Return to work

[Williams1971]

Hi all. I’m returning to work and just wondered how you get ready with a 15 month old. He wakes at 630 and is into everything. He won’t play on his own for long if I went upstairs to get ready. And also as he is into everything I can not have him in my room while I get ready. I’m stuck for ideas and wondered how you all do it or have done it. Thanks

Do you not leave the house now?

Put him in the high chair with some toys. Practise way before you start back so he’s used to it.

Or get changed in a room he can just play in, with the door shut. Don’t give in if he cries or wants attention until you’re dressed.

Put him in the playpen with some toys.

From your other thread, this is your 5th child and you’re in your mid-50s?

I am a kinship carer for this child

Very quickly get dressed whilst he plays on the bed.
unless you have an elaborate makeup routine you should be good.

get bags ready the night before.
same with washing hair.

How did you get ready for work with the other 4?

I didn’t return your work until my youngest was 3 and plus they were not like this one and looking after someone else’s child is different completely to your own

I think this is what I am going to have to do. Will just have to look like I’ve just got out of bed

Get ready before he is awake, mostly get packed the night before - 6.30 is pretty good going, if that is reliable. Once he is up, highchair or playpen

Get everything that’s possible to get ready the night before: work bag packed, lunch ready, clothes laid out.

given your times, I’d probably get up at 6:00 and have my shower and get dressed before he’s awake. But if you want to leave it until later, there’s plenty of good suggestions here about how to manage getting up with a young child. Presumably, even though you’re not working at the moment, you still have to get dressed, brush your teeth etc…. What do you do now?

also, do a dry run to the nursery before your work day to check timings.

He is so active he won’t sit in his high chair. He struggles to sit still in it at dinner time. I think I’m going to have to look at getting ready before he wakes and hope for the best

I wait for his nap and do everything then

I love the way people try to ‘point score’ by picking up on an OPs previous threads. This is an awful place sometimes.

OP - I remember feeling overwhelmed after maternity leave and it was hard! My child was ultra clingy and couldn’t be without me so I dreaded it. At first, most mornings were intense but he got used to it and it got better. Hang in there 😩

Ah you’ve had it easy then!

honestly, before you do it, it feels impossible. I returned to work with a breast fed 3 month old first time round (back in the old days) and I remember wondering how the hell I’d get out the door by 7:45 am. Then with dc 2, it was how do I get up and out to work with a baby and a toddler! But it’s all doable. The key thing is establishing a routine. In your shoes, I’d start getting up earlier now, rather than waiting until he naps, that way it won’t seem such a shock when you actually go back to work.

Of course he will sit in his high chair - he has to during meals so any extra time whilst you do something else shouldn’t be an issue. If he struggles in his high chair, use reins - we did with DS. Alternatively put him in a playpen.

Thanks