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February 2011 Moms
AACraven85
member
is anyone a WAHM or plan to be one?
AACraven85
member
I've nixed daycare as an option after some consideration, but at the same time I currently have to work to help pay our household bills. I'm lucky that the type of job that I have allows for a lot of flexibility and I can do the majority of my work from home, but I am getting increasingly nervous about handling a newborn and still being able to complete my work.
As it is, on days like today when I am working from home I am soo easily distracted. Anyone WAH currently and have any tips for staying productive? Any other moms to be going this route worried about juggling both responsibilities at one time?
My first step towards productivity will probably be logging off the bump .. 
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Re: is anyone a WAHM or plan to be one?
I'm not a WAHM nor do I plan to be one, but I used to babysit for a woman who was. She would only call me on days when she knew she was going to be really busy or would be handling a lot of phone calls from clients or the office. I was usually there 2-3 days a week. She would need me for 3-4 hours so she could get a large chunk of work done with no distraction. I didn't charge much (I think $12/hr), so I'm sure it was still a lot cheaper than daycare, but that's something to consider. It's easier to trust a babysitter when you're home and can keep an eye on her and the baby.
I hope everything works out, GL!
It is *really* hard to WAH while caring for a baby, in my experience. I hate to say it, but want to be honest.
If your work is really flexible, it's fine - you can do some work after your H is home. But if you need to be available and working regular work hours, it's tough.
Even newborns require a lot of time and focus. Once they're mobile and interactive, they don't hang out quietly while you work.
I had a colicy newborn. Trying to hold a screaming baby in one arm while finishing 8 hours of work with the other was difficult, and I only did it one day a week. I gave up that work at home day once DD was more mobile and alert, because I couldn't give her OR the work the attention both needed. Now if I work from home, DD still goes to daycare because it's the only way I can put in a full day's work. Also most employers have the expectation that you will have childcare while you are working from home - they are paying you to work, not to be home playing with your child, and they take that very seriously.
On the upside - daycare has been a great experience for our family. It's much more fun for DD to play with all of her buddies all day every day than it would be for her to be expected to play quietly while I'm on a call, or to keep herself busy, because really if I'm working, I can't be on the floor interacting with her as I'd like.
Good luck.
This is my fear. I planned to ask about WFH once a week. I figure it might be doable for a couple of months but once LO gets to the stage where she's mobile and requires a lot more out of me, I don't know if it will be doable. My current plan is daycare twice per week, and MIL will be watching LO twice a week. The fifth day is currently up in the air until I figure things out.
I work in Real Estate so I work from my house but I also have appointments outside of it.
I am not too worried about a newborn and working from home since they do not really do much besides lay around but am more so wondering how it is going to work when he starts crawling. Yikes.
Yup, I know it's going to be hard. I've heard of people with good experiences with daycare, but it's just not for me. MIL works at one and I get to hear all kinds of lovely stories of what really goes on which has kind of turned me off. It makes me sad to think of my newborn baby laying in a crib crying and not being attended to because 4 other babies are also crying and the caregivers do not have 8 arms. I think the social interaction aspect is great though- and I do plan to enroll LO in a young threes program when she's a toddler.
I guess I will just have to concentrate on spreading my day out, and working when my husband is home if need be. While I need to be available for phone calls or e-mails at times during the work day, I do not need to be available 9-5. My work is also 100% commission based, in the office or at home. I can put in 5 hours or 50 hours depending on our workload (Typically it's around 25). So basically I am not being paid for sitting at a computer 9-5 at home; I'm paid strictly based on the work I complete.
I hate to be Debbie Downer here, but all you first time moms who are planning to work at home without any childcare are deluding yourselves. Babies don't keep schedules. They nurse CONSTANTLY, and if you are formula feeding then add in the time to make and clean all the bottles. Will you be getting or making phone calls? Good luck with that. What do you plan to do with the baby when you are attending to your job? Leave them alone on a mat or something? Babies don't like to be left alone and pretty much need constant attention and/or stimulation. And if your baby is normal they will probably nap 30 minutes here and 30 minutes there, whenever the heck they feel like it. And as soon as they are mobile, well, forget it.
I guess my point is that looking after a baby is full-time work. If you need to attend to some other work during the day then you really should look into hiring a nanny or babysitter. That is, if you want to get any of that other work done.
This is what I was trying to say, based upon my experience. I had the same thoughts that the first time moms in this post had had going into baby #1... and boy was I wrong!