AIBU to think I could work from home with a brand new baby?

[SanitysSake]

Just mulling over a few ideas to keep the funds coming in whilst at home.

Is it possible, or am I living in cloud cuckoo land?

Would be grateful to hear from any stay-at-home mums who also manage to work from home.

Any hints, tips, experiences, advice would be most appreciated.

I couldn't do my work with a newborn or young child around as I need to concentrate on complex technical stuff and it would be very hard to concentrate for long enough with my children around. Plus I don't think I'd want to do it for their sake as I'd feel I was ignoring them I think.

So I think it totally depends on the type of work and the type of baby you have.

It would be contract work, writing reports basically on an ad-hoc basis. So not every day 9-5. Entirely flexible and no conference calls either.

It is not set in stone and I have yet to have the bubba (yes, my first). Very cognizant of the fact that it entirely depends on what type of baby I have.

One thing which made me consider it, is that I also have a partner who can be flexible in his work, which would provide some on-hand in-house childcare, too - should it be required. Which, by the sounds of it, it will be!

Interesting to see the diversity of answers. Much food for thought - thank you.

I was going to say cloud cuckoo land - and then I remembered that with DD3 I didn't get maternity leave. We are self employed and so the business carried on and DD3 just fit in around it. Wasn't easy though.

What type of work? Also - is this your usual job from which you are taking maternity leave? - because if so you can usually only do so may KIT (keeping in touch) days without stopping your maternity leave, so be sure to check this out.

When DD was born I could easily have worked from home (office type job) until she was about 5 months or so. Probably not full time though

It depends on a lot of things. If you have a baby who sleeps reasonably well at night, has a nap or two during the day (at home - mine would only sleep in a moving buggy), and someone else to take over in the evenings or to take the baby out for a walk regularly, AND you happen to have had a good birth and recovered well both physically and emotionally, you could fit in a good few hours a week.

The trouble is all of this together isn't that likely. i couldn't do it - I have always worked at home (self-employed) and I thought it wouldn't be that hard, but it was. Don't underestimate the toll it takes on you, not just the birth but the huge change to your life - it is exhausting. In short, not impossible but you absolutely can't bank on it.

I basically took a normal-length maternity leave, with Statutory Maternity Pay and some savings from work I'd previously done. I went back to work part-time by using a nursery.

And I agree with a PP that they need to be about 8/9 before you can really work with them around – even then, not anything that requires real focus, as you will get dragged away.

I was freelance when my DS was born. I had about six months off then started taking work on again - similar to you it was report writing etc and could be done pretty much flexibly. However, I got next to nothing done while he was awake - could grab 20 mins here or there maybe when he was occupied with the jumperoo but that didn't last long. Everything had to be done while he napped or slept which meant I got barely any sleep myself for a long time. When he turned 1 I took on a day a week at nursery but I was still having to work at night. I went back to proper employment when he was two and my mental health has improved considerably since then.

I wouldn't do it again, put it that way.

I run my own business from home and have two small children in school/nursery. I do breakfast/school run/drop kids/work all day (no break)/school run/tea/bath/bed and then work again. This week, when both kids have been ill and at home I have done as much as I can in the day whilst caring for them and worked late every evening. In short, it is v hard work and that is with childcare!!

If your baby is like my older nephew then you would have no problem. Even at a couple of weeks old he would sleep well at night and in the day have a feed then nap contently in his moses basket for hours. DSis and I had a lovely time when he was born, relaxing in front of the telly and popping out for lunch. Otoh you could get a baby like my DD. Then the answer is no, no, so very much no. Congratulations and good luck!

sanity it sounds very possible that you can then. Give yourself a bit of time to get into the swing of motherhood first. Then you can ease yourself into it.

One thing I found helper and did this with the first, second and will with the third. .ale sure you wash and dress in the morning even if it's just chucking yesterday's clothes on. It helps get you going in the morning and feel normalised. Small things like this will help especially if you plan to work from home. If I stayed in my pjs after breakfast nothing would get done. It's a psychological thing I think. Ignore everyone saying it's impossible. In your case I think it is possible if you want to do it. And the baby will still get enough love and attention from you. So don't worry x

Lots of people wonder this - I think they imagine the baby in a carrycot sleeping peacefully beside their work desk as they work at their screen ... the reality is that when the baby does actually get to sleep, you need to get on with the day-to-day survival stuff like getting food, washing nappies or kipping yourself ..

I've had four babies that need to be held by me for all sleeps and wake up immediately if I put them down. So no, I couldn't have worked, and wouldn't have wanted to tbh.

What job exactly epoxy?

I should say though, my DH works away through the week so I had no extra help either with DS or around the house. This really didn't help.

I was freelance when I had ds. I took 3mo off completely and could not have focussed on any work. Then I did some evenings and weekends while dh had ds for three months then ds started a day a week at his granny then nursery.

Yes, you can. I did and it was hard, but it's doable if your work is not defined by rigid office hours and you are mainly left to your own devices so long as things are done. It helps to be freelance, probably. I made time in other places - weekends, night, naps etc. If you have the freedom to work as/when you want, then it is manageable. Quantity-wise, I reckon I functioned at about 50-60 percent of pre-baby capacity initially, gradually edging up.
Admittedly, I sometimes wish I had taken proper time off because, yes, it all goes so fast they grow up so quickly blah blah blah. On balance, though, it was the right decision with generally positive consequences. Good luck!

It's impossible to say until you know what type of baby you are going to have.

I worked at home during maternity leave, did a few hours a day (pre agreed and well paid). DD was a dream baby, slept through from six weeks and only woke once at night prior to that so I was managing to get enough sleep. It helped me keep in touch with my role and pre-mummy identity but it's not for everyone.

If it's something you want to do I would work out the minimum that will be manageable and don't expect any more from yourself, if you do then great but the main focus should always be baby.

My baby is 9 weeks old. Most of my day involves feeding, changing, rocking, with some cooking and a bit of cleaning. I am typing now with her falling asleep but she is a bit restless. I wouldn't be able to do anything mentally engaging.

I could barely cook, clean or dress myself with a newborn. Still find it hard with a 1 year old now.

I probably could have done as I had an easy baby who slept all the time.

But as people have said you don't know until the baby is a few weeks old what they are going to be like.

I do remember thinking I would not have time for anything and being reassured by the fact that people in my NCT group who'd had their babies before me were able to send emails etc. They were personal ones but they still had time to write them. So if the role is completely flexible and has fluid deadlines, I don't see any reason why not if your baby is like mine.

It's possible to fit work into nap times and bedtimes or when your husband is home. However, if your baby is not a good sleeper at night you may well be too tired and want some relaxing time when the baby sleeps.

I used to work nap times and evenings when mine were young, I really resented it as it was like any potential time to myself was immediately used up working. However, you might enjoy your work more than me!!!

I would only allow my team to work from home if they have alternative childcare for under-8s. in practise most staff (once they have arrived) wouldn't think it feasible either!

Really interesting thread. I'm in the same position as you OP - pregnant with my first, WFH for myself doing something writer-y with no phone calls and fairly fluid/non-urgent timescales, and want to keep it up to some degree.

The message I'm getting from this thread is "Possibly, depends on the baby, unlikely to be near a full day's work, impossible when they're over 6 months."

I couldn't have done but then I was in a sleep deprived fog that meant my brain wouldn't have functioned if I'd have had to use it for more than routine stuff. And they wanted to be held all the time!

I'd say considering your job doable provided you have a compliant baby. If you do go for it, I'd have a good contingency plan in place.

I wouldn't recommend it tho... if you have an easy baby you'll want to enjoy him/her!