Not taking a full 12 week maternity leave?

mamaromeo · December 2014

Just wondering if anyone else is planning on not having a full 12 weeks off after delivery. I just don't think it will be financially possible for DH and I as I am the breadwinner. With my first, I was still in college, and had a week off and went right back to it. Of course, I was 8 years younger then, too. I'm planning on taking 6-7 weeks this time. I'll have a good chunk of Pto to use then and I've started putting money back to make up the difference once the Pto is used up.

becominggold · December 2014

I only took 6 weeks off. However, I was only going back part time. Is there anyway you could do your first week or two back as part time? That might help ease the transition w a young one

mamom0103 · December 2014

I took about 9 weeks with DS and am hoping to take 8 weeks this time. I will only be taking as much as is paid, we can't comfortably afford unpaid leave.

MommyAtty · December 2014

I took 6 weeks both times. I had relatively easy natural births and pretty easy recoveries, so it worked for me. I could have taken an additional 5 weeks paid, but that would have wiped out my entire leave bank, which I didn't want to do.

jess9802 · December 2014

I went back at eight weeks - I had four weeks fully paid and four weeks at half pay. We couldn't afford any unpaid time off, though I had the option of four more weeks at no pay. I was recovered from childbirth, DS had started occasionally sleeping through the night, and we had BFing established and were in a good routine. It was fine - all worked out quite well.

Mustardseed2007 · December 2014

I took 9 weeks bc at my work we get 8 paid after using 1 week vacation. I did this with both ds and dd. also with both my dh then took 4 weeks off. It made going to work a lot easier when I knew my babies were with dh, at least at first. He gets a big bank of pto so we were able to do it all paid.

Beevol · December 2014

I went back part-time from home after 6 weeks and returned full-time in the office at 12 weeks with my first and am doing the same the second time around. The part-time income made it financially work for us and it was really advantageous for my sanity. If it's an option for you, I highly recommend it.

shannm · December 2014

I guess I don't understand "full 12 week leave." Some people have 12. Some people have 8. Some have 16. My SILs had 24. Lots and lots of women don't take 12. I took six both times.

dglvrk2 · December 2014

janemski said:
I took 6 weeks and went back to teaching full-time. See if you can start back on a Thursday or a Friday to ease yourself in.

This with DD2. I had eight weeks with DD1 because she was a c-section and my district allowed more leave for c's. It worked fine both times. I did a few trial days at DC for both girls before returning to work. That helped.

I was very ready to return to work six weeks after both deliveries.

I live in California. Here fathers can take advantage of state-sponsored disability when a child is born, providing they work at a place that pays into state disability. DH did this when I returned to work and stayed home with our girls one to two days a week for several weeks. This made the transition to day care easier for DD2 and returning to work more manageable for me. You may want to check into state-supported benefits like this for your H as well.

ErinO21 · December 2014

I went back to work part time at 5 weeks and did that for about 3 weeks. I'm self employed though so that had a lot to do with it.

jlaOK · December 2014

I only took 8 weeks off with DD. I only had 4 weeks paid and had to find the right balance of how many weeks without pay we were comfortable with me taking versus the emotional time I needed at home. I was ultimately happy with my decision.

kristennd · December 2014

I only had six weeks of paid leave and couldn't afford unpaid. I was able to make it easier by going back half-days after three weeks, so I wasn't full-time again until 9 weeks.

alli2672 · December 2014

I have had four children. The shortest I took was 5 weeks off (from working PT). That was too short. I took 12 weeks off with the first, and 8 weeks off with the other two. I thought that 8 weeks worked out pretty well.

ss265 · December 2014

I took 8 weeks off with both my kids. With my first, my company paid me for the full 8 weeks and I could take an additional 4 weeks off unpaid but I chose not to. We could have afforded for me to take the additional 4 weeks off unpaid but the norm at my company was for women to only take 8 weeks off and I was ready to go back to work after 8 weeks.

With my second, I took 8 weeks as well but on hindsight I wish I had taken a little more time off. I had a much longer commute to work with the second baby which doesn't mix well with sleep deprivation. Plus I enjoyed him a lot more because I had more experience with newborns and how to handle him. The first weeks with my second were definitely a lot less stressful than my first.

NLewis1 · December 2014

I took 6 weeks off. M was in the NICU for his first week (full term baby; ended up with holes in each lung. long story). I had considered taking some PTO to extend my leave a week due to being in a city 3 hours away (the nearest NICU), but ended up only taking my 6 weeks paid leave (5 days PTO, the rest paid 100% by my company). I had the option to go to 12 weeks per FMLA but between the medical bills from M's life-flight and NICU stay, plus my general inability to not be doing something ALL THE TIME, I ended up going back FT at 6 weeks.

NYMOM101511 · December 2014

I'm in the same boat, with my first i took 12 weeks, and now im pregnant with my second and can only comfortably afford 8 weeks. I have mixed feelings about it. Part of me feels better about going back to work earlier, because i felt taking the full 12 weeks made the anticipation of going back to work so much harder, so i'm hoping the transition after 8 shouldn't be as bad.

But i am worried about sending my little one to daycare at 8 weeks old, and not having enough breast milk saved, etc, etc.

We can all go on and on about the positives and negatives. We have to do what's best for our families.

itsmevkb · December 2014

I've always taken 12 weeks, but with my last three I've also worked part-time from home during that 12 weeks so it wasn't a full, all day, every day leave. I really found that to be the best of both worlds. I got to keep my hand in work and not feel so overwhelmed when I returned and I was still able to save up enough leave to take the time off.

jenn43 · January 2015

I own my own business- I took two weeks. I wouldn't recommend it, but I survived.

purple_2012 · January 2015

I'm only taking 6-8 weeks off. Depending on how/when I deliver. H and I can't afford for me to be off any longer.

BGrahl90 · January 2015

I only took 3.5 weeks off. Definitely not the norm but I was going stir crazy and not having the extra income was weighing on me, personally. We had budgeted for me not to go back until 8 weeks but once I was in the situation it just seemed better to go back early. Looking back, I wish I stayed home for a little longer but at least my son was home with my mother in law. That made the decision easier.

amieeyoung · January 2015

I am only taking 8 (and have had a c-section). I'd like to take longer (I could b/c I live in TN take 4 months off but would only get paid for leave time I have accumulated). I actually have about 10 weeks and a few days I could take, but I'd like to save those for doc appts. sick days etc.

sdlaura · January 2015

As some PPs mentioned, I think a lot of it depends on how comfortable you are with childcare. I was lucky to have easy births and recoveries, so physically I could have gone back to work pretty soon after having babies. But the issue for me was more that we didn't have any family members that I could leave my babies with, and even though I like our daycare provider, I felt a lot more comfortable leaving my 12-week-old there than I would have about sending a 6-week-old. Given that I had a choice (I know that some women don't).

ss+el · January 2015

I could have gone back at 8-10 weeks, possibly earlier. I was ready, but Christmas Day was 8 weeks for me, so I wanted to get back to what little routine one has with an infant after traveling for Christmas and stayed home until 11 weeks.

sweetmama101226 · January 2015

I was gone for 8 weeks as well and felt guilty to leave my almost 2 month old in a daycare so we got my husbands aunt to take care of him until at least he was 3 months old then started daycare. This time around I think I will go for the 12 weeks but we are still thinking about it.