Juggling working from home with baby...

dannysautumnbride · May 2014

Hi there. I am new to this group, and we are expecting our first on July 17th. I am 31 weeks, I am lucky in that I can work from home. About once a month I have to go into the office. I was just wondering how many working moms in this group work remotely, and how they handle it with a new baby. Do you have someone come to the house to help out for a few hours? Or do you schedule work around baby's schedule? I know I have about 4 months before I really have to worry about this, but it's something I think about often. MIL offered to come and help, but the only disadvantage is that she doesn't drive. So I would have to wake up earlier, pick her up, and then drop her back at night.

Is it possible to take care of a newborn and work a full time job without any help?

mommaoftrips · May 2014

There have recently been a few people who have asked this question - scroll through to find these - but the short answer is NO, not on the long term. Maybe initially but not when your baby gets bigger and wants more interaction. You must have help for almost the entire work day so your work doesn't suffer. You are being paid to work not watch your baby. GL

EastCoastBride · May 2014

Does your company have a policy about this? Look into that. Mine absolutely does. I only WFH one day a week but I had to sign a document stating that if I have children, I have appropriate childcare for them.

Past that- ditto what everyone else said.

mae0111 · May 2014

I work from home 2 days a week, and I also have a full time nanny. I've worked from home with the kids in a pinch (which I'd talk to my manager about in advance), and it's always a mess. Even when DD1 was small (and she was a very easy baby), I wasn't as productive as I should have been. The most interesting times were when I had to lead conference calls with a baby happily babbling in the background.

jlaOK · May 2014

I WFH and my kids go to daycare. The only days that I work with one or both at home is sick days and snow days. Really the only dedicated working time I get is nap time with DD and when DS watches movies (neither is ideal). I could get some work done when DD was little but once she started crawling it became nearly impossible. I have a super flexible schedule and can work whenever I want but I chose to put my kids in daycare instead of working in the evenings/weekends when DH is home.

Bottom line, working at home with no childcare is very difficult and almost never works out long term.

Tink112011 · May 2014

To answer your question, it is absolutely not possible to take care of a newborn and work full-time. Do yourself a favor and don't even consider it. You'll either be giving your notice, getting fired, or calling up the local daycare center faster than you can imagine.

TheBorg7of9 · May 2014

Personally, I don't think it's possible. Seems like neither your job or your baby will ever get your full attention.

Scarlett1982 · May 2014

I mostly lurk on this board but see this question come up all the time......should we just create a sticky? OP, what type of work do you do? Do you have deadlines or need to be on the phone? I work from home (we have a nanny) and on the days that the nanny has been sick or had an appointment, I find it almost impossible to do my job. Babies need to be attended to, bottom line.

bethughknee · May 2014

I WFH but DD is in full-time DC. There is absolutely no way I could work with her here. Even with as flexible as my time can be, there are still times I need to be ON and she's just a high needs little girl.

I also remember from my BMB reading about how "bored" I might get on maternity leave. That NEVER happened to me. My DD hated to be put down, stopped taking naps anywhere but in my K'tan for WEEKS on end, and when she hits a Wonder Week she hits it HARD.

Basically ditto what everyone else said.

Huahine · May 2014

mal922 said:

I work from home with a full time nanny.
Same here

This.

And mods - there really should be a sticky for this question. It seems to come up weekly.

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