end of maternity leave settled - very sad! Anybody else feel like that?

[dodi1978]

Hi,

I posted earlier this week about ending maternity leave and how about to manage the transition.

Well, yesterday I got a phone call from the nursery, and rather unexpectedly, I got a place from early April rather than end of April. Which now means I'll be going back to work even earlier than expected. I've crying ever since - I now only have 10 full weeks left!!! Can't believe how quickly it all went!

Will have the first week of April off to use up old leave (our leave year ends end of March) and to settle DS in, and in the two weeks after will either try to take half days off or do a day on / a day off. Any advice welcome on what is better to help the little one settle? Luckily, my workplace then has a week of closure over Easter.

After Easter, I am hoping to take a day off every two weeks or so until my summer leave - just to get to spend some time with the little one and to not loose contact with my NCT group.

Uff, this has all come so unexpectedly and quickly now. I hope I'll soon feel a bit better!

Not really sure what I want from this post. Just a bit of reassurance maybe that it all will be ok?

I know exactly how you feel - I'm going back to work this Monday! (currently weeping into a bottle of wine...)

My dd has been at nursery for 2 weeks to settle in. We started off with shorter sessions and built up to a full day at the end of the fortnight. This has worked really well for us and she seems very happy and settled there. I have friends who've done settling in over a much longer period, and without exception they've found it very difficult. I'm a great believer that a big change in routine can very quickly become normal at such a young age, and that prolonging things can cause confusion for your dc. That's just my opinion though!

If your dc isn't used to being with people other than you, I'd recommend leaving them with friends, family etc for short periods of time over the next few weeks, just to get them used to being away from you.

My other tip to you would be too spend your last ten weeks doing as many lovely things as possible, because before you know it you'll be going back to work this Monday and crying into a bottle of wine

Hi Rallytog, I feel with you, and in ten weeks time I'll be in floods over a glass of wine, I know! I hope it all goes well for you tomorrow. How old is your baby? Mine will be eight months when I go back (though if he had been born at due date, he'd only be seven months - I am glad he arranged it so that we maximised our time together!)
Good luck and all the best