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Georgia Babies
MSquires100
member
Preparing to go back to work - advice needed
MSquires100
member
So I go back to work in 2 weeks and while I'm so sad to see my maternity leave end, I'm ready to get back into a groove. Although it is going to so entirely hard to be away from Matthew.
So right now, we are on a pretty consistent 3 hr feeding schedule, and with naps I just follow DS's cues. However, thinking about the getting ready morning routine, I'm a bit nervous. Matthew has been a great sleeper, he'll sleep for about 6-7 hrs a night, which is amazing. What I'm nervous about is the fact that depending on what time he goes down, will then determine what time he'll wake. Right now it ranges from between 4-5 am. Since being on maternity leave it's not a big deal, I'll feed him then put him back down for 3 hrs or so and Mom will get a few more hrs of sleep too, but once I go back to work, I'm just not sure what to do.
If he's waking closer to 5 am or even after, I could feed him and let him sleep for another hour or so, while I get ready, but I'd hate to wake him if he's sleeping good. Or do I work to adjust his feeding schedule so he wakes a bit later, and I get up get ready, etc. then get him up?
OR will it eventually just all work itself out, and the first week or so will just be a bit painful..
Any advice would be wonderful! Thanks ladies!
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Re: Preparing to go back to work - advice needed
Every morning is a little different at my house. Some days I have to be to work at 6:45 and some 8:30. What I do when I have to be there early is set my alarm for 4:30, I get up and pump then either take a shower or feed DS. If he is awake he gets fed but if he is asleep I go ahead and get ready. Then the days I work later I wait until 5:45 to get up.
The first week was hard trying to get it all figured out, but I can say my best thing was allowing myself plenty of time to get out the door. Hayden has been great about getting up at 5:15 the days I go in early and 6 the days I go in late. My advice would be if he is still sleeping get yourself ready to go then maybe he will wake up or you wake him and you could spend more time with him. Somedays I do this and somedays he gets fed first then I get ready...everyday varies a little.
My best advice is to be super flexible b/c the first few weeks are going to be tough and different everyday. Baby has to adjust to daycare as well as a new schedule at home. There's not much point in trying to get him onto that schedule right now- it will just end up frustrating you. I think it took a full month before I felt like we had our new routine established and he was really sticking to it sleep wise.
As for preparation- I did/do everything possible the night before. That includes laying out all of my clothes and his, everything he will need for daycare (bottles, clothes, diapers, etc). I would go ahead and do all the prep for the bottles (including dates, etc) at night and put them in the cooler in the fridge so I could grab it and go. I also set the coffee maker at night so its ready when I get up in the morning. Anything that I can do to make our morning go swiftly, I do it at night. But even so, there will be days when it just doesn't go as smoothly as it should. Just take a deep breath and remind yourself that you can do it all over again tomorrow!