Work from home & child care

nicoler0402 · December 2014

hi all, have any veteren moms worked from home with in-home childcare? I will be going back to work full time, and Daycare is better for our budget than a nanny, but I work from home 2 days/week and am thinking about seeing if there are college students or something that may work for those 2 days--ideally that are less expensive than a nanny and since I'll be home I can "supervise". I will have an office in a separate room, but am wondering if it'll be hard for the baby to be home with me when I can't fully care for it during the hours I'm working. Thoughts/experiences are appreciated!

redheaded14 · December 2014

FTM so no experience here, but I work from home and I know that having the baby home, even with a nanny, wouldn't work from me.

Part of it is that I don't have good separation between my office and the rest of the house, and our house is really small. But I also like to walk around when I'm on the phone, or work from the couch when I'm tired of being cooped up in the guest room/office.

I guess you could do it on a trial basis, but be prepared to make adjustments as necessary.

canadianttc1st · December 2014

I work from home and found it manageable to do without even having a nanny

I just take breaks to play with ds and do a lot of work while he is sleeping. I find it has also helped him to become more independent and confident in himself. So it's definitely doable!

Stucas · December 2014

I worked from home with DD several days a week and having her in the house just did not work. I was so much more productive when she was out of the house. I am lucky because my Mom watches her on days I work otherwise I would have tried to find someone to take her a few afternoons a week.

That being said, I would try it out and see how it works for you, you won't know until you're living it but having a nanny come to you would probably be much cheaper than daycare if it's only two days a week. She can always take baby for lots of walks to give you some space

DMG122183 · December 2014

I think if you could have a babysitter of some sort help out that would be great. You may not have to get set extra set of hands until the kid is mobile, depending on how in depth your work flow is. If you are going to need to be on the phone all day, you might need one from the beginning.

theinvadermothership · December 2014

OP, i think it really depends how your job is. That really is going to make a difference on whether you actually need help or not. Though someone to even spend a few hours a day willing to take care of baby and do chores may definitely be worth the money.

Ginja85 · December 2014

Just an FYI if you're planning to only do part-time daycare it may be a challenge to find a provider willing to take an infant PT due to child;caregiver ratios required by your state. Not impossible but, it may be difficult.

nicoler0402 · December 2014

Thanks all. I must have child care the entire working hours--it's on my wfh agreement and given the nature of having to be available/what I do I don't imagine I could do it any other way. (Wfh saves me an 1.5 hr commute each way so it's a savings in commuting cost and more importantly time.) I agree that it might be hard to segment childcare--plan is daycare at least 2 days, MIL watching one day and then I have my 2 days from home to decide. "Professional" Nanny 4 full days just isn't really an option financially, which is why I thought a student could work when I'm home, but that's a lot of dividing. I'll be doing more research on pricing!

littlewest1 · December 2014

Babies cry a lot and need a lot of attention and when they get mobile there is a lot of chasing them around and keeping them out of trouble. It's doable for some but I wouldn't choose having the baby in the house with me, as nice as it sounds. Even with someone there watching them there would be a lot of distraction.

smilesallaround · December 2014

I also babysat for two kids every day for about 5 hours while their mom worked from home. I started when the boy was 6 months and the girl was 7 years old. I watched them for about 6 months. These kids had a huge attachment to their mother and it was very hard to keep them away from her. I would play games and the girl would always want her mom to play to. I could really only keep them away by taking them on walks to the park for a few hours. I could keep the baby boy busy, but if he happened to see his mom walk by he would scream and scream until she took him and then he had to stay with her until his next nap.

lexyraejay · December 2014

nicoler0402 said:
Thanks all. I must have child care the entire working hours--it's on my wfh agreement and given the nature of having to be available/what I do I don't imagine I could do it any other way. (Wfh saves me an 1.5 hr commute each way so it's a savings in commuting cost and more importantly time.) I agree that it might be hard to segment childcare--plan is daycare at least 2 days, MIL watching one day and then I have my 2 days from home to decide. "Professional" Nanny 4 full days just isn't really an option financially, which is why I thought a student could work when I'm home, but that's a lot of dividing. I'll be doing more research on pricing!

