To want to go back to work after 3 months mat leave

[Forumqueen]

I am a fairly new starter at my role. And got pregnant pretty much straight after starting the role. I’m will be working until due date )fast approaching) I am entitled to 6 months FULL pay during mat leave . So naturally I was going to take 6 months off then come back.
my AIBU is that I’m still learning so much and there are so many great opportunities I am missing out on already by just being so heavily pregnant. My partner thinks I’m crazy to consider just taking 3 months off instead of the full 6 . However we have two primary aged kids already so I’ve experienced the whole full year off for mat leave. Right now I really want to progress on my career and I feel as though I will miss out on so many opportunities at work if I’m away for the full 6 months

me and my partner both have very flexible jobs and work from home. We plan on balancing work/ baby at home for the first year. So although I will be working I’ll still be with the baby.

has anyone gone back to work so quickly after having a baby when they had the option to take more time off. Am I crazy for even considering this?

Not everywhere. Where I work you become eligible for their full pay maternity leave from the day you start, no matter how pregnant you are at the time.

I think you are getting offended over nothing there.

Sounds great. 😊

What would be the best thing for your baby? Do that.

It's completely unacceptable to WFH with a baby there in your care! No one would ever have even contemplated doing this pre-lockdown but because it was accepted during lockdown as a necessity when nurseries etc closed, people seem to think it's ok generally. It's really not.

I have my 2 yr old home today as my MIL is ill and usually has her 2 days a week. Despite both me and DH being here and tag teaming it's been a bloody nightmare and I've done nothing other than the bare minimum of calls for those 2 days.

I thought companies have to give parents the right to Shared Parental Leave:

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) gives parents greater flexibility in how they care for their child. SPL allows birth mothers to share a portion of maternity leave and pay with their partners to care for children from birth until their first birthday.

workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/shared-parental-leave-sharing-leave-with-a-partner-or-splitting-up-leave/#:~:text=Shared%20Parental%20Leave%20(SPL)%20gives,birth%20until%20their%20first%20birthday.

Go back to work if you wan5
But put baby in full time childcare
Eg full time nanny or nursery
You cannot wfh with baby.

This isn't necessarily true. Those little moments where the (familiar!) wfh partner can help out (hold the baby for a few mins while you go to the loo / shower / eat without it being a big hoo ha handover can really work for a small baby and don't necessarily mean lots of time away from work, but are invaluable to the parent caring. A lot depends on the job/baby.

For my part, couldn't have done it initially as ds was a screaming mess for a couple of months, but from around 4 months it's worked well.

That said, wouldn't do it myself. That time would be very precious.