Taking baby to work

[RedRoseMama]

Hi I'm a new mum to a 3 month old, I'm planning on going to back to work when baby is around 6 months. And there is a potential for me to take baby to work with me. If this can happen (depending on some work scenarios) This wouldn't be all the time there would be flexibility in me working from home sometimes too etc. But Im hoping to hear from some other mothers who may have taken baby to work and what your experience was like?

Won't work.
You will be trying to be and Mum and work at the same time and not do a great job of either. You manager might say its ok but they will soon change their mind when reality hits

As someone who wfh whilst looking after a young child during covid, don't do it. It's not good for you, your job or your baby. You will be stressed the work isn't getting done because of having to attend to baby's needs and you will be stressed that baby isn't get your attention because of attending to you job.

Surely it depends what she does? So if she runs a baby music franchise for example that could work.

We know she doesn’t though, so it’s a pretty irrelevant comment.

I mean, your example is extremely specific 😂but yes. If you work somewhere that caters for babies then in theory you could take them with you.

Regardless OP has said she works in a bar. So unless the baby can make a mean Espresso Martini or crawl around collecting glasses, then I'm not sure it's the best environment to take your child to work.

Bloody hell.
Where IS this country going?
😂

@Oodlesandoodlesofnoodles as op has said she works in a bar I'm not sure she can bring her kid to work

So I want to stress I would never have my baby in the bar environment, as I mentioned in a previous message my manager suggested a change in circumstances, the place where I work has different departments and he suggested moving to an office based role. I wouldn't go back if that wasn't an option I wasn't intending on going back until my manager suggested it, I was clear to understand whether he meant I could bring baby to work and there are private spaces so I could have my own office and set up a travel cot and or play pen. There are alot of factors that I need to consider, I do intend to get her in childcare/ nursery at some point.

I seem to have upset some people and I'm sorry for that if there's misunderstandings.

I take being a mother very seriously and the attachment and bond I have with my baby girl I don't want to throw away to nursery or a job. I want to stress if I felt it wasn't working out I would change my circumstances to make sure that she has what she needs and the situation not set in stone anyway, just while she's so young I thought the idea of keeping her close is strong. I didn't get that with my mum.

I am surprised your employer will allow this. It opens them up to liability should something happen.

Isn't that wildly inappropriate?

You can’t seriously be considering going to work all day in the office and leaving your baby in a playpen in a corner of your office.
It’s not going to work
You need to listen to the advice you are been given here by basically every person replying to you - either extend your maternity leave or get full time childcare.
And again , if I was a fellow employee and heard that this was allowed I’d be furious.
Also , you say you will arrange childcare at age 1… you do realise that waiting lists are really long for nurseries and you would need to put your DC on that list now … you can’t just decide at age 1 to pop her into nursery. I could see this being a total disaster on all fronts , zero productivity from you as an employee and terrible for your child too ( and fellow employees) .

I was clear to understand whether he meant I could bring baby to work and there are private spaces so I could have my own office and set up a travel cot and or play pen.

What?!?!

Honestly, the world is going to shit.

Again, no. You can't have your baby with you in a professional working environment. FFS.

Ok op I see why this is so appealing. You go back to work and earn the money your family needs, but you get to keep baby with you.

How does your new day look? You get into the office, are you meeting customers? Do you have meetings with colleagues? Or can you literally lock yourself away all day? You wear in a sling for naps and put in play pen to play, but where are you changing nappies? What happens if a colleague is loud and wakes baby? How much concentration is needed in your job if your half watching a screen / laptop and half watching your baby? How much of that working time will you take out to interact with an increasingly interesting and funny gorgeous baby, get them to sleep, feed them, change them? Do you then work overtime to catch that time up? Now she's 10 months and teething. She screams more because teething bloody hurts. You're spending more time pacing the office and your colleagues are glaring at you, you're now getting half what you were doing before and working later into the night.

Do you think she'll be getting enough interaction and stimulation in your office? How much space will you have?

I mean a boss who will let you swap jobs and guarantee and office so you can bring your baby to work for six months and your colleagues will all think it's great sounds amazing. I wish life worked like that but honestly, I'd be waiting for the "oh no, what I meant was..."

And she's clearly said it wouldn't be a bar job.

And op you will not lose your bond to work or childcare. You and your baby's bond is too strong for that.

You also can’t work in an office and plonk a baby in a travel cot for the best part of 8 hours.

Have you ever met a baby between 6-12 months old??

I take being a mother very seriously and the attachment and bond I have with my baby girl I don't want to throw away to nursery or a job.

So it’s not acceptable to “throw away” your bond by having her well cared for and entertained by professionals in a nursery setting but it’s absolutely fine to shove her in a travel cot, half listening out for her, half working giving her the bare minimum amount of attention and stimulation while you work? You really think that’s preferable?

You can't leave a 6 month old baby in a playpen all day whilst you work. Your baby won't be getting anywhere near sufficient interaction and change of activities to stimulate them and their development. Never mind that you will also not be able to concentrate on work, and do all the things your baby will require you to do. Just think about feeding, nappy changes, naps etc even if you ignore any time for interaction/activities, and add up all that time then subtract it from your working day. And that's ignoring times when your baby might be unsettled or upset and need comforting.

You would need childcare for all your working hours, including when working from home for most employers.

Baby will also be weaning at 6 months and that can be a time consuming, messy process that you won't be able to do in an office.

You can work with baby, I have. But not in your scenario. Taking baby into an office for a full day in playpen doesn’t work.

If you have the flexibility to work from home flexible for just part time hours it can. As fitting in 4hrs a day broken up into nap time, husband caring for child and odd hour then playing on floor whilst you work or then in sling is more realistic. But an 8hr day fixed hours in office isn’t ok.

I worked from home with Ds when he was 6months. But for myself so no fixed times and it was max 15-20hrs week.

Anyone who had small children in March 2020 will tell you the same thing - it doesn't work.

At six months they're weaning but not dropping milk feeds - you spend your whole day feeding them or cleaning up from feeding them. They're literally years off playing independently for more than a couple of minutes.

I know you don't like the idea of putting your baby in childcare but it will be infinitely better for them than being ignored by you while you do your best to keep your job. It would also be horrendous for you to try juggle work and baby.

The most I could have done at this age would've been a bit of work during naps and after bedtime but you wouldn't fit a full day of work in that.

Working in the office would probably be easier than the bar work for you, and more flexible. Unless you could do the bar work in the evenings when your partner finishes work and save on childcare?

A lot of us have been there during Covid so unfortunately have first hand experience and it just does not work if you’re wanting to work anything close to full time, need to be in the office and/or have to be responsive quickly. You could probably do 4 hours a day from home between naps and working into the evening if your schedule allowed fulled flexibility. Anything else would be a disaster! But that’s also pretty stressful because you’re still full time parenting but any down time because work time.

Also remember that what may seem possible with a 3MO who is in a solid routine, doesn’t move and spends half the day asleep just isn’t with an older mobile baby- then it’ll likely become you’re either neglecting your job or you are neglecting your baby. As for taking your baby to work, it doesn’t sound like your manager has said that at all and it sounds ridiculous for an office job in hospitality. Just get proper childcare.

It's not fair on others in the office. If I was trying to pay attention to something at work the last thing I'd want is a baby crying in the corner.

A question for you - you are on video presenting in a Teams meeting and your baby starts crying. What do you do?