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 work from home regularly for a company. But my children are not here when I do. When they've been ill rather than lose me entirely for a working day (I get generous dependent leave) I've agreed to work around my child at home.

Although I get my work done, it reduces my capacity by at least half, if not more. This is acceptable to my boss because it's still better than losing me for a day but it is tough.

In my experience, yes you can work from home with small children. But only if you accept that business calls can't happen and your productivity will be affected so allow for working at odd hours when partner is home or child is in bed for the night to balance out.

Yes I would say you are dreaming!

You can't work and look after a newborn at the same time

Yes you can. Not everyone has a difficult birth, difficult baby. Some people are lucky enough to be physically and mentally fine after birth, have a nice house, a sportive husband, a cleaner and an easy happy sleepy baby! In that situation you could do some work from home.

You might be able to but not me, i drove down the wrong way if a dual carriageway in my sleep deprived 2wk pp state with my second. Good job it was quiet and i realised and managed to get through a turn in.....i walked for a while after that!

And i had an easy baby. I think actually it was still the gas and air wearing off....i abused it a bit

oh god love you! No!

I am not allowed to work from home 'to cover childcare' in my contact

I do work from home when they are ill but they are all over 8! As babies no way would I have worked from home

Sorry

Lozzy I used to get gas and air flash backs - for about 6 weeks post birth! I love G+A

I'm a SAHM and my husband has the option to work from home when he's here however he says it isn't possible for him even with me looking after the children full time as he needs to concentrate. He's tried it and even being on a different floor he can still hear them (age 1 and 3, and not particularly noisy). I wouldn't be able to do it either. It would have been possible for the first few months if DC2 had been my first but I wouldn't have been able to do it when DC1 was a baby as she would only nap on me until she was a year old!

I think if you run your own business it's fine, but would be very difficult to work from someone else with a baby there. I work from home often and I definitely wouldn't be able or allowed to do it.

I closed a £15m deal with DS2 breastfeeding on me.

Within a week infection set in and I was ill for months - it wasn't worth it

There's a reason why maternity leave is given. It's because you can't do the job you were doing and look after a baby at the same time

Kioro, I know you meant supportive but I am loving the idea of having a sportive husband.

I think you'll find you're so tired at first from the broken nights that you don't get much done during the day and then if they sleep well from a few months then you can't get anything done during the day after about 4 months because they need looking after.
I work from home and can't with the kids around, I need childcare available to be able to work, even though I'm working at home. So, unless it's a very little bit of here and there, no urgency, totally flexible, type stuff I don't see it as at all feasible, and if that's the case, surely it wouldn't pay enough to bother?

I think your partner is a huge factor here. If he's home early-ish, does his share of nights, etc, it makes a huge difference to if he works late a lot/ 'needs' a full nights sleep.

YABVU - obviously it depends on how "easy" your baby is, but I didn't have time to go to the loo, nevermind sit down and write a report.

So I posted at 14.11. Since then she has dipped in and out of sleep twice, I have changed her and now I am feeding her. I have also managed to make a cup of tea.

Could other SAHPs perhaps post what they have managed in a similar time period? Might help the OP.

I think it depends on the job. I manage to do around 4 -7 hours when I am in charge (my parents do two days) and mine is on a computer and is not time sensitive so I can dip in and out and save it easily so it OK to do it around naps, playing, resting time and then in the evenings. But if the situation changes I could save and then go back to it.

As for 8 that is far to in advance. My youngest is 4 and does 3 hours 5 days a week I can fit in the time easily now along with cleaning and exercise. It got easy once he started pre school just as he turned 3

I'd say with your first baby it will be difficult for about the first six months until you have routines established and have got used to having a child to look after, but with a second child it's easier.
I worked from home part time, flexible hours, with a toddler and then with a newborn baby as well. The toddler went to a childminder or preschool about three mornings a week and still had a nap every day during the first six months of this, which helped. I did some work during nap times, some in the evenings and bits here and there around the children. I had the minimum two weeks' maternity leave.
I don't think I would have coped with my first baby though.

Trifle - from very young to 3-4 years I could almost guarantee mine would nap daily so could get loads done during that time. Ie at say 4months mine both napped 11-12, 2-4, 6-7pm. Then slept 11pm-8am. So on a typical day I might have worked 6am-8am (2hrs), then 4 hours while they napped, and another 3hrs either whilst they were awake or once Dh was home or mixture

Artandco: When did you do the washing, shopping, get a shower, clean, etc? Not disbelieving you. Mine will sleep but I have loads to do in the day and don't think I could guarantee meeting deadlines. I'd love to write my book! or brush my hair

Can you drive your car and blow dry your hair at the same time? If the answer is yes then you are clearly amazing at multi tasking and yanbu.

Otherwise, no chance.

I have only been able to do it second time around because DP is a SAHD and we have an office separate from the house.

I have 2 DS and found it VERY hard with my first. If there are any deadlines, I'd shy away to be honest, my work was often late and not of great quality and I was wracked with guilt and took me longer to get my head around all the new things you have to learn caring for a baby. With the benefit of hindsight I'd have foregone the income and taken the time.

The first 8 weeks after both I could barely spell my own name. It has four letters. The longest they napped pre-6mo was 30 mins, and I hated hearing them cry, so kept getting distracted even when I knew they were being looked after.

TRifle - the same as when I worked 7am-7pm out of the home. Evenings or weekends. Dh doing equal share

Oh and we have had a cleaner since before children doing main cleaning, so just have day to day general crap between us