How many hours/week have you gone back to work?

[Merrz]

My DD is 7 weeks old and I have an appointment at nursery next week to get her booked in when she's 8/9 months. My work is very flexible, I have to work a Friday but apart from that can chose what days/hours and how many. How much did everyone go back to work? Also did you do full or half days or a mix, what did you prefer? Just looking for advice/experiences

When I had dc1, I went back FT, as dh was studying at the time so my salary was all needed.
When I had dc2, I went to 3 days a week. Best thing ever.
You have a good part of the week, at work, and keep up with your work skills / qualifications / network / experience / changes in your industry, as well as being "you" for those hours every week, and keeping your brain engaged, having adult conversations, and of course, paying into your pension.

OTOH, you have 4 days a week with your little one, which is fab.

I would always suggest full days - particularly when they are babies (there is an argument for being able to collect them from school when they are older, if you can really pick your hours and you don't have a long commute).
Full days outside of work mean you are not clock watching that time - it gives you time to go out places. Working 1/2 days takes a LOT more than 1/2 a day, as you have to commute and you have to still get the dc ready to take to Nursery CM, etc, then get them there, then collect them etc.
Depends on your contract, you need to think about the fact that 4 of the 8 Bank Holidays are always Mondays. (1 is a Friday, and the other 3 move). If you work Mondays, you usually can't work if it is a BH, but they have to take from your Annual Leave to make up the hours. If you don't work on a Monday, they still give you the hours (pro rata) which is added on to your AL. Not all contracts are the same, but that works for a lot of people, so worth knowing.
Then, depends on your job.
Some people like to spread their days, so they are never too long responding to work queries, etc - so might work Tues, Wed and Fri or something. Others prefer a block - might want to go and stay with Grandparents or a friend for a few days etc. Some people have days when it is better to be in (maybe Mondays are a day when all the stuff' happens in your job) or maybe Thursdays are the day you have your Team meetings, etc.

I do 30 hours, 8am-2pm, Tues- Sat so i can do school pick up every day. I have a childminder for the mornings and school holidays. Monday is a good day to have off as i get a 'bank holiday credit' to take as an extra days leave. Bit of a bummer working saturdays but i cant have it all ways!

I went back Monday - Thursday 8.30-6pm so think it's about 35 hours we are ttc again so with my ds and hopefully another baby I will probably drop to 3 days.
Do what you feel comfortable with, could you start of with the minimum and work your way up day by day if you wanted to? So go back on 2 days for a few weeks if you enjoy it, move up to 3 until you find a pattern your comfortable with?

Thank you for the replies, good to hear what other people do.
Backforgood I know what you mean about the half days, I would work morning so pick DD up at 1pm so how much use of my day would I really make after that! But it would still mean her being at nursery 5 and a half hours which in my mind right now seems like long enough to be away from her
Acidrain yes that's a good idea I probably could do that, try a couple of days for a start then decide what I want to do.
Do you think it would be upsetting for DD if I did a combination of full days and half days? Like would it be a bit unsettling for her being there sometimes a full day and sometimes a half day?

I went back full time with dc1 although part time for a few months taking 2 days and then 1 day per week of the accrued annual leave. I had one day working from home which helped.
After dc2 I went back 22 hours spread over 4 days, so I had one day with me and dc2 and got to pick dc1 up from school 3 days / 5.
I think full days are better than half days, once your dc is at nursery they won’t notice if you are gone 5 hours or 8 hours, getting out of the house is a hassle so better to do it 3 or 4 days rather than 5 and you can be more present at work, eg go out for team lunches if you’re there for a full day. When I did 22 hour I did two 5 hour days when I didn’t take lunch at all and definitely missed out socially. My day off was Weds btw.
Both dc are now at school and I do 32 hours.

Oh and if you are planning no 2, then remember what you earn now will determine how much you get for your next maternity leave, so it’s worth doing more hours if you can.

I'm not sure as my DS only does half says as my DH has him until 12pm as he works late shifts.
I would say not as if that was the routine he would get used to it. My DS does enjoy nursery and really settled well thankfully which made it easier to go back to work.
How are your employee with flexibility? Have you discussed with them going back to work? I was intending on going back 5days out of 7 over the full week but after a conversation with my boss and applying for flexible working I managed to get fixed days of Monday-Thursday to save me having to pay for childcare for 5 days and only use 3

I'd go Wed - Fri full days. Then you have 4 full days to have fun together. Your DC will be fine and it's enough days to really get into the nursery routine.

I went back full time - my career wouldn’t have survived part time hours.