If you ended Maternity leave early

[AllinAll6474]

Did you find it difficult to work with all the sleep deprivation? (Assuming the baby woke at night/teething/regression)

How did you get through it?

How early? You might (probably will) be in the same boat even if you don't go back to work early. Neither of mine were sleeping through when I went back to work. How did I get through? Coffee!!! Tears. And nice colleagues.

I was tired, but full of sheer relief. I hated ML and almost skipped back in on the first day.

I have to say I am looking forward to going back too 😂 I need to give 30 days notice so my baby would be 7 months (I suppose it's not that early but seems it at times)

Yes I did. I worked for about 4 weeks and had a psychotic breakdown
not fun

Following with interest.

I am going back at 8 months, having had 12 months first time which was too long. Time dragged for the last 4 months.

My little boy wasn't sleeping through at 12 months so not sure it would have made any difference going back earlier?!

Baby number 2 is currently sleeping through, but I appreciate a lot can change in 3 months....

I just had low expectations of what else I could achieve beyond work and home.

I went to bed very early.

I was quite used to frequent wake ups.

I did WFH quite a bit.

Easy meals.

Cleaner.

TBH I found being at work a break from 24/7 childcare, so it was in a way a break! I was still having the broken sleep, early mornings, and days being responsible for stuff (baby, house) on mat leave.

I didn’t feel ‘like me’ until my baby was 18 months old. It may have been a factor - who knows!

Went back at just over 6 months. But the twins slept through from 5 months so l knew that when l committed to the return to work

If there any way to do a soft start e.g. using annual leave to go back a few days a week at the beginning?

My baby's sleep is much better at almost 9 months than at 7 months. A day at work would be a break compared to chasing after him all day (early and FAST crawler).

Depends on the kind of work. You have time to think about a reply to an email. Not so a baby lunging for something you thought wasn't in reach...

Also depends how feasible it is to share nights and early wakings with your partner. My husband can alternate the earlies which makes a big difference, even though EBF night feedings are still largely on me.