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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

Any childminders who only took a short time off after having their own baby?

32 replies

Caramelchoo · 20/04/2017 10:43

I'm trying to work out whether I'm being realistic about the idea of only taking a few weeks off if my partner and I decide to have a baby.

Finances are the only thing stopping us from ttc right now and as I'm nearing 40 time is running out!

Maternity allowance will not be sufficient to live on during that time so I'm thinking that I could return to work after a month off.

Would love to know how any others have coped with this...

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welshweasel · 20/04/2017 10:45

Assuming you're not going to be organising separate childcare for your own baby, that's not a realistic option. Sorry.

LookAtTheFlowersKerry · 20/04/2017 10:47

I only took two weeks. Dh took four, two weeks of annual leave and two weeks of parental, so he was around for the first two weeks I worked. We made sure all the parents knew and were happy and we muddled through.

I only had two preschoolers on my books and a school drop off so it wasn't too mental. It's very doable.

Having said that, this was my third baby so I was a bit more prepared for what to expect.

I would say go for it but save as much as you can and prepare your parents in case you do need more time.

Original poster

Caramelchoo · 20/04/2017 10:50

welshweasel - why do you think this is?

I'm thinking that as a childminder I can have a baby in my care plus 2 others under 5. Or 3 5-8's for after school.

Parents of multiple children do this.

I was thinking that for the first few months one option could be to focus on after school mindees, meaning that it would be concentrated into 3 hours a day, and also relieves me of the early years paperwork, learning journals etc.

I'm thinking my own physical health might suffer - tiredness etc. Also wondering if I'd resent sharing 'my' time with my new baby with other peoples children.

A lot to think about...

OP posts:

Original poster

Caramelchoo · 20/04/2017 10:52

Thank you LookAtTheFlowersKerry, that's good to hear.
I want this to happen so much but don't want to kid myself it will be manageable. It sounds as though you worked things out well.

OP posts:

insancerre · 20/04/2017 10:56

I know a few cms who have only taken a few weeks off
It's certainly doable, not sure why welshweasel thinks it isn't
Plenty of self employed people can't afford to take long periods of maternity leave

welshweasel · 20/04/2017 10:57

I only took 14 weeks maternity so far less than most people. I reckon I would have been up for working by 8 weeks at a push. I had a section that I recovered easily from but still can't imagine being on the ball enough to look after other people's kids after a few weeks. The PP shows that it can be done though so perhaps it's a option. Get on with TTC, you're not getting any younger, the rest can be figured out if you get pregnant.

Loulou2kent · 20/04/2017 11:41

I took 5 weeks off because I had c-section but would have taken 2 if I felt ok & was allowed to drive after a normal birth. It worked well for me. TBH my little boy just slotted right in & he knows no different! If anything I found the newborn bit easier whilst working as he slept a lot at first. Now he's 18 months & driving me crazy!!

Loulou2kent · 20/04/2017 11:43

He was my second child. I'm not sure if that made a difference & I felt more confident? And knew that I'd manage ok? Might be different with a first?

FurryElephant · 20/04/2017 11:52

Not a childminder so no experience as duh but just wanted to add that it would probably also depend a lot on how you'd plan on feeding the baby. If you wanted to breastfeed you could well be stuck for hours cluster feeding on a sofa which may not be the most ideal thing.

Loulou2kent · 20/04/2017 11:57

Agree with Furry! I actually only breastfed for 3 weeks so that I was able to bottle feed when working. So if it's something your passionate about then you may want to spend longer with just your baby as they do tend to feed a lot in the beginning!

FrazzleRock · 20/04/2017 12:05

I went back to work one month after having my second DC. I had had an elective c-section which was very straight forward and caused me no problems (luckily). The way I saw it was, if parents can do it with lots of their own children, then I can manage. And I did. DC2 is now 8 years old and has been around lots of people ever since and is now an extremely confident young chap!

Original poster

Caramelchoo · 20/04/2017 12:46

I had my dd 10 years ago. She could be helpful I guess! I would intend to bf and considered this as being a problem being pinned to the sofa! I could maybe get around this by expressing in the evenings.

OP posts:

SuperDuperJezebel · 20/04/2017 15:38

I'm a nanny and I had my baby 7 weeks ago. I can't imagine being back at work yet! I am breastfeeding (constantly!) and finding it hard to express more than 2oz in a go (and very little opportunity to express more than once a day ATM), so you'd need to be sure you could express enough if that was your plan!

Original poster

Caramelchoo · 20/04/2017 15:45

I didn't have a lot of success expressing the first time around so this is a consideration. I remember the constant bf with dd1 too, she was stuck to me for the first 3 months.
I would have to consider this factor and possibly not bf so long (i did 1 year with DD1).
There is no way I could take a regular 6-9m mat leave unfortunately, so it's either I manage on a short leave or don't ttc at all (that's another matter I guess!).

OP posts:

SuperDuperJezebel · 20/04/2017 15:58

It's something I'm thinking about too, I'm hoping to go back to work at around 6mo, ideally w a baby of a similar age. I need to see how the breastfeeding pans out but may have to introduce some formula if breastfeeding is taking away too much time for me to be able to do my job.

strawberrygate · 20/04/2017 16:59

2 weeks off with all of mine. I treat the mindees as one of the family therefore they're here with the newborn. Always been fine for me. I've also worked until the day I gave birth.

Weasel are you a CM? Just curious as to why you think it's not feasible. All people with more than one child of their own have done this

strawberrygate · 20/04/2017 17:02

Oh, and I found it a doddle to breastfeed and childmind at the same time

dailymailarecunts · 20/04/2017 17:03

Is there a middle ground of taking off 6 weeks ish instead of 6 months? Are you currently a child minder? It depends on the kids you currently mind and the kind of baby you have I think. I've had some mindees where It wouldn't have worked, others where it would have been more feasible.

HirplesWithHaggis · 20/04/2017 17:08

DS2 was supposed to be born during the summer holidays, but he arrived so late he was born on the Sunday, I went home on Monday and back to work as CM on the Tuesday. However, I had only one mindee the same age as DS1 and at the same nursery (a few hundred yards from home), and the others were at school/aged 8 or over, so the school run wasn't very far!

screamingeels · 20/04/2017 17:13

Our cm only took a month off when her 4th was born. She then had her baby and two 2 yr olds (including our DS). Seemed fine

Bluebell28 · 20/04/2017 17:18

I took 5 weeks with first dc and it wasn't enough..first child is a very special, very exhausting time.

Allthebestnamesareused · 20/04/2017 17:23

My cm had my son back when her 2nd child was 2 weeks old!!

welshweasel · 20/04/2017 17:26

Nope, I've said upthread that I stand corrected! I just don't know many women who were up to working a couple of weeks after giving birth. I was basically feeding or sleeping (or crying!) constantly at that point. But plenty of you say it's possible so I accept that.

Leeloo2 · 20/04/2017 19:36

I took 4 weeks off with 1 mindee and 6 with the other, so a staggered start back, both were 2 year olds. I also worked til 2 days before I gave birth (8 days past my due date). But I had my mum as an assistant beforehand, so wasn't on my own.

It was ok, I read the toddlers stories etc while breastfeeding (i bf for years, so it clearly didn't impact!) and had baby in a sling and 2 mindees in a double buggy for the school run.

I won't lie and say it's the route I'd have chosen if money wasn't a consideration -and I did cry the day before I went back to work, but it was fine.

Leeloo2 · 20/04/2017 19:37

Oh and definitely if it's a choice between short mat leave and baby or no baby then go for the baby! :-)

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