeting deadlines and otherwise taking care of business, but I am also very in charge of my own schedule and quite honestly did a few calls as humanly possible while my kiddo was home full-time.

It's a tough spot to be in and I'm sorry you're having to deal with this so early. If you are able to get even some child care help (a few hours a day or a couple days a week, etc.) that will make a huge difference in your productivity and honestly mental health, but if not you'll figure it out! Not the most fun you'll ever have but it's not all doom and gloom. Good luck, you've got this![/quote]

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