Going back to work first Child !!

Hey I’m currently on maternity leave and will be doing the same thing I did with my son I did with my daughter.. when I had my daughter 8 years ago I went back to work when she was 10 months old both me and her dad worked. We decided to put her into nursery at 10 months old 4 days a week ( 1 day she was with my mum) honestly at first it was hard because she would cry which made me cry but I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions made.. she ended up loving nursery, and her nursery were so good with updates on the app.. I know you’re looking at a childminder but my advice would be to just prepare for the tears when you first leave your little but know the tears won’t last, prepare everything you need to take for baby the night before it would be better if you could leave a bag with her childminder just incase ( I did this with my daughters nursery) and be very clear with how you want to communicate with the childminder, like how often you want to be updated ( I don’t know how

It would work with a childminder the nursery was very good with letting parents phone to check in).. just be prepared I think the more prepared you are the less stressful it will be.. E,g give yourself plenty of time for drop offs and pick ups.. hope this helps.

It’s incredibly difficult working from home with a baby. I did during Covid, and it was awful. Not many companies these days will let you work at home with a baby to look after. My eldest is at school, and my youngest is in the childminder and I work 5 days a week (2 days in the office). It works for me. I have all the stuff packed, ready by the door for the morning, unload the dishwasher in the morning, and I get home about 8:45am, and start work at 9am, the days I’m in the office my partner does drop off/pick ups. You need to be organised and prepared.

It is unclear if you plan to work while the baby is with you? I’d strongly recommend against this, you won’t be able to either work or look after the baby properly. With full time childcare it is perfectly manageable. You just need to organise drop offs and pick ups. It is hard at first but once they settle into their childcare (took us a few weeks) it is absolutely fine. It took me a few months to get my head back into work once I returned, but overtime it will feel more normal.

I did this with my daughter during COVID! It was a nightmare and I also go back to work in May and my son is now 9 months - I told my partner I refuse to do what I didn't with my daughter so I am trying to find a nursery or childminder. Do not work from home whilst looking after your child......First and foremost because your child deserves the best of you which you will be unable to give, because you will be stressing about juggling baby and work, they do not work like clockwork as we all know and secondly the mum guilt/work guilt because you will ultimately half arsing both.....I don't know what you do for work, but your work will suffer, as will you ànd your child!!! Nursery or childminder! Xx

Going back to work with a baby has been hard for me. My son is nine months old and I work full time. I’ve found it difficult to manage the demands of work and then also being the best Mum I can be in the evenings - when I’m tired. For me, I’ve found it extremely tiring and exhausting and whilst it has been great to get back into a routine and mix with my colleagues during the day etc, I have been over exhausted. My advice is to make sure you have time for yourself to keep calm and manage all the responsibilities that come with being a working mum :). I’m also not sure what your profession is but it’s important to keep in mind that you probably won’t have much additional time to complete work outside of working hours (neither will you want to be away from your little one even more so) so time management is key too! Hope this helps - feel free to message me if you’d like some more advice/support or even if you’d just like to chat xx

I’ve just gone back to work 3 weeks ago with a 13 month old and finding it extremely difficult still. The hardest part is definitely dealing with the over tiredness from bad sleep at night, and non stop having to do things that leave no time to relax. I’m in the office 3 days and wfh 2 days and days in are more interesting but absolutely exhausting because of the commute, because of that I’m so tired on the wfh days too and end up napping a lot during the day. We leave baby with my mum 5 days a week but I am considering putting her into nursery just so we have a more established routine. It’s also very hard when the mum guilt hits you and you feel your missing out on your child’s milestones etc.

I went back to work when my lo was 9 months old. For the first month