If you look into hiring a college student, you might actually be able have 2 students split the 4 days per week that you'll need covered. That could possibly be more realistic and/or affordable than finding a daycare that will take your LO 2 days per week and not charge you for full time.
Good luck!

alisajs · December 2014

I have been a full-time wfh mom since I had my DD 4 years ago. My job is flexible - which has helped tremendously. I have to put in 40 hours, but I can choose those hours - can literally be 3am if I want - and there's very little phone time involved. For the first year, I had no actual 'help'. My husband only worked part-time so he was around a lot, but his schedule varied so I got pretty used to doing things on my own. I worked while she napped, with her in her swing next to me, while I held her, etc. It was hard, but I made it work. And for me, so much better than the thought of putting my newborn in daycare. Once she got more mobile (right at about a year) my husband took a full-time job, and I needed help. I hired sitters for in the house while I worked. I probably would have been a 'better' employee if she had been out of the house - but in my mind, as long as my boss was satisfied I was doing ok - and it was more important to me to be there if I could. We also couldn't afford 'professsional' nannies, so I was hiring college/right out of college age girls, and the fact that I was home made me comfortable enough to do it. I only ever had someone part-time - about 18 hours a week - and made up the rest of my time during nap time, early morning, etc. My DD is in preschool now 3 mornings a week, but I still have in-home sitters for a few hours every day. The WORST part of it all is the unreliability factor ... I've had people quit unexpectedly, get sick, be late, lose their transportation ... it stinks and leaves you immediately unable to work. If you don't have some flexibility in your job, or a decent amount of time off, daycare is a more reliable option. I'm still not 100% sure what I'm doing for this next baby. Going to try to have a sitter only for DD and take care of the baby while I work for at least 5-6 months. Best of luck to you!!!

kitc101 · December 2014

I work from home, also. My job is pretty demanding, but I'm not worried. DH gets Thursdays off since he works Saturdays, so he will be in charge of Baby on that day. My mom has offered to take the baby one other day, so that just leaves me with 3 days to care for child and do my work. I, personally, think it'll be completely manageable. I don't think I could have a caregiver in the house while I was working.

HZ2012 · December 2014

I work from home. When DS1 was really little, it wasn't so hard to get my work done. He slept a lot and when he was awake he was in 1 spot. Now, it's a whole different ball game (he's almost 19 months). If he's not running all over, screaming, crying, playing with loud toys, wanting me to hold him, wanting to play with my phone or computer, then it's ok! Lol (Obvi he's doing those things most of the day).

My advice would be to play by ear. In the beginning it may not be bad. But as LO gets older, maybe have a sitter come for a few hours before or after nap time so you get more work done.

chantalefp · January 2015

Can I ask what you all do for work at home? Looking at a few options now, because I think I'd prefer it this year!

Jessie Spano · January 2015

I work from home full time with a nanny. I have two kids, ages 3 and 2. It works really well for me, and I wouldn't want any other setup. The pros are obvious, I can see my kids whenever, they get personal 1:1 attention, I know they are safe and well cared for. The cons are that I have no transition between work me and mommy me, and when they are tantruming I hear a lot of it - sometimes the people I'm on a call with do as well (despite the large distance between my office and their location). The pros significantly outweigh the cons for me. I'm a data scientist so the majority of my time is spent researching, programming, and analyzing. I have no trouble concentrating with their noise, so it works.

SuperFudge00 · January 2015

I did this while chipping away at junior college, but I was an older college student. You get what you pay for and either you'll be watching baby with the sitter or you won't be supervising at all.

mamabernsteinbear15 · January 2015

I currently wfh part time and plan to keep that when LO arrives. However, I will not have my child home with me. We sign an agreement that when wfh our child will still have 100% coverage the entire 8 hours. (I teach online so it's not feasible to have my LO nursing or near me while I'm trying to teach Algebra!).

