WFH with toddler

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For those of you who have tried working from home with a toddler, I mean both parents WFH full time, could you please kindly let me know whether it is doable at all? Or should I just forget about it? I know there are childcare options etc, but before I consider those options, I would appreciate some input into this kind of scenario please (toddler stay at home full time), especially from those who have tried it. Thank you very much!

I tried it - it was impossible to the point of being dangerous.

Depends how flexible your jobs are

8hr average day .. one person works 6till 1230 then takes over toddler , more hours in the evening and at the weekend would work logistically

But grim

Depends on the nature of your job and age/ability of your toddler.
Me and DP juggled a 1 and 3 year old.
It's doable with structure.
We had a framework -dp works mornings, me in the afternoons (mainly because my work was US based). We don't get disturbed during our "core" hours.
Then the person watching the children sits in kitchen with laptop and kids doing activities - jigsaw, kinetic sand, whatever. If anybody has a client call - then we swap for call duration. Telly 2 hours - 1 in morning, 1 in afternoon scheduled around the diaries.
Both clock off at 4.30. 45 mins play outside whilst other parent preps tea/sorts the house.
Whoever has had the worst day gets to skip bedtime so they can catch up on work.

Oh god it sounds awful reading it back but it worked for 16 weeks.

Oh and if we both had calls we try to do them during naptime for the 1 year old as that's when the 3 year old watches telly by himself.

You can do it. But our kids are great at independent play.
Check out busy toddler and days with grey on Instagram. Loads of ideas which have been lifesavers for us.

I should add that a lot of the things I need to do at work are accessible on my phone.
So I can follow teams chats or review things if I'm playing cards with the kids.
I kind of organise my work depending on where I'm going to be. So in the mornings I'll do lots of reading as I can do that on my phone. Whereas if I need to write a report or access some stuff on the network then I save that until the afternoon.

Yes it's possible with 2 adults if you can work in shifts. I'm currently trying to work full-time with a toddler on my own, and with an older child homeschooling- that I can confirm is definitely not possible!

From talking to my friends you either do shifts or stick the toddler in front of the TV or some combination of the two.

I did it in the March lockdown ahd it was the most stressful thing ever, made me feel like an awful mother.

He is in nursery now

Husband and I did it through the first lockdown for 3 months. Worked in shifts of 3 hours, did extra work in the evening. Thankfully my work is flexible. Hardest days were when my husband was out the house for work. I used holiday when I could.

I look back now and I don't know how we got through it. It was horrible. If you have another option I strongly encourage you to take it, assuming it's safe. (My daughter is 27 months, she was 18 months during the first lockdown)

We did it for three months. While homeschooling an older child too. DH and I took shifts between 7am-7pm and did bits evenings/weekends. My work is very flexible, DH not so much but we timetabled accordingly.

I already worked fairly flexibly but DH didn’t so he had to remind them that he would be unavailable for chunks of time. He never really worked out how to multitask and struggled to combine work/home life which was the worst part of it.

We all survived but the house was a tip, I took the brunt of all life admin and homeschooling and my relationship with DH was strained (not to mention I was exhausted) by the end I was so happy when schools/childcare reopened but as a short term thing, we survived!

I’m not sure if that’s any help! I wouldn’t do it again unless I absolutely had to tbh. This time around my toddler is with her childminder and life is a zillion times easier. You just need to cope with the guilt then!

We had a 8-11 month old baby in lockdown 1 and both worked in the evenings to make up for time lost to childcare (we did alternate days). It was awful and felt like all we did was work and look after a baby. I work p/t so it was doable but relentless and not sustainable. I just don't know how anyone could do it working FT.

This time she is 18 months and goes to nursery 3 days a week, for which I am eternally grateful. If nurseries closed, I think I would actually cry! Again, I just don't know how anyone could make it work being full time, but I suppose it depends on the job and the nature of the child. Our roles are both client facing (calls most of the day) and DD is a whirlwind.

Thank you so much everyone for your useful input and sharing, really appreciate these!