Anyone else work from home?

[twinky06]

My pregnancy this time was a bit of a surprise. I currently work full time from home and can't help but think... how am I going to manage a newborn and work from home?!

I plan to take a few months of initially, but due to the fact I will only get basic maternity allowance... I will have to go back to work about 4 months after baby is born.

From memory, my other child was pretty easy going with the exception of when she was teething. Not sure if I'm in denial or remembering it differently to how it was haha.

Has anyone got any tips or experience they can share? Thanks in advance.

You're utterly in denial - of bad least I certainly couldn't work with a baby in the house! Are you self employed? Many employers would have an issue with this.

Yes I'm self employed.

My daughter used to sleep a lot and was generally a very content baby. So yes, whilst she did take up a lot of my time... she wasn't massively demanding. I could pop her in her bouncer and she would be happy as.

I did this and continue to do it (DD is 14 months now), but it’s on a part time basis and I end up working a lot more evenings than I’d like. I think it is doable, but a lot depends on whether the baby gets the “entertain yourself” memo. I don’t think full time is feasible without roping in childcare.

Did you work with your other child, or are you just thinking you could have? My four month old baby is quite easy going, certainly more so than average, and I am trying to keep up with little bits of work. During the day I would say I get about an hour done, which is basically just sending emails and occasionally editing a page or two of something. Any real work is done in evenings or at weekends while DH has some time with DS. There is absolutely no way I could do approaching full time hours and sleep, ever. I find it's much easier to keep DS entertained while I do other household things, like cook, because then I can chatter constantly to him - I can only work when he sleeps really, and like most four month olds he does that it quite short, unpredictable bursts and needs frequent resettling. Maybe there are babies who will sit in their bouncers while their mothers work all day but I haven't met one - even the most chilled ones I know wouldn't. Your best hope is one that takes really long reliable naps from the off but that's both complete outside your control and rare!

Even if your child will sit in a bouncer while you work for hours (and at four months the days of the bouncer are surely numbered?!), is that really what you want for their babyhood? I think baby would be better off in nursery than nominally with you but being all but ignored, which would be the only way you could work full time.

I actually got more done when he was a tiny newborn because then he'd sleep in the sling for hours and I could use the laptop stood up - but while I did get some work done in that time I was mostly too tired from the nights to do anything that required thought! I would say that in four months I have probably done two solid weeks' work and that's with a few afternoons of DH having him and just bringing him up for feeds.

I worked full time with my first for an employer and to be honest it was hell. I was tired all the time because my husband did night shifts and it was all on me. I also had no family support at all.

I've now been self employed for several years and manage just fine with my older child.

My plans are to reduce my hours and work 4 days a week, 5 hours a day. I also have much more support available now as my husband doesn't work nights and I have a supportive family and group of friends.

I'm not completely naive, but I'm also a hard worker and usually manage to find a way through things.

No I don't want baby to be stuck in a bouncer all day... I know there needs to be some middle ground. But I would rather be with them, than miss all the important stuff when their at the childminders etc.

My last point about missing stuff relates to me being employed last time. I felt like I missed out on so much.

Obviously you know what you want and have an older child so are more experienced than me! But I honestly think you'd be better off having childcare for say four hours a day, doing the extra in evenings or weekends, and then having the rest of the time to focus on your baby. I find that DS's time where he's happiest and so could be put in a bouncer for a while is also his best, chattiest and most smiley time for play. If I did what you're planning I would be missing out on that and only dealing with him when he got miserable, which would meet his basic needs but be no fun for anyone.

I will have this very problem. Can’t take too much time off due to MA and the fact my work will dry up if I’m not available for too long! I am predicting a very similar experience to that described by a PP - bits & bobs in the day and more done in the evening once OH is back. Dreading it but will make it work! Hoping my OH will be able to take shared parental leave for a few months too, but he’s not going to ask his employer until we have had our 12 week scan.

I think maybe it's one of those things I'll just have to test out. I don't have set hours, I'm not on the phone either. I literally work at my own pace, when I want and to my own deadlines so I have a lot of flexibility.

I would much rather look after my baby myself this time but will just have to see how things go.

I work from home and am self employed, currently 30 weeks pregnant. I'm lucky in that the SMP / maternity allowance is enough for us to cope with financially, we won't be having fancy holidays or lots of treats, but won't be too hard up either.
I've been saving hard during my pregnancy so far, working my socks off when the work's available so that we have an emergency savings fund in place once the baby comes along. I'm hoping this will mean I can relax a bit more once the little one arrives and focus on them rather than worrying about finances and getting back to work too quickly.
You can have Keeping In Touch days during your maternity leave, and I hope to use these to do bits of work for existing clients from about month 3 onwards, and keep some extra funds coming in.
I've been told in no uncertain terms by other mums that getting work done during the day (when husband is at work) is unrealistic and a recipe for stress and upset! Will do my KIT work in evenings / weekends.
I've found being self-employed and pregnant pretty hard work and stressful, but started putting together a plan early doors and am feeling better about taking time out now.

You're utterly in denial
Nonsense

I worked from home from when dd was 6 weeks and ds was 2. Ds went to nursery 3 days a week. Dd went when she was 2. She wad an easy baby and i worked when she napped and at night when they were asleep. I did it for 8 years. 20 hours a week. I did accounts for a charity.

@SP84 I didn't even think about KIT days - thanks for this... I'll read more about it and see if I can use it to help me.

I've already put together a savings plan so that I can afford to have time off. I hope to earn some extra where I can... for extra security and also to hopefully have more time off if I can.

