September Babies Thread #5 - we're a chatty bunch

[Stroan]

Yet another thread for our September babies!

The Google Doc with stats is here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VUDuTLeibUnnaCWCjb-pqUe4Wnq-fTau4HJgmE1XE3c/edit?usp=sharing

This post was edited at OP's request

Lucky you @IVEgottheDECAF

Unfortunately I earn more than double DH so not an option for me to not work. Although I also love my job, so wouldn't give it up unless I had a lotto win. I can dream!

I have found working with 4 dc a real stretch. 5 will surely be harder still lol. Its not worth me going bald.

I bet @IVEgottheDECA

Sorry my PC crashed mid post

I was going to say @IVEgottheDECAF - I bet working with any more than 2 is a struggle. Especially the childcare cost!
Only having 1 the childcare costs vs working are a no brainer. With 2 it starts to become borderline and at 3 there would literally be no point here!

I am also doing a degree. So not a total bum i must add lol

I’m going to take the full year plus accrued holiday this time. I want to enjoy next summer with the baby and toddler!

I’m the breadwinner too and only get SMP so I’m going to do shared parental leave with DH 6 months each. Boodles your potential new arrangement sounds incredible.

megan my dc4 is entitled to his funded nursery hours by time my mat leave is over so if i did go back to work very part time i would mainly only be paying out for baby, dc1 will be at high school, dc2 will nearly be at high school, dc3 can get free after school club at school if needed. So it is doable for me to do part time.

I'm hoping to finish 3 weeks before my c-section date then use paid mat leave, unpaid mat leave and holidays to be off until mid-August 2020 as DD is starting school. I'd like her to have the whole summer out of childcare before going to school.

I am finishing at 32 weeks i think

I’m also the breadwinner. I plan to work as late as I can then take 9 months including annual leave entitlement. DH is going to be a SAHD so no worries about childcare etc. for us.

Oooh jealous of the year Megan and farmmama - it's already slightly irking me that I'll be working July & August this year and next!!

I'm dropping an hour (plus the lunch break) to do 8am - 2pm when I go back... in theory that is - I am able to work from home so we'll see if those hours are actually stuck to... if we have another sooner rather than later I'd consider stopping... but I think we'd rather aim for a bigger gap, even tough I am getting on a bit!!

My small gap (16m) was the easiest for me!

If everything goes smoothly and our circumstances allow we'll probably go for a smaller gap, I want to have recovered before trying for a second though 😅

Sorry there was a mistake in my earlier post - it's 21 weeks SMP after my enhanced mat pay - not 33. I wish!

I've calculated we need £12k to bridge the gap to meet the essential bills while I'm off. So far have scraped £7k. Trying not to panic about there the rest will come from with all the baby things to buy!

I worked out I can do until end of June paid, and then working out if I could do another month or two unpaid

I only get 6 weeks paid, then on to stat maternity plus, luckily, my car allowance. That will make it less of a squeeze. Then I am taking my remaining 2019 and accrued holidays at the end, which is when DH's two month period of the shared leave starts. I might have taken slightly longer but his contract is ending in May 2020 and we want him to take advantage of the forces' policy before he leaves. He's also taking two weeks holidays in addition to his paternity leave, so whilst my maternity pay situation is a bit shit at least we will have the opportunity to take plenty of time off together.

It will be hard leaving a little one (and 6mos is very little!) but with DH leaving we need to have a reliable income stream.

We are gonna take a lodger in during my mat leave. I won't be getting anything but the maternity allowance due to being made redundant etc despite now starting a new job. Meh!

Really enjoying feeling this baby move so much now, although keeps me awake at night sometimes!

Got my sex reveal scan on Thursday! So bloody excited. I'm like 99.9% certain it's another little boy.

I've no idea when I'm going to start mat leave. It'll be a toss up between going as late as possible, but soon enough cos I realise I'm going to be huge and wanting to not do too much and keep babies in as long as possible. I work just 10 mins away from home and have a very quiet, low pace job so I'm hoping it will be ok to stay to about 33/34 weeks. I'll make the decision closer to the cut off date when I have more info from consultant.
I probably won't be returning to work after either. DS will get his 30 free hours from next April but then I'll have to put the twins in nursery plus any wrap around fees for DS. So all comes down to costs which I'm guessing will be ridiculous!

Ahh twittlebee congrats on the new job. Must be a bit of a relief for you.

It's so hard to make these decisions! I need to have a conversation with my small employer- I always expected I would be SMP, but she is encouraging me to think about whether I want to continue doing some work from home (minimal amounts, VAT returns and payroll for small company, which I will also be keeping up for others on a self-employed basis anyway). So with that in mind, we need to have a chat about what type of pay to expect. I also don't know when to go off, as August is a busy month for us and already has lots of holidays pencilled in, and I will need to hire and train up my cover. This was scheduled for June advertising/ July employing, but I am at the consultants next month and it sounds like they may tell me to prepare for a bit of an early exit. So who knows!

Just been looking at prams online, there are some cracking deals on Online4Baby.com if anyone's looking outside of the iCandy/Bugaboo ranges. The Uppababy Cruz has a really good travel package deal on a certain colourway with the pram, carrycot, toddler seat, Gemm car seat & adaptors for £365. We were looking at second hand, but I'm tempted at that price- should be £8-900. The Nuna Mixx also looks good.

Yeah massive relief and actually feels like I've struck gold with it boodles101 although it's only a temporary contract till 1st September. But they have said they'll consider taking me on after I've had "mat leave" if they have the need. You're right though, the cost of twins in nursery must be insane! It's hard enough for us with £60 a day just for DS!

KnobJockey working from home would be a great chance to keep the earnings higher than SMP but I guess only you know if you'll realistically be able to do it.

Just to add to the posts about maternity pay — don’t forget KIT days. You can have up to 10 per maternity leave and get paid your usual day rate for them. Employers often quite flexible about what they can be used for — conferences, training days, checking emails etc, don’t necessarily need to schlep into the office. So that’s another 2 weeks’ pay you can add on!

@knobjockey so much can change too, you can have an idea of what you think you might like to do and then totally change your mind.

I intended to take 10-11 months off with DD and then go back 4 days - as discussed and agreed with senior managers. While I was on mat leave, a new head of department started and she hated any form of flexible working. My options were to go back full time on a more junior role or take voluntary redundancy. So I ended up with 15 months off and a lot of horrible stress, albeit with a very nice pay off thanks to them breaking nearly every rule in the book!