New Baby & WFH. Is it do-able? Or am I kidding myself?

[expectinglittlebear]

Unfortunately my employer do not offer any enhanced maternity pay and therefore only offer SMP. I am due our first baby in January.

Due to finances, I am only able to take 8 weeks of maternity leave (6 weeks SMP and 2 weeks annual leave tagged on the end). Childcare is also extortionate (and also wouldn't want to leave my baby with anyone that young, bar family), so my employer have offered for me to WFH 4 days a week, and then my mum will be looking after baby the other day so I can go into the office (Husband works full time). I am very grateful for this opportunity to WFH around baby as we wouldn't be able to afford for me to be off work, or pay for childcare. So after my 8 weeks off, I will be back to working full time, while caring for our baby too.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation and gone back to working full time after a short maternity leave, working from home and caring for baby - is it doable or am I completely kidding myself thinking I can work around baby at home full time? For context, I am an office manager and PA, but my job is relatively easy and stress free. It would be the odd zoom call meeting, but other than that just mainly working from a laptop.

It will never work. Sorry.

There is no way you can work and look after an eight week old baby! Absolute madness.

What does your employer say about combining your job with full time baby care?

I think it depends on the baby to some extent but don't underestimate the impact of chronic sleep deprivation! There is no way I could've worked whilst I had my young babies at home with me. It also gets harder when they are a bit older abs sleep less.

No, no you can’t and I can’t believe your employer would agree to it
You will be a rubbish employee and/or a rubbish parent if you try to combine the 2 with no childcare
I am assuming this is your first baby, which explains why you would even ask this

Sorry, but this seems like it will never work.
Its alot of time and attention with a baby and working as well seems too much IMHO

No, it's not possible. Sorry. You'll realise that as soon as you have your LO.

Does your employer realise you’re planning to combine working and looking after your baby? It’s a mad idea!

I'm a full-time WFH Office Manager & PA with the odd zoom call, it would be completely impossible to do my job while caring for a baby.

Does your employer know that this is your plan? It would be hideous, and super stressful, even if your baby was asleep a lot that doesn't last for very long, then they're awake and pretty much demanding your attention the whole time. It's not fair on anybody, your employer, your baby, and I pretty much guarantee you would hate it! It's just a massive no, even though I know that's not what you want to hear!

Depends on your newborn i guess, but no newborn I've met would be ok with this!

Surely your employer is expecting you to have childcare in place even while WFH?

I’m with everyone else, this will never work.

@BoneIdleBitch

It will never work. Sorry.

This.

I'm absolutely amazed your employer is allowing you to work from home whilst knowing you'll be looking after the baby. Both working from home and looking after a baby are full time roles and by trying to do both all you'll be doing is failing to achieve a good standard in either.

Well you wouldn’t manage a full day’s work. Is that a problem?

Won’t you essentially be doing two full time jobs:
One at your work and one caring for your baby?

If you had flexi hours and were working part time at the easiest job in the world I could sort of see this working. But the way that you’ve described it feels like you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Really not possible and even the most deliver employers would not allow it.

I could never have done this. 1 because dc was unexpectedly poorly and we spent the first few months in and out of hospital- i used to be grateful i was on mat leave
2- sleepless nights, how could you function with any work/last minute crisis/line management with very little sleep

Is your employer happy for you to be caring for baby on work time?

Why do you think childcare exists, OP? Wouldn't we all look after babies and work at the same time if it were possible...? You need childcare. A nanny, nursery or childminder. Or take your maternity leave allowance.

You are completely kidding yourself.

It's hard enough to do this - exhausted, sleep broken, quite possibly still bleeding and feeling physically wrecked or with your mental health a mess - when you have childcare in place for all the time you are working.

Honestly, unless you are planning to give birth to a baby with an "Off" switch on the back you really don't have a clue about how this is going to change your life. I'm astounded either you or your employer thought this was a good idea.

This is just not possible. What will you do if you have a baby that cries constantly, won't be put down and refuses to nap unless in motion (sling, pram, car)? That description is what my DS was like - absolutely no way I'd have been able to work at the same time as looking after him!

NThe older baby gets, the harder it will be. Once they are mobile and need to be entertained you've got no shot. But I guess it depends how much you can get away with doing very little.
Some jobs have tiny workloads that people string out so it looks like they're worth the salary. If your job is one of these and there's only an hour or two of actual work to be done in a day, then maybe. But if your job is actually a standard workload then I think you will struggle hugely and it will be the worst of both worlds for everyone.

It’s fine if you would only be expected to do a couple of hours a day....maybe even 3 maximum...and that would be down to baby’s needs....you wouldn’t be able to schedule anything in to an exact time .....everything would need to revolve around your babies needs

I agree on rereading, I think your employer thinks that offering WFH makes your life easier, not in place of childcare just to enable your childcare hours to be shorter or more flexible.

Also do your work actually mean for you to WFH so you can look after your child? I'd be surprised if they did. I suspect they offer it because they think it will help with childcare, reduce commuting time, etc. not for you to look after a baby full time in work hours.

Are you sure your employer means wfh whilst looking after your baby?

OP the fact you are even contemplating this suggests you are about to get an almighty shock when the baby arrives!

Wow okay, I wasn't quite expecting that much of a response. Thank you I guess! Have any of you actually done this though, or just assuming you couldn't do both...? (I'm looking for anyone here who has actually done this and then either failed at it or its worked for them).

Yes my employer is aware I would be doing both, and actually suggested the idea as they couldn't offer me EMP.

@JewelleryBox Yes it would be 'full time' hours but still working around baby, so yes flexi hours I guess you would call it.