2 or 3 days a week?

[pamelat]

DD 8 months. She will be 1 one I go back to work, part time, in January.

My work will be flexible (hopefully) and am hoping for opinions/experiences about 2 and 3 day a week mums?

I would like to work 2 but I feel that work will benefit more from 3 days. Also, if I get pregnant again (soon ish) would be paid a 3 day a week salary.

I just dont want to leave my DD for 3 days, struggle with an afternoon at the moment (have done that twice)
I guess it gets easier?

Hi,

My advice would be start with 3, and drop down to 2 if you feel it's too much.

If you start with 2, you're unlikely to want to increase it to 3!

I was in same situation as you - opted for 3 days. Was too much for me personally - felt like the 2 days I had off were just caught up in boring things like shopping etc., but the 3 days maternity leave has been beneficial (DD2 now 3 months old).

Good luck whatever you decide. I take it you haven't put your DD into nursery before? I started off with 1 day initially, then increased when I went back to work. 1 day was actually more difficult for her than 3 - I think 3 gave her a bit more continuity and she soon loved going!

hopefully it will get easier
as eviz says, try the three. have had the same convo with a colleague today - who starts her mat leave next thurs. Have talked with her about doing all kinds of clever stuff with her accrued leave, so that she comes back on F/T contract, using 2 or 3 days of leave a week to reduce her hours, £'s back in the bank, then make flexible working application and reduce her hours officially
Also talked about getting 3 days pay vs 2 days pay, the three leaves her a bit of room to play with, whereas 2 days doesn't quite seem to cover what she needs. Remember that there are tax credits to take into account too, do lots of sums and see what works for you. The idea of 'trying it out' with hols worked well for me, to see whether -in my case 3 days the job was do-able or whether i needed to have 4. In practice i do 3 days in and work from home for the fourth, off on fridays
Remember also that if you are going down the FW route, you can't change it for a year

I have only ever done 2 days. 3 tips the balance just a bit too much for me in that I don't feel that I am getting enough time with my kids. I feel like I'm getting enough time at work to make me feel like I'm me without running around like a headless chicken

Worked 2 days a week from when dd was 5months to 3.5 years. Now had ds (1year old) and gone back 3 days. Finding it VERY hard. 2 days made it feel like a hobby, 3 is like work (they are long days) and feel very much out of the mummy loop. Trying to think of a way to cut down.