How will I be able to leave my baby when the time comes???

[JenAlice]

I'm going back to work 4 days on 30th April, baby is going to a good nursery which I'm sure she'll love as she's so sociable but what if I can't leave her? My big worry is that noone else can anticipate her needs like I can. Help!

I'm going back to work tomorrow and reading this thread just made me feel a bit better. I've actually been looking forward to going back for a while but now the time has come I'm dreading it! Just burst into tears while putting DS (6.5 months) to bed as though I was never going to see him again! I totally understand the feeling that nobody can look after them better than you - even though I know deep down that the nursery staff have much more experience than I have and he'll be really happy there.

Think this is going to be a tough week but hopefully me and DS will settle into our new routines soon.

Good luck iwouldgoouttonight i really feel for you and am sure I'll be exactly the same when my turn comes! Let me know how you get on. I'm sure from what everyone's said it can't be as bad as we think it will be and we will have confident and well stimulated children forever

I'm back at work today and definitely not as bad as I imagined! DS is poorly and was awake quite a lot in the night (he's slept through for ages and wakes up the night I need to get lots of sleep - bless him!). He's with DP today, my mum tomorrow and doesn't start nursery till wednesday so I'm doing it gradually. So it doesn't seem too bad today knowing he's just at home, although DP phoned and said DS isn't happy because of his cold, so I had to bombard him questions about how much he's eaten, when he napped, how is his temperature, etc but I think he's ok.

The only time I was a bit wobbly was when I popped out to the shops at lunchtime and heard a baby making a raspberry sound exactly like my DS does!

But I'm sure you'll be ok - you're bound to be a bit unsure about it, its only natural when you've spent so much time with your LO, but so far its not too bad! Better actually do some work now - have spent quite a lot of time today gossiping and eating cakes!

Well done! I'm so glad it was ok for you, and that is really reassuring to me. I've found out today that my HR mat pack is out of date and I'm actually entitled to 2 weeks more paid leave than I thought, so that is a real bonus. Hope the rest of your week goes well and the cold gets better soon x x

yes, well done iwouldgoouttonight!

I really think it's as much a wrench for the mum as for little one. It's funny how a lot of this is culturally determined (not your feelings about leaving little one but society's expectations. I'm living in the former soviet union, their mums all went back to work and they went into kindergartens, and it's just totally expected that you will go back to work, you don't get that slight feeling from older generations that you're a devil may care career woman etc etc!

ah well, enough pontificating, time to cook the supper!

I have found a lot of the comments on the subject of returning to work very reassuring. I am returning to work four days a week from 26th March and am dreading it. DS gets his intro to nursery next week. I had been thinking about visiting him on my lunch hour, but now see that perhaps it would be better if I didn't. I keep trying to tell myself that it will be good for him to be in nursery, but I know I am going to be quite upset when the time comes. He's 6.5 months old.