I also was a nanny for many years and on the occasion that the parents would wfh it was awful. The kids would see mom or dad and immediately want them and stop listening to me. It not only made my job more difficult but theirs as well. What mom is going to hear her kid crying and just ignore it??

I'm lucky that my DH is home 2 days during the week since he works weekends. Between my father and MIL we are hoping we don't have do daycare but it's still up in the air.

AmCheri · January 2015

I work at home from time-to-time, whenever I feel like it. There's no way I could pull it off without having help. Lots of phone calls with clients. Lots of emergency research and calls with people from the office. We have a full-time nanny and I know she's not wild about me being home. She once told me that she refused to work for a family where the parents worked from home. Said it's too much of a distraction to the kids. Whatever. That's just her thing and the way she wants to do things. When I am home though I do try to let them go about their routine, which I think is better for our daughter. I pop in and say hello, or they will visit me in my office. But I really do try to separate work from home, even when I'm at home.

pnutg · January 2015

chantalefp said:
Can I ask what you all do for work at home? Looking at a few options now, because I think I'd prefer it this year!

I would like to know this as well. We are in a transition period with moving to a new place, having a new baby, etc. I would love to find something wfh, even if it was part time.

Scarlettg · January 2015

Ginja85 said:

Just an FYI if you're planning to only do part-time daycare it may be a challenge to find a provider willing to take an infant PT due to child;caregiver ratios required by your state. Not impossible but, it may be difficult.

This. I was reading the post and thought, well, wouldn't you have to pay for a weeks' daycare anyway, whether you use all 7 days or not? I'm a FTM but I've listened to all of my friends with children kvetch about this at one time or another.

That said, especially if you are easily distracted like me, it might be better to take the baby to daycare anyway, just so you can get work done. I don't know about you, but it would help me get into a "work" frame of mind.

adeaea1 · January 2015

Check out care.com and post a description of what you would like for part time care. I posted and got a ton of responses from college students looking for part time work. I didn't pay for a membership and haven't responded to any of the people who contacted me since we may be moving... So not sure how that part works... But you'll definitely find people interested!

My sister has 3 kids and works from home. She had to go with daycare because having them home was too much of a distraction.

tirola · January 2015

I'm a FTM so I have no experience with it from the parenting perspective, however I am a nanny and have worked for parents that work from home (albeit, in my situation, they only WFH one day/week). It is definitely doable but I do think it is important to have clear boundaries established. I think that typically, the child adapts to having both mom and another child care provider around. It is actually much easier when they are younger, before they hit the separation anxiety stage! Obviously, you are the parent and you can do things how you choose, but I have found that as the child gets older, it helps to have established routines (i.e., they aren't allowed to come into your office when the door is closed. Rather than popping out randomly to say hi and then leaving again, maybe set it up so that you take a 15 minute break at lunch time. Etc).

I obviously don't know your budget but if you are only looking for a couple days/week, I think you could find an affordable nanny. I have a large nanny group that I am part of in my city and several of my friends only do part time work but have affordable rates because they are working it around their other commitments (school, second job, child of their own, etc). Best of luck to you!!

fiscally3 · January 2015

I worked from home 1 day a week with my first (that's all my office would allow) but it was a 10 hour day (they let me condense my schedule to 4 days a week (I don't know if that's an option for you). I was able for awhile to watch my baby and work, but as he got mobile I had to find other options. I used a combination of a Mother's Morning Out Program from 9-1 (followed by a 2-3 hour nap) and a SAHM of an elementary student. She watched my kid at her house and I picked him up around 5. So you might be able to find somebody like that, and she was much more reliable than a lot of sitters I tried to contact. (Income was a priority to her). She was even willing to be oncall incase went into labor early and needed someone to watch my son when I had my second.

