Childminder or Nanny

The best thing for the baby will be to leave it at home with a qualified and competent nanny. The benefits of breastfeeding instead of expressing/using formula for those two days will not outweigh the negatives of the baby having to spend hours in the car everyday.

It will be hard for you to be away from the baby, but it's the best solution for the baby.

Driving with the nursery or the shops a few week after a CS is one thing.

Driving for 1.5 hours to a hotel , carrying a baby in a car seat and luggage to a hotel room, settling the baby with nanny, driving to work ,doing 8 hours work ( expressing during your lunch instead of eating or relaxing ) , driving back to hotel , feeding baby - is quite another .

Followed by a night of broken sleep feeding the baby .

Then doing the same thing the next day and driving home .

Any one of two of these things might be realistic - I'm not sure if they all are

Air bnb flats can be rented by the night and may be more homely than a hotel and have a kitchen etc.

You can drive after a caesarean when you are well enough to and when you are able to do an emergency stop. It is not usually a set number of weeks. That will obviously depend on how you are healing after surgery.

I was driving after 2 weeks with a Csection, you need your midwife or doctor to say it's ok and to all your insurer to let them know, if it's been less than 6 weeks and you didn't check with a medical professional or let your insurer know you've had a csection, they might not pay out if you have an accident, but as long as you let them know, it's fine.

I drove within a week of my CS the six week thing is an urban myth. It's when you feel fit to do an emergency stop and as long as your insurer is happy

Poor you returning to work at just 6 weeks! I'm a mum & a nanny and a big breastfeeding fan...BUT: I know these comments are not very helpful but just to think about: Don't think you'd be insured to drive 6 weeks after a C-section? My DS would have screamed A LOT on an hour-long car journey at that age which is really stressful for all concerned. I understand you have reservations about your child being far from you for a long working day, but also don't plan so much on the lunchtime breastfeed, there's no reason to assume you can breastfeed your new baby, especially at a time of your choosing, lots of mums or babies can't, plus lots of babies who do bf won't take a feed if they are not in the mood.

2 week day nights in a prem inn would be cheaper then renting a flat

A nanny would go there and look after baby

Unusual set up but I've done it before in a place in tunbridge wells and in a hotel there. As I originally said a tv and room service and a buggy so can't go for a walk /fresh air

But can't you stay in a Premier Inn during your working days and a day Nanny come and care for your baby each day in your hotel room? Or could you rent a flat on Maidstone short term for the same e.g. Air bnb?

If not I would leave baby at home, I think long car journeys twice a day are not a good idea for baby tbh.

Didn't think you wamted a nanny to stay overnight??

But no reason why she wouldn't

I do a lot of night nannying and new born baby work and normally stay in the clients house but tbh staying in a prem inn etc wouldn't bother me

If you have to work and want to feed baby then staying in prem inn etc for 2 nights near work and nanny going there seems the best option

It's a long drive after cs and if you can afford it then will make going back to work easier

Yes a cm may work but to a certain extent you will have to fit in with them and her other mindees. She may not be at home at lunchtime etc

OP, have you had a Cs before ? Because driving 130 miles a day AND working 8 hours AND BF at night AND expressing while you are recovering from major surgery is going to be very very hard .

Will you have help at home on the other days when you are not working , or will you be looking after a new born and your two older children?

Prem inn or travel lodges in maidstone? Drive there evening before - get nanny to be in hotel room following day with room Service and tv lol - you can pop back and feed - spend night there and nanny come next day. You do the same and then drove home that evening

Few nurseries take babies that young. They tend to wait until after the 16w jabs.
Whilst some cm will be very busy at that time of day, others may only have toddlers who may be napping then so could be less disruptive.
I know it sounds luducrous but you couldn't rent somewhere nearer to where you work, could you? Drive the 65 miles the night before you start work, sleep there, nanny arrives to that house, you have short commute etc.

Maidstone is very near to blondesland :)

You won't find a nanny near work as nanny needs to work in your home
Not theirs (that a cm) unless you expect nanny to stay at your work - very unlikely

Unless rent a hotel room etc for nanny and your baby and you pop back whenever

ideally a cm or nursery near work would be nice but it's also a long car journey for your new born baby so think you need to work out how much you want to bf compared to baby being in car 2/3hrs a day

Any way you could express and baby have your milk the following day from
A Bottle and be at your home while you work?

6 weeks after giving birth and going back to work will be tough - esp as you are having a cs - you may find driving hard

I think your ideal thing is a childminder very near work whom you could pop in to at lunchtime. A nursery very near work may also work so I would look at both nursery and childminder options very near to work and see what the individual providers would accommodate with regard to you doing lunchtime feed.

It's for 8 to 9 months so you need something that works for you and your baby, plus the care provider.

Certainly does not seem straightforward so I feel you are right to start looking at what is available locally to where you will be working.

Nannies are portable. They don't need to be tied to the op's home; they could be based in op's office if that's easier or a combination of home and office.

Sometimes it's quicker to just bring the baby in to the mother than express which can take a long time for some women.

Could you look into baby groups local to your work? If you could find a nice group or class for a nanny and the baby to go to and then meet up with them at lunch, then the nanny could take the baby for a walk, potter around the shops, have coffee, go to soft play. At 6 weeks old I imagine the baby will be spending lots of time sleeping.

A nanny works at your home, so how can that work - they will be a long way from your work.

A childminder very near your work might work out short term.

How long is the contract for, would you be ending it soon and then get a job near home?

Babies adapt well usually having breast from mum, bottle from carer. You could use EBM if you want to express at work.

I worked with a woman who needed to return to work at 5 months (she was on track for partnership and really couldn't have more time out) but had a DC who had bad allergies so had to be breast fed. She expressed daily and had a mini fridge in her office, the nanny brought the baby in some days. Would that be an option.

Could you find a nanny who would then bring baby to you at work for the lunch period and have a break themselves. It still means baby being in the car a lot but may be less time at lunchtime then morning and evening due to not being rush hour. You would need to provide a car for the nanny to use or pay mileage costs though which at that distance would soon add up. A nursery near work could work for you as they should be ok with you coming and taking over for that lunch period until baby is a little older at least. Good luck