Working from home with baby?

ewenner

DH and I have just started exploring daycare options, and although we knew the costs would be high, we are still having some major sticker shock.  I honestly don't know if we will be able to afford it.  I currently work from home three days a week, so theoretically, we could just have LO in daycare on the days when I will be in the office.  There are some daycares in our area that offer "part time" care, which might be more affordable.  But I am worried about how realistic it is to think I could be productive working from home while the baby is also in the house.  Has anyone else attempted this?  Is it doable?  Am I crazy for even considering it?  Thanks for your help!

KateLouise

How old will baby be when you return to work?

How flexible are your working hours eg. can you you work at 9 at night if that's when baby is sleeping, or do you need to be available 9-5 to field phone calls and what have you?

It's not really something you can predict, you might have a baby who sleeps for 3 hrs at a time in its cot, and coos happily on her playmat when awake, or you might have a baby that demands to be held all day long. Also even if the most settled baby will have days where it just wants to be held.

Could you do some work on the weekend when DH is available to mind baby?

Do you have a Grandma nearby who could do a chunk of time, even just one morning a week (not that that should be free, but it could be cheaper)?

Are daycares near you very full? Could you book LO in for the days you're in the office to begin with, and try working at home with baby and see if it's working for you? Or do you really need to make a call now to book a space?

I haven't attempted this, but I could see it swinging either way in terms of it working.

niknak1208

I think it also depends on the type of work you'll be doing. I don't technically work from home but when we have snow days or a sick child , I will take my laptop home and work. I do pretty well with it. My kids are 2 and 6. Sometimes I get more done because I don't have my constantly ringing phone!

Currently, I pay for latchkey for my son who's in kindergarten and full time care for my daughter. About $900/mo. With new baby, it will be anywhere from $1350-$1700/mo!! I'm totally overwhelmed by that figure. Lol.

I recently applied for some part time at home work. I'm hoping that I get it and I'm able to stay home but not certain yet.

supersarah77

PPs must be better than me at juggling work and a baby because I definitely struggle! I work as a therapist outside the home two days a week but still get calls every day and try to fit in the administrative tasks at home. That has been really hard because DD is unpredictable. She may nap just fine, or not. She may cry and be clingy, or play independently. There's no solid time I can really count on. Plus, when she does nap, that's often the time I'm doing household chores that are hard to do when she's awake. So then the home-work and the work-work become competing priorities.

topaz7777

There is absolutely no way I could work from home with an infant.  Even with a toddler, if I work from home, I only get about 4 hours in.  I think it will really depend on what kind of job you have, but taking care of an infant is a full time job.

sidey1

On the days that DS is sick or there's a snow day, I basically tell work I'll try to check in but can't make any guarantees that I'll be consistently available. It's just too unpredictable, there are times he's self sufficient for a bit and other days especially when he's sick where there just isn't time to get work done. Of course this is when he's sick so I'm sure it's a bit harder than regular days but combine, getting baby down for naps and feeding, that takes up a big chunk of your day and once you have a toddler you'll probably want to get outside for a bit each day too. Can you perhaps explore getting a mommy's helper on those days you work from home to come in for a few hours and keep your little one occupied so you can focus on work? It would most likely be much cheaper than daycare.

hooligans4

***lurking from ttc>35***
I babysit for two families whose mothers both work from home. They both have to be available for conference calls during the day so there was no way they could do that with the kids at home. The one family I do full time the other I take the kids when she has scheduled conference calls. She does all the other work with kids at home. She is a graphic designer so a lot of it is work she can do at any time during the day.
So it really depends on what you plan on doing from home. If involves any conference work then having baby around will be tough.

It is tough, I wish you well in making a decision.

xuxachi

I have worked from home 3 days a week on and off for the past 3 years. I have sitter who comes to the house and watches the kids. I didn't do this until my babies were a year old (I took breaks between the kids) so can't speak to the infant stage, but it worked pretty well for me. I have an office that is pretty well separated from the main house and I try to disappear when the sitter is here. My older one at 3 has started to come up to see what I am doing just recently, which can be a problem when taking calls, but we're working on it.

ewenner

Thank you all for your advice.  Sorry it took me so long to respond - this week has been rough.  Anyway, I do need to be available during regular office hours (8-5), but most of my work is handled via email, so minimal need for phone calls.  

Unfortunately, neither DH nor I have any family in the area, so cheap grandparent care is not an option for us.  Daycares in this area fill up very quickly, and have long waiting lists (all of our friends with kids told us we should have been looking and putting in applications by Christmas time... so we're already a little behind the eight ball apparently.)  I like the idea of finding a sitter, if that might be cheaper than daycare.  Thanks again for your thoughts!