Do you wfh with your kids present?

[Mumof1boyy]

Our son is in nursery 4 days a week, my mum has him 1 day!

Currently can’t afford to go part time and drop a day :( it’d cost more monthly for me to lose that day a week pay than the nursery fee (as me and DH split the nursery fees of course)

but I did wonder after someone on my team mentioned, do you have your child/children while you wfh?

Our manager is more than fine with her having this set up. He’s 2 her child

mY only apprehension is my son is 15mo. About to walk but VERY active even when he’s taking steps he’s kind of jogging! He is a live wire and zips about everywhere and our downstairs is open plan🤦🏻‍♀️ so do I wait and would it be a bit more manageable when he’s a little older?

tips advice stories please! Would love to be able to cut a cost if we could and have him home with us :)

I do but DS is ten so very different. Among my team though there are kids of all ages occasionally at home while my colleagues work.

We have the sort of jobs that are super flexible and can be caught up outside of office hours if need be. If you need to be able to concentrate and be available at specific times I'd say it would be pretty much impossible with a child that age tbh.

No. I value my job and my child's safety. They're paying me to work, so I work. We were forced to do it in lockdown and even then me and DH split the day between us then worked til 10/11pm at night.

No, it would be impossible unless child was 7/8+ and could feed and entertain themselves.

I really don't know how your coworker has a 2 year old at home and works unless two year old watches 8 hours of TV.

I have done on occasions (the dreaded 48 hour nursery ban if he's had the runs etc) and I 100% would not recommend it!

My DS is 4, quite capable of understanding "mummy needs to work for a little bit, can you play / Watch pepper pig / have a snack whilst I do this and then we can do something?" - but understanding and going along with it are two totally different things aren't they

I find it incredibly stressful, by the end of the day I feel like I've been split in two, trying to get a full days work in and a full days parenting and failed at both. Always feel so guilty that I've not managed to do either to a high standard.

I'd avoid it if you can OP.

Mine are teens, so yes, but absolutely no way I could have done it with young kids, and it’s a strict no from my employer.

What work do you do OP?

You can't do both which do you neglect child or work?

Not at that age. DD2 was that age when we went into the first lockdown and I'm still traumatised from trying to WFH and look after her! It's doable now at 4&8 but only as a one off/emergency, certainly wouldn't do it routinely as the kids just end up on screens, which I wouldn't want for them for long periods of time.

I wouldn't do it for more than a day with dd(8). I have done it with dd
(3) when she has been unwell but absolutely hate it as it's not fair on her at all. I wouldn't plan to routinely do it for whole days until a child was 7+. Even then it's important that they aren't left to their own devices especially if they have Internet access!

For covid yes as we had no choice, he was nearly a teenager by then though

I have done the odd day in the hols when there’s been a trip that she doesn’t like at hol club….I wfh 5hrs per day.

I tell her that she has to be quiet (otherwise she has to do the trip next time)& I also bribe her with £5 if she’s really good (silent when I’m on the phone).

I don’t like doing it because I like to concentrate & she’s probably bored but she has the choice of trip or boredom so I don’t feel too guilty as a 1 off.

couldn’t have done it when she was under 2 though!

I don't regularly as a)my work officially don't allow it and b)I nearly had a breakdown trying in lockdown. My work do turn a blind eye to the odd emergency/sick child sprawled on the couch but my children as 7 and 10, I doubt I could get away with this with a pre-schooler. If the 7 year old is well she doesn't really understand about not interrupting.

Our son is 2 and no way can I work from home with if I want to do my job properly and look after my son properly. I would say unless there is some severe issue with your nursery he would probably be much better looked after properly in nursery and then having quality time with your when you are not working.

If you want more time with him, would it be an option to compress your hours?

Absolutely not (I say this as a working parent and a manager), the odd day if they are sick and sleepy/on the couch fine but there is no way you can look after a 2 year old and work without neglecting one or the other.

I have my eldest occasionally for an hour after school whilst I work but he sits in the other room and watches TV- even then it isn't ideal as he is constantly coming in for snacks etc.

It's a hard one as childcare is insanely expensive but it would be a big no from me. Could you do condensed hours and free up a day that way? Hope you find something that works.

Absolutely not with a 15 month old. Maybe 8-10 onwards but I have an almost 18 month old and not a chance you can wfh when they're so little. You will be neglecting one and it really isn't fair on your child or your workplace.

My DH has tried to once or twice when DS (3) hasn’t been able to go to nursery for whatever reason. He has the flexibility to wfh in his job occasionally. He’s done well to get 60 mins of work done during the day in total.

Yes from 330 / 345 on some days but they are 8 and 13. I would never do this with pre school kids........

I work from home with my 1 year old, 4 days a week, sometimes 3 as my mum occasionally had him once a week.

My employers were very lenient from the beginning. I was asked about childcare in my interview when I applied with them.. and was told not to worry and that they’re happy for me to work from home with the kids there.
I take my lunch whenever he needs feeding, and I take breaks throughout the day to make myself a cuppa, get him a snack, read a book ect.

Around Christmas time I’m told to log on and just leave my phone on in case we get a call, but otherwise to just go about my normal day.

I do however think that if my job requires more physical focus for a period of time I would struggle.

Right now I just take calls with him in the room, if he’s particularly chatty I apologise for the background noise - no one’s ever been offended by hearing him in the background, and I’ve found since covid a lot more people are working from home with the kids. I hear a few kids in the background of calls 😂

My older toddler goes to nursery during term time, she stays home during half term. Im
about to put DS into nursery once a week so he can start socialising with babies his age will I think will benefit him.

I put DD into nursery at 9 months old, 5 days a week. She thrived, completely. But it’s been really nice having DS home with me for longer. It’s nice we get a little bit of one-to-one time while DD is at nursery too.

I work from home but definitely couldn’t do it with my two year old around.

No, company policy doesn't allow it. They don't mind if it's a school-age child off sick for a day or waiting out the 48hrs for D&V but you can't work your regular hours whilst also looking after young kids.

At 15 months I'd have been able to do a couple of hours at nap time and that's about it.

With my 8 year old? Yes - he can be quiet when needs be and will read/watch tv/colouring etc. he'll even go outside with his friends during the summer months (he knows he's not allowed outside our cul-de-sac

I could reliably do this from he was 6

With my DD21m?

Absolutely not. My husband and I nearly had a breakdown trying to do it last week for one day. I cried a lot.

What job do you do?

My dd goes to nursery in the mornings and is often home in the afternoon. It's not ideal. I try to get as much done in the morning as I can and then take it steadier in the afternoon. Usually she'll have a nap and dh and I do help each other (he wfh too). The only time we run into problems is if one or both of us have meetings or important phone calls. Luckily I'm not very busy at the moment but it would be incredibly stressful if I was. I wouldn't recommend it. We will stick it out for as long as we can.

Mine are teenagers now but in a previous role I worked 2 days a week from home when my kids were much younger and they were in childcare. Childminder/after school club.

I have a 5 year old and 18 month twins. I work from home a lot. I have a huge playpen set up by my desk and can get away with 2 hours of desk work while they play and snack. I can manage another hour or two while they nap. The rest of my work I do from 7pm when everyone's in bed

I cannot do any calls or zoom meetings while they're awake so I schedule all of those either during nap time or in the evenings

It works for me but I can't afford to put them all into childcare more than one or two days a week

Not a chance. I can barely organise my thoughts when solo with our 18 month old to get us through the day without work, let alone with.