How much maternity leave for for working (full-time) mums?

[uwila]

I am currently sturggling with the reality that I can not financially afford to take as much leave as I would have liked. It seems that everyone around me manages to take so much more. So, I just wondered for full-time career dedicated mums, how much time did others take? I am currently planning to take only what my company provides as paid leave (six weeks) plus another two weeks (maybe three) as holiday. This seems rediculously short to me. But, the truth is I can not possibly afford to go without even a couple of weeks of pay.

So, if you work full time in a career that you are dedicated to, how much time off did you take? And, how much was paid (at a minimum of 80% of your salary) time off?

[sinclair]

Hmm. I know from other threads that you have niggles with your nanny - if you get your 4 day week that could be another reason to find a replacement. IME lots of nannies are interested in 4 days. And then if that saves you money so you don't need to go back till baby is 3 months all the better for you too. What is your timescale Uwila - when are you due?

[annh]

But fitting 40 hours into 4 days a week is not going to reduce nanny costs if she is increasing the length of her days accordingly to accommodate this? Also, as your days are quite lengthy already, would you be able to see your children at all on those 4 days? It's a real pickle but I'm sure the collective wisdom of mumsnet must come up with some solution!

[uwila]

Sinclair, I do have a some gripes about my nanny. But, I think there are a lot worse out there. I trust the safety of my children with her. And, with such a young one, at least I know who she is. If I were to replace her, I would be starting all over with who knows what. My biggest gripe is just that she doesn't inform me much -- it isn't that I actually think she does a bad job. However, there is going to be a contract review and a change in duties for her. If she refuses again to write down the day's food intake then I may say good-bye. But I will let that be her choice not mine. Also whe does some light housework that will be removed from her scope with the arrival of a second child, so perhaps she will be happy to accommodate.

Annh, it's actaully not that big of a difference on my day. In order to work 10 hour days, I might have to add half an hour to each day Mon. - Thurs. And while that is precious time to be taken away, I get a whole day to spend with them in return. That's trading 2 hours for an entire day. Good trade for me. Also, nanny has expressed reluctance to go to activitie with two of them. So I was thinking that I'll sign DD up fpr agymnastics class I've been wanting to get her into and I'll take them... just to show her it can be done.

[uwila]

Sorry, forgot to say that I'm due 29 May. My plan is to work until 22 May... hopefully.

[uwila]

Hi everyone,
I just wante to say thanks for your advice and support. And laso I wanted to say that situation has changed a bit. Nanny and I had a little dispute last week. It seems she feels it is her place to choose what DD eats and she also wishes to choose DD's outfits each day. I sort of reluctantly agreed to the food thing, but I'm not budging on the clothes. I think this all boils down to the fact that she is over qualified for the nanny postion for which she was hired. She has a degree in health/nutrition and wants to exercise her knowledge. So she is not happy when I tell her how/what to feed to DD.

In the end, I have decided that I am not willing to allow my employee to tell me how she she is going to feed/dress MY child. I even offered that could have more control over the choice of diet if she would write down for me each day what she feeds to DD. And she replied "Why can't you write it down. I will tell you." This response seems to me to be rather inappropriate for someone who works for me.

Anyway, I have decided to let nanny go when I begin my maternity leave, and not having her on the payroll will allow me one more month of maternity leave. So, that brings me to 3 months (12 weeks to be precise). And I can settle for that without being too terribly distraught about it. I'll have a nice summer with my kids. I missed this with DD because I returned to work shockingly fast. So I am looking forward to spending the summer with her too.

Thanks again!

[LadyPenelope]

Hi uwila
Didn't see this thread earlier. I'm in similar circumstances to you although for different reasons. I'm currently breadwinner in family and we live overseas so the maximum maternity leave in my company is 12 weeks, although it is on full pay. I took 14 weeks with my dd, and I am now 39w + 3d, and still working so that I will get to spend maximum time with baby #2 decides to make appearance.
I really sympathise with you. Even 12 weeks is a very short time, but as you know from the first time around it is managable ... especially if you know there is no altenative. Doesn't stop me envying friends who have longer... 6 months would be my ideal.
Hardest thing for me at the mo is keeping going at work until the end. I'm so exhausted. Much more than last time. I've now pursuaded boss that I can work from home this week, but if baby is late (and in all liklihood doc thinks it will be), then I'm not sure I can continue to work from home next week. We'll see. Good luck with finding a new nanny, but think you've made a good decision and hope the 4 day week works out. I worked 4 days for about 6 months in my last job and loved it. Sadly not practical in current job