Is it possible to work from home and look after a baby?!

[TheArtist]

My DH lost his job March. This give me the opportunity to finally start my own illustration business, a dream I have had for for years as he cared for our 8 month old.

I loved every minute! The creativity, making my website, making the connections, getting mentions on famous blogs etc. its such fun, yet of course a huge amount of work.

DH starts his new job tomorrow. He will be gone 12 hours a day.

Ok I have made no money so far but I have only just started this business, its not even propely launched I dont want to give up but how on earth can I juggle this a very demanding 8 month old?

Does anybody manage or is it impossible? We cannot really afford childcare as our finances took such a whack from 4 months of no income

no.

as in there is no way on this earth that I can work when dd is awake. i can deal with the odd email but carnage had a tendency towards happening if I take my eye off the toddler. she also didn't sleep as a newborn

If your not willing to spend a few hundred pounds checking out whether this is going to be a 'business' then I do question if this is a hobby and if so then your not going to be able to have an income from it and could be heavily subsidised by your OH income which is sheer madness. Unless you have an amazing USP or an invention. Refer to Dragons Den.

You do have to speculate to accumulate and this can be a small amount.

I would read up on some small business finances, understanding business and easy accountancy. No one is going to take you seriously if you dont know the basics.

Its not that I am not willing, but I just dont have it.

It started out as me using my work place learned skills to help a friend and it turned out that it was something that could benefit us both going forward. i work on a commission basis for him (sort of like a musicians agent) so if I find him gigs, get album sales etc then I get paid. So it is a minimal start up costs which is why I was able to do it.

It wont be supported by OH's job as we are barely scraping by as it is, any money i make will be a great help so I am working very hard at it. I have a huge meeting on Wednesday that could pave the way to some serious money making and then I might be in a position to be able to pay an accountant.

I just fell into this but now I am doing it, I am working hard, a hobby would be far more fun I assure you!

Sorry I should add that I fully appreciate what you are saying and you are right, but I didnt wake up one day and decide to start a business. More I woke up one day and thought "fuck, I have a business!"

I worked from home with a small baby (and am still doing so with a 2 year old, although we have some part time nannying now and also I have a lot less work atm! which brings its own problems....)

I found it very, very hard and would not do it again if I had the choice. I think as others have said, it depends very much on what work you are trying to do and what your baby is like. I had a screaming reflux-y baby who only slept while being pushed in the the buggy and never slept well at night.

I found trying to fit the work around the baby almost impossible, as I never knew when I was going to get a chance to sit down and get a good run at it. And I was often working when I was exhausted and really wanted to sleep. I know it affected my health and I didn't produce work that was as good as I wanted it to be. That was the killer, tbh - feeling like I wasn't working competently AND being very tired and frustrated with my son for 'getting in the way' of work.

On the plus side... I suppose i haven't had to face a 'return to work' as such, with me going to a workplace and having to sort out childminder or nursery etc - me and DP looked after DS ourselves entirely until we got a few hours of nanny help when he was 8 months old, and that was in our house, so Ds could still breastfeed with no real disruption. (my partner was at home with me, which sounds like it should have been marvellous, but he was working full time too).

This is just my experience - I really think there are so many individual factors that vary so much. I think the extent to which you can be in charge of your own schedule is very important. If you have to hit a lot of deadlines and have to be available to take calls/respond to e-mail whenever your employer wants you too, that's pretty tough.

As someone else said, a good accountant will save you more over the year than he costs and not be to worried about payment up front, worth bearing that in mind, even if you just have a chat to your local Business Link about potential local accountants your not commiting to anything.

Unless you actually say what your income is likely to be then i don't think anyone can say how viable / profit making your idea is - but don't be tempted to do things cash in hand at mates rates, thus not making any profit.

Finally, i couldn't work at home with LO around - i freelance onsite at clients whilst she's at nursery and wait until she's in bed, long days :-) but you might be eligable to get help with childcare, worth looking into

I work in the evenings when my 22 month old is asleep and if I have a deadline I have had to work until 3/4am and then struggle thought the next day like a zombie. I have very occasionally worked in the morning, stuck Cbeebies on and placated him with snacks and toys with one hand on my keyboard but it's not fair to him and not possible to properly concentrate.

My work involves report writing and I don't need to be available to answer emails and talk to clients so I can do it after office hours. The upside is the money and the chance to be with DS in his early years, the downside is that its exhausting and when I'm busy I feel like I work 20 hour days between childcare and paid work.

I plan to take a break from work when DS2 arrives in November. Bit worried about losing clients for good but something has to give!

Not really! I thought it would be, but I only get work done on the two mornings dd is at nursery or on the weekend if DH takes her out.

I think it depends on the age of the child and what you do.

My 2 year old has a mix of creche and daddy daycare, but the 6 month old is at home. The reflux months were hell but now we're on track with a good routine and nailing the sleeping its possible.

I started at 5 today when they were both sleeping, like someone else said though, sometimes I work through until the early hours.

My work is quite rigid though in that my clients book set appointments or I am away on site. Even if I had to make a call I can wait until nap time!

It wouldn't suit everybody but is there no way you could share childcare with another Mum who say works two days a week. She could have your DC for two days and you could have hers.

I managed it part-time, but then I was lucky that from about eight months until nearly three, DS had a three-hour nap every afternoon, regular as clockwork, so I was able to work then and slot in an hour or two in the evenings as well if necessary. It was exhausting though and I had very little me-time, but with no childcare, no local family and all my regular clients queueing up to badger me, I didn't have much choice! There was no way I could have worked with him awake, and if something woke him early it was game over. Even now at 5 1/2 it's impossible and I have to just work evenings in the school holidays.

I couldn't, I know some do
I was a student with a newborn, I found it totally impossible to get any work done at home with DS and had to fit it all in in my couple of hours of library time a week

and DS was only ever a power napper at best, was lucky if I got to make and drink a whole cuppa and have a quick wee before he was awake again

I found I couldn't work while DS was awake. It was great when he had a two hour nap in the day but when he dropped that. He now goes to nursery part time which is the only way I can run the business. We run a limited company for my husband's contracting job so we have been able to run a salary sacrifice scheme. Basically we pay the nursery from the business and then a certain amount is taken from our salary before tax. Might be worth seeing if you DH's company run a salary sacrifice scheme - know some do it as vouchers. Even if you can get childcare for 0.5 days a week + nap times.
I'm really looking forward to sept, when DS goes to the local school for preschool two mornings a week and I will still be able to use the 15hours from the Govt for two days at nursery.
I look forward to my time with DS so much more than if I didn't work. I plan things to do because I look forward to the time which I don't think I would so much if he was with me every day. Plus where we live is a bit remote so he wouldn't get any social interaction with other kids.
Can only say what has worked for us - hope it works out for you.