@bruffin thank you for your message... it has filled me with some hope rather than utter dread.

I'm a hard worker and used to work all sorts of hours in the day (and night). I know it will be tough but I'm adamant I have the will power and determination to make it work.

@SP84 and @twinky06 I'm also working from home self-employed so really interested in hearing your thoughts. I am currently 39+4 and doing full time hours to get as much in the bank as possible!
My plan is to use the KIT days until Feb then create my own 'staged return' rather than just jump back in.
Whilst I think doing the real 'work' - I'm a content writer - will need someone to be with baby I can do a lot of the email response to clients during the day. I see how much shite people with babies at home manage to post on social media during the day - surely one less FB/Mumsnet post is one more money earning email??!!
We'll see ! But in the long run I feel very grateful for my flexible work and being able to work from home.

I managed to do a part time admin type job while DS was small. It was easier when he was tiny as he slept loads in the sling and I could work standing up or with him asleep on me. I did end up fitting odd hours around his naps but it was doable and I managed up until he was 7 months (when contract came to an end). Like you I had no deadlines, could work when I wanted and had 2 meetings where the boss came to me as it was easier than me travelling. It is doable! And for us it brought in much needed income during those months.

@Rideforthehills I have to agree with you... I think spending your time wisely is absolutely key. I personally like to keep busy and I am very good at keeping on top of things.

When my other child was little, I would be really bored when she was sleeping. The house would be clean, everything sorted so I'd be sat there twiddling my thumbs and fed up with daytime tv haha.

Obviously it will be different this time with two but I think it is possible if I'm organised and leave myself lots of wriggle room with my schedule.

I work from home, employed and 'full time'- realistically, my job isn't full time, and I can do my work at whatever time suits me. No conference calls or client meetings. I've been doing a lot of 4am starts recently as I can't sleep through anymore.

My bosses expect me to have the baby (due January) with me while working as their last woman in my job position did very successfully for 8 years (with 2 kids) until she moved on. However, I'm a bit more pessimistic than them, and more realistic regarding my mental health and need for sleep - I've booked two full days of nursery a week, and my partner will be looking after baby evenings and weekends, whatever I need, to get my work done. I'm also only having about 4 months of ML, but at full pay.

Being self employed, you'll have so much flexibility. And if your income is vital for the bills and such, I'm sure you'll make sure you manage. It'll probably be very hard, but there are plenty of women juggling life like this.

@gruber thanks for your message... it's nice to hear from someone else that has done it successfully.

I think perhaps if my job was more regimented and required constant client contact it would be much harder. But I know I can over quote on timescales and give myself lots of wriggle room without upsetting my customers. I can literally pick up anytime of the day or night and crack on.

Having said that, I fully expect there will be times when I'm knackered and just can't be bothered. The good thing is I won't have an employer down my neck about it!

Thanks @Liland I appreciate your message.

Yeah things will absolutely be tough but being able to spend everyday with my baby will absolutely make up for that. I missed out on so much before and it's something I've always regretted.

I hope everything goes well for you as well and it's not too much of a struggle

Whilst I think doing the real 'work' - I'm a content writer - will need someone to be with baby I can do a lot of the email response to clients during the day. I see how much shite people with babies at home manage to post on social media during the day - surely one less FB/Mumsnet post is one more money earning email??!!

This is pretty much what I do - I'm posting this while feeding DS and often send emails when feeding him too - but it doesn't get me that far. Unless replying to emails is a huge part of your job you need a lot more uninterrupted time - 15 mins here and there doesn't let you do anything much. I do work in the evenings but it is so hard - DS wakes around four times in the night at the moment so I'm exhausted come 8pm and nearly ready for bed, it's hard to crack the laptop out instead!

I really hope it all works really well for you but I'd have a good back up plan. And I wouldn't tell anyone that you think the reason you can work from home with a baby is because you're just more efficient and less lazy than everyone else, as you might end up with some very satisfied 'I told you so's if you end up with a baby who doesn't get with the plan!

@LisaSimpsonsbff I've never said I'm less lazy and more efficient than anyone else... I would never try to offend or put down anyone else.

We're all different in terms of situations, lifestyle and personalities. I'm just someone that likes to keep busy and tends to get bored if I'm sat around all day. I'm also very driven and determined when I set my mind to things.

At the end of the day, I know it won't be easy, I know things might not go to plan and that's why I'm here trying to chat to others in a similar situation and get some advice.

I don't know if it's possible for you, but now I'm past that horrible feeling hungover all the time stage, I'm doing as much of next year's work in advance as I can.

I'm self-employed and run my own business from home. I'm trying to take a fairly flexible approach to it - I'm taking the whole MA period off as luckily we can afford for me to do that, but will use my 10 KIT days to phase back in. Then I plan to start with a much reduced workload, getting bits done during the day when I can but mostly evenings/weekends when my DP is around as I don't need to work at specific times of day, just get the work done. I'm just going to take it as it comes – I know I'm incredibly luckily that I can be with our baby every day, but I do want to get back to making at least a decent income.

I have quite a few friends in the same line of work (not writing but a similar field) who manage very well with babies and work (and quite a few have gone self-employed to work from home precisely for childcare reasons) so I'm fairly optimistic that it'll work to some degree, but I might just need to adjust expectations as we go.

Really interesting to hear other people's experiences and how they have managed. It's heartening to hear that it can work out fine.

I love being self-employed for the most part, but decent maternity pay and having a job to go back to is one thing I envy those in employment!

@twinky06, hopefully we will both have "easy" babies who go for decent, regular naps. Fingers crossed...