Has anyone successfully worked from home with a baby?

[AnUnoriginalUsername]

Reassure me I can do this please.
We run a company. The pandemic gave us our best chance to have a baby so we took it. I'll be taking on the phones to my mobile on Monday, we don't get constant calls but it feels a bit daunting. DS is a dream atm, sleeps well, only screams for food.

Tell me how you did it?

Sounds doable

If I were a customer I would be happy to leave a message /email through request with my contact details as long as the company got back to me when they said they would eg if your message /website said for instance any messages /emails will be responded to by x time

Good luck with it - you Can always change things if you get busier/doesn't work out for you

Congrats on your baby

What you have described which is minimal I’d have found impossible with my second but not my first but that’s because he had reflux and needed constant holding.

However I nearly had a breakdown with a 2 yo during the first lockdown and wfh.

I’d say emails would be fine but calls might not be unless you can time them when the baby is asleep. Working from home with small children is no desirable in any way.when I was trying to juggle during lockdown it was calls that were the worst.

An hour a day on your own schedule is manageable.

Watch you name and declarations being on anything if you are claiming employee or state maternity benefits as its not legal t9 work on maternity leave. Prob noone will find out if it's your own company but just be aware. Congrats pn your baby x

Good luck OP, my first DS was a really good baby, but often I was busy dealing with him to even have time for a sandwich, nor about helping DH with the business, careful you don’t put yourself under too much pressure.

When your baby starts being mobile, get a playpen. Put the baby in it. Take the call in another room with the door open or set up a baby monitor so you can see the playpen.

What you're describing sounds easy. What isn't easy is to have to ignore your child for 6-7 hours a day solidly while you work.

It just feels pretty daunting that we have so much to do. All his appointments are pilling up, hearing test, gp, registering, it all seemed so doable a couple of months ago.

I don't understand.

By your description, the work is only answering max 5 phone calls a day, taking a few minutes, and replying to emails.
That's it?

If it is then, a) it's honestly not a job, it's a couple of hours helping out in the business and b) entirely doable.

The issue with small babies / children is being able to be professional (hard when they might cry or need you unexpectedly) and focus on mental tasks (nearly impossible as they need your full attention).

You don't have to do either of these things. Yes, the calls, but these are brief & intermittent.

Would you not consider a more substantial role, designate days to it & look for childcare for those days? That way, when you're working, you're working, and it's worry your while to have childcare. When you are off, you're off.

If it is such a minimal work commitment, with such brief attention required etc why can’t your partner do it? Or is there more to the job you’re not mentioning. I would definitely set voicemails etc to state there are set times you will respond at. Then you’re not listening out for the phone all the time.

It was the emotional side of post partum life that would have ruined my ability to work in the first few months. I felt really all over the place, often running on minimal sleep and just feeling like I had no time to devote to myself let alone a business. I wouldn’t have wanted the pressure.