Sarahbmcd · January 2015

Lurking from May 15..

I am currently a nanny for a WFH mom and it's great. The oldest knows he's not allowed in his mom's office and the other is 10 months old so no issues. The kids have no problem even the mom comes out a bit then goes back to work. However, if you plan on "supervising" it will make it harder on your babysitter and your kids.

Our situation works great and the mom and I get along really well. If you don't mesh well it will definitely be more difficult. Also if they have regular hours on a weekly basis in your home you will have to consider paying taxes.

JAP09-02 · January 2015

Just some food for thought and maybe not all daycare centers are like this, but the weekly rate at ours isn't equally divided per day. For example, 3 days would cost $120 whereas the whole work week would be $150. In this case it wouldn't really pay to hire a different person to watch at home for two days because I'm assuming they'd want more than $15/day.

I hope this example makes sense. Basically, the expense is sort of front loaded to deter part timers.

karboss · January 2015

nicoler0402 said:
Thanks all. I must have child care the entire working hours--it's on my wfh agreement and given the nature of having to be available/what I do I don't imagine I could do it any other way. (Wfh saves me an 1.5 hr commute each way so it's a savings in commuting cost and more importantly time.) I agree that it might be hard to segment childcare--plan is daycare at least 2 days, MIL watching one day and then I have my 2 days from home to decide. "Professional" Nanny 4 full days just isn't really an option financially, which is why I thought a student could work when I'm home, but that's a lot of dividing. I'll be doing more research on pricing!

I'm glad you brought up your WFH contract. Whether you have a contract or not, you may want to look at company policies. I was talking about this with a friend who is an HR director since my DH may have a 1 day per week WFH option. She said that with her company, the policy (whether contacted or not) is that child care must be provided when you WFH. They had to pull some privileges recently. Your job is your job--not to take care of your child while you WFH. For my DH it is fine--he can work flex hours M-Th and take Friday off.

Another thing to look at is daycare center daily rate. That is what we will be doing. 4x per week. We have to give a schedule at the beginning of the month so that they can have mandated ratios. If we do not come that day we still pay. They said we can still add that 5th day if we give 48 hours notice. We went on the wait list 6 weeks ago and will pay a deposit in January for daycare starting in August.

OliveMom3 · January 2015

I personally couldn't swing it. But kudos to those who can!

bowman958 · January 2015

I worked full time from home for a year after DD was born (quit to be a SAHM in 2014), and had worked from home for 3.5 years prior to her birth. I had 4 days of daycare and one day with her home. The day she was home with me, I worked before she woke up, while she slept, and after she went to bed. It was very, very, very hard to have her there with me after she was about 9 months old. My advice would be, if your LO is going to be in daycare some days anyway, just go ahead and do daycare the days you will WFH. It will help your LO to have a routine and be with the same providers day in and day out, IMO.

xuxachi · January 2015

I wfh 3 mornings a week (stay home with kids rest of time) and have a grad student who has watched my kids for the past 2-1/2 years. It hasn't been too much of a problem till recently - my 3yo is always coming up and bugging me. It's frustrating for everyone and I hope just a phase. Kids def behave better for the sitter when I'm not around, so I try to stay away.

nicoler0402 · January 2015

Thank you for all the new responses. I've decided daycare 4 days (MIL watching 1 day) will be the plan, many for the reasons mentioned like my wfh contract requiring child care during normal working hours, routine, fee set up, etc. Interesting to some points above, some daycares I looked at charge based on how many days/week you sign up and others are only full time vs part time so for me I would have to pay for 5 days even to only use 4.

@chantalefp I head up the marketing/communications dept for a hotel. I was able to negotiate for it (pre pregnancy) as part of my annual review since my job is unique compared to many colleagues who have to be on-property to perform their job function. I thought it was a shot in the dark but ultimately worked out (2 days/week) so don't be afraid to ask wherever you end up!

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