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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

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Original poster

Planning for a new baby during PGCE

11 replies

TotallyTeenMum · 21/11/2013 14:43

My partner and I have a four-year-old daughter (five in Feb) and have been trying to work out when will be best to have our second. As my username may suggest, I had my first when I was quite young and have been at university since 2010, so timing has never been right. At the moment I'm doing a PGCE and will graduate in June, and the plan is to have a teaching job in September and begin my NQT year.

Our daughter is bored and lonely as an only child, and to be honest my partner and I are feeling very broody too. The age gap issue is a huge one and even if I were to conceive now there would be a 5-6 year age gap between the two; I really don't want to make it any bigger than that.

Of course the problem is my studies/work. On the one hand I want to try for a baby now and work around it, but on the other I know how stressful an NQT year can be and I'm concerned that I won't be able to balance being an NQT as well as a mother to a newborn and a five/six year old.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

OP posts:

KatAndKit · 21/11/2013 16:17

My advice is don't do it. The nqt year is very very hard work. You have to be able to put in a lot of hours. It would be hard with a child of any age. It would actually be easier during the pgce year but even then i would not recommend it. I would say either ttc in the second half of pgce year, if you get pregnant before you get a job, take a year out and then do nqt year when your baby is a bit older. If you get a job before you get pregnant, postpone ttc until the second half of nqt year so you can complete the year, go on maternity leave having already achieved full qts and returning as a second year teacher with a baby will be much easier than combining nqt year with a baby.

foxinorangesocks · 21/11/2013 17:13

I have done a pgce and now teach on one. So, you'd be hoping for a summer holiday baby then go into your NQT year in 2014? Or do you mean 2015. If it is the former then no no and triple no! But if the latter I'd say that would work out fine. My NQT hear was a long hard slog. Teaching is full stop but that year I needed more time to plan as I was still learning and it just felt so full on, like all year round teaching placement.

mssleepyhead · 21/11/2013 21:40

I'm currently in the year after my NQT year and it's harder than last year, which was harder than my PGCE year. Maybe take a year out before you become an NQT, if you can time things right...?

jackandjilly · 21/11/2013 21:47

I would take a year out after pgce. You won't get any maternity pay anyway as you have to work for over a year(I think)

suze28 · 21/11/2013 21:48

I'm an NQT teaching full time, with two school aged children, and totally agree with the advice to wait if you can. This year is as hard, if not harder than the PGCE volume of work wise. It really is relentless. Concentrate on getting through the PGCE and getting a job which given current competition is very hard too.

HoopHopes · 22/11/2013 08:49

If pregnant on PGCE year you will have to delay finishing it if have baby before end of course which could delay things much longer ( as another yr to finish course) without pay or maternity leave. If got pregnant on NQT year and you worked enough weeks you would get full maternity pay but if not enough you will still qualify for some government maternity allowance. Plus if permanent job a job to return to.

KatAndKit · 22/11/2013 16:52

I think you would have to have been in a teaching job for 12 months to qualify for the extra mat pay above the legal minimum.

allchatnicknamesgone · 22/11/2013 17:02

Sorry, no advice on the teaching front, but why is your 4 yr old bored and lonely? Surely she has friends at reception who can have play dates with etc? Meets friends locally? Don't get me wrong, I completely see where you are coming from but on the positive side she has your full attention and love.
I have a 5 yr old who asked me every day if I'm growing a baby in my tummy so I get the pressure, but let's be honest babies are pretty boring and time consuming so if your DC is bored now, they are going to be even more bored with a newborn attracting more of your attention. It's going to be a good few years before they can interact with each other…
Good luck when you do decide to ttc

Original poster

TotallyTeenMum · 24/11/2013 15:13

Thank you all for your advice. I think you're right, it's sensible to wait until I begin my NQT year to start trying again. I guess I was letting my broodiness get the better of me!

OP posts:

barmybunting · 24/11/2013 15:56

I think you need to try when feels right for you and your family.

Would you be able to cope financially if you took a year out between PGCE and NQT year?

I'm in my 3rd year of teaching now. The one thing I would have wanted to avoid would be having a baby during my NQT year. I would have wanted it to happen so I took a year out inbetween, or had the baby after my NQT year.

It's not perfect either way, but is it ever?

Justpenny · 26/11/2013 21:19

Im hopin to do exactly the same...am on my PGCE year at the moment, have got 1 DS who is 8 and would love another. Am 31 and my DP is 35...I'm hoping to get pregnant soon so that I can complete the PGCE then have a year out before beginning my NQT year! Let me know what you decide to do...I feel like my clock is ticking and I don't really want to wait until after my NQT year, because at that point i'll be 33...I kind of want to do it now so that when I do finally do my NQT and start teaching properly I can launch into it without thinking 'oh, in a year's time i'll want to take maternity'...iykwim!

Good luck whatever you decide!!! xxc

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