did anyone go back to childminding full time or 4 days very soon after giving birth yourself??

[vicki2010]

just interested as how possible this would be and love to hear your different experiences.... thinking maybe 4 weeks after(obviously if all went smoothly) and not actually pregnant yet!! but looking into my options lol who's the record? one week,two? days even????

oohhhh cool,i was hoping to hear from someone like you!! have you told parents yet,how did they take it? course you be fine

got to go school,will be back tonight!!

I planned 4 weeks, had one parent extremely worried and saying she'd feel better with 12 weeks and it made me think (the children I had were all very young). I went with what she said and took 12 weeks in the end and boy am I glad I did. ds2 was a nightmare baby, he really was and even when i went back when he was 10 weeks old I felt I could have done with longer. This may be because he was such hard work or maybe the fact that ALL the other children were 5 or under (this included a variation so had my 10 wk old, an 8 month old, a 17 month old and 18 month old - not to mention the 4 year old, my own 5 year old....). Totally up to you but I'm VERY pleased I took longer in the end.

I would advise you to discuss/think of a back up plan in case your short planned time off doesn't work out.

I had 3 weeks off in total with my yougest child (now 8) , 1 week before birth and 2 weeks after .
A friend of mine (also reg childminder) happened to have a gap so she took on my mindee for these 3 weeks .

I was fine having my mindee back when my daughter was 2 weeks old . Admittedly she was an easy baby and I had a straight forward birth .

i had 5 weeks off with my dd. i worked right up till the day before i went into labour. this time round i plan to take 8 weeks. not because i struggled the first as went really well dd was a great baby but so my dd has more time to get use to having me split my time between her and the baby without worry about other children to account for and also so i have a bit longer with my baby.

I think this question very much depends on people's set ups i.e. how many hours they work, how many children etc. If I'd have only had 1 or 2 mindees who were a bit older then I probably would have been fine, what I said about being pleased I had longer was because I had so many and so young.

hats off to you all..last child 11 and went back to work 3 years ago so only had the 8 years off....!!!!!!!mind that was before the recession...

seriously though as a parent I ould feel bloody awful dropping my dcs off to a woman who had effectivly just given birth but on the other hand all have living to make and if she says shes fine then whos to judge but her..

good luck though

I planned on taking 4 weeks but in the end chickened out and am just about to return from the full 9 months. Could afford it though and that might be the deciding factor.

i believe there is some law that says you cant be working for the first 2 weeks after giving birth. imo it seems very optimistic. would this be your first pg? if you've had easy deliveries and recoveries in the past then maybe. but even then every baby is differant my dc3 was a nightmare baby when compared with dc1 and dc2

the body....that was one of my concerns,parents feeling guilty

maccie...this would be my third and luckily both previous pregnancies were an absolute doddle, not boasting but didn't have any morning sickness,no swelling,blood pressure probs...not one incy wincy bit! so from experience i was almost completely back to normal within a couple of weeks (had a night out when ds1 was 5 days)and(out in the supermarket at one day old with ds2!!) which is what makes me think it would be ok,but i do realise there is no guarantee of this happening again,even being breech and needing cesarian could happen im sure.

financially i really cannot afford any time off but i know it'll be really daft to not take at least a month!! also have my own to get ready for school so would be out and about after 2 weeks minimum eh

yes totally agree with the last two posts.. often you hear trotted out that women used to give birth in the fields in the last century and then strapped said infant on their back and continued to work.... forget to mention though that often those said women died!!!!

obviously you arnt in that space but honestly.. if possible be good to yourself.. having a baby is wonderful but bloody bloody hard work.

I know,it would be lovely to have as long as possible really...who knows what will happen. I had my first nearly ten years ago so i suspect may not be as lucky this time round.

I'm not even pg yet Vicki lol but i have it roughly set out in my mind! lol

Ideally will take two weeks off before my c section date (not my due date lol) and 6-8 weeks afterwards. If i was having a vaginal birth i would probs obly take around 4 weeks off afterwards. But last time it really took me a good few weeks to get back on my feet after the surgery, so wouldn't want to push myself and end up hurting myself.

Im thinking now maybe one week before and 5 after..problem is would my regular parents be able to cover the time off and still want me?? at the moment i would have a (ages if and when it happened give or take a month or two!)

3.5 + 2yr on mon
2x 2yr tues
2x 2yr wed
2x2yr thur

so not little little people
oh,plus my own two and an after school on two of those days

My parents were all fab, ALL stayed with me and worked round the 12 weeks off without even using another childminder (I offered details, none were interested). One of these mindees has paid a deposit to start months later and I had to inform her I was pregnant and would end up off for 12 weeks 3/4 months after they started. They were also fab and said not to worry and that it would all work out - and it did! :)

I am not a childminder but, not long time ago I had a baby . You are forced to take 2 weeks maternity leave, if not you are breaking the law.
After 2 weeks you can come back to work full time.

I am not a childminder but, not long time ago I had a baby . You are forced to take 2 weeks maternity leave, if not you are breaking the law.
After 2 weeks you can come back to work full time.

Law says you must take 2 weeks and if you work in a factory you must take at least 4 weeks. x

My mindees all left me...sob. I've just started again now DD is 10 months, but have been trying to get work since she was 5 months! I didn't want full time and tbh quite a lot of parents were put off by me having a younger baby myself thinking I would give DD all my attention (2 I met with told me this).

I hope it works out for you vicki. It can be difficult for parents to find care while you take time off, but looneytune made it work so I'm sure you can too :).

Oh no, poor you :( Hope you get something soon!

Yes, I WAS very lucky, one of the parents quit her job and looked for another one to be lined up for when I came back (she wasn't happy where she was anyway and it gave her a chance to have her dd on a one to one basis for a while as I'd had her since 8 weeks old).

I think the best thing is to have some ideas in your head then see how the parents react and take it from there :)

I've just found a family and we suit each other perfectly so it all worked out!

I gave birth to DS2 on a Sunday, came home from hospital on Monday, went back to work as CM on Tuesday. This was, however, over 20 years ago, and as I had one nursery-aged mindee in the same class as DS1 and my others were aged 8+ after-schoolies it actually made life easier for me, as the two nursery children played together very well.

(DS2 was planned to arrive in the middle of the summer holidays, when I was off work anyway. Unforunately he was nearly three weeks late, hence the early return to work.)

WOW, well done you, that would have been when my milk came in and I could never have managed until that had settled down a little!!!