Is it possible to carry on working and just take your baby with you in a sling?

[FrannyandZooey]

If you are self-employed, very part time and working in a very child-friendly environment?

If not, how long would you think would be necessary to take off work after having a baby? (after the initial "I can't sit down or stop blubbing" bit had worn off)

I honestly don't think work and babies mix. Your head is in two places at once. I know I do quite a few hours in the week, but I'm not sure I could ever have managed just to nip in and out of the different requirements....

no

But I mean if you

if you ran baby and toddler groups, could you just carry on doing it, with your baby in tow? I already take ds and did so from when he was little, but not when he was a baby.

Are you working with other people? because if you are you may find they get very pissed off very quickly. What do you mean by a child-friendly environment? One where they don't mind you taking days off for sports day and like your little ones to drop in occasionally isn't necessarily one where they're going to put up with a crying babe/breastfeeding etc for an hour or two every day. And agree with MI - your head can't be in both places at once. Work is work and kids are kids (unless you're a childminder I suppose!)I work from home (can't get much more child friendly that that!) but still can't work when my kids are here - they have to be at school/in bed asleep/in childcare for me to be able to concentrate.

As for taking time off, I found I was climbing the walls after 6 months. Some want to go back earlier, others would wait a year. For most of us it's "as long as the maternity pay lasts" which as a self employed person will be 6 months at £104 or similar.

Oh well that's different. baby and toddler groups - yes. As long as there was someone there to help you, which I presume there would be?

Franny - doing that I would say Yes absolutely you could !

Er, Franny, your baby?

Yeah, course you can.

Do it do it do it.

Would you have someone to help you set up and tidy up?

i agree w/MI on this

Are you subtly telling us something?

I'm not sure, even, about baby and toddler groups. You'd have to switch from focusing entirely on your baby to other babies. Which might not always be easy.

my friends a baby signing teacher and takes her baby to work with her. i guess it would depend how demanding the baby was! i could imagine doing what you're suggesting with dd2 but not dd1- no way!

i'm a childminder but only started doing it when boys were at school, worked in a nursery for 13yrs but sent boys to a different nursery.
parent and toddlers are ok to run but:
you dont get paid
you have to clean toys
put out and put away toys
make brews/juice

what if babys ill? or your ill? or beautiful day and you dont feel like going? or kids are ratty

There's probably some kind of insurance/ health and safety rule about it. But I'd say if it can be done at all, then a toddler group is probably the only workplace (apart from a nursery) where it would be possible.

errrr franny...............

please tell..............

A friend of mine used to see a psychotherapist who would bring her baby (later her toddler) along to sessions. I'm all for family-friendly working, but thought that was taking it a little far

Nothing at all to tell, just thinking out loud.

The main reason I would not want to have another baby at the moment is that things are going so well at work and I wouldn't want to have to take a break (I mean a long term break, longer than a month or two)

I don't currently have anyone to help me set up / clear away but I have cut the prep time down to a minimum. It is about half an hour to set up and about the same to clear away for each session. I could get someone to help if necessary, yes (although not to be there every week, just most weeks)

I am usually on my own, yes, I don't have a helper. It's the activity sort of group I run - as in the Jo Jingles sort of group - except not LIKE Jo Jingles at all, but you know what I mean. I don't see what the insurance / health and safety problem would be but perhaps someone might know?

So you really think it might be possible, with a young baby? I thought it was, especially with a sling riding, breastfeeding baby, but when I mentioned it to someone else they said no.

TBH I think if anyone could do it you can. I an a childminder, and started minding again when DD was about 6 months, but would have started again earlier if summer holiday hadn't fallen when it did.

much depends on the baby's temperament
dd1 nooooooo
dd2, possibly. I take her to tutorials and she's coming on my workshop this weekend.
and probably only till thay start crawling.

(PS am not really here btw)

I think it might work Franny, but I juggled my work (not in a child-friendly environemnt!) with ds from when he was very small indeed, including taking him on a week-long excursion abroad when he was 5 months. (He spent a lot of that in his sling). But I've always had dh to fall back on to look after ds when it's not been possible.
I also volunteer at a children's library once a month or so and often take ds along (he's nearly 14 months so still a baby really). It's not always easy but it works basically. Someone else is always happy to occupy him for a couple of minutes if necessary-ä it's whether he's happy with that that's the bigger question.

I did it for one job when DD was 7 mo, breastfed, sling riding. I was working on a children's theatre show with good friends who knoew my work and knew DD too. Only took a few weeks. She sat enthralled though rehearsals, made new friends in theatres and learned how to sleep in a buggy to boot. But it was incredibly difficult. It's not until you find yourself in what ought to be a non-baby place, with your baby, that you realise quite how entirely your mind and body are wedded to mothering it. In short, where do your eyes need to be? and your arms? Mine could not work effectively with DD in the room. If it had only been my back and my bosoms I'd have been laughing but sadly that wasn't the way.

yes definitely! a friend of a friend of a friend went back to her job (behind the scenes in tv) when her baby was 3 weeks old. she just has him in a sling and it's fine.
it's a relaxed environment and she can tend to baby if necessary.

I would imagine it'd be more than manageable at a parent/toddler group

Friend of mine has a business doing baby-signing classes - she did exactly this with her ds2 - was fine when immobile - sometimes he sat in his car seat - sometimes in the sling. Now he's crawling she is haveing more probs tbh.

Jeez hester- Your friend must be v tolerant. I would have sacked that therapist on the spot.

What do you do at the groups, franny? If you need to be very hands on and have no one else to help i think there could be a problem. potentially. My partner and I took a playtent to a festival when our boys were babies. It was a great tent but the main service we offered was art activites and other games and we were both v hands on. I got very, very upset when the babies didn't play ball and I had to take them off and try and soothe them. Felt so frustrated and torn in two. We'd just assumed they'd be fine and we could kind of ignore them while they cooed happily in a corner or slept. I'm with MI on the work/children thing don't mix, I must say.
On the other hand, if it's the kind of group you just set up and then leave people to get on with it I'm sure you'd be fine.