Full time after maternity - help me decide please

[thesegoto11]

No choice but to go full time because of finances, same as husband, but confused on what to do. DC is in nursery two days a week and husband is compressing hours the other three to be at home.
I work a 37 hour week and my employer is very flexible and can work from home two days a week. I want to spend as much time with baby as possible but not be too shattered , it’s so hard to know what to do :(

What would you do out of these three? What do you find works for you?

option 1 - 7.4 hours a day five days a week, shorter days means can spend some time with DC in evenings but not long
option 2 - a 9 day fortnight doing 8.25 hours the rest of the time and one day with DC every other week
option 3 - compress hours so doing full time over 4 days, get a day off with DC every week but slightly worried about the long hours…

thanks!

I'd do a 9 day fortnight but do a mix of 9 hours and 7.5 hours so you get more time a few days a week. If you compress 5 into 4 you'll end up burnt out, and not enjoy your time with DD as you'll be so exhausted and catching up from doing less housework etc.

I’d probably do option 3 depending on commute length to the office on the 2 days you’re in - but would your employer let you do 2 long days when you’re WFH and 2 slightly shorter days when you’re in the office? So eg (if your usual hours were 9 - 5)

Monday - wfh - 7.30 - 6
Tuesday - office - 8 - 5
Wednesday - office 8 - 5
Thursday - wfh - 7.30 - 6
Friday - off

That way on your office days (commute depending) you’d still be getting back at a decent ish hour.

I do option 3 - I have Monday's off, DH also does this and has Friday's off so DS is only in nursery 3 days a week. It works really really well for us though we do both work from home which makes the longer days easier as there is no commute.

Same here. We both do five days in four, so three days in nursery. My day off with DC is an absolute joy, I feel so lucky to have it. I don't find the working days too long really and it's completely worth it. The time before school starts will go in a flash, I'm trying to make the most of it while I can.

So I'd really encourage you to give five in four a go. If your employers are that flexible they'd presumably let you change later if it didn't work.

This is exactly the set up I'm looking to do after nursery have just declared yet another fee increase. Have just started discussions into compressing my hours but just wanted to double check what hours you work and how you find it??

@johsq20 I work 35 hours a week and my workplace insist on a 1 hour lunch break though my manager has agreed I can take half an hour if I wish but my days are Tuesday and Wednesday 8am till 6pm (8 till 5.30 if I only take 30 mins lunch) and Thursday and Friday 8am till 5.30pm (5pm if I only take 30 mins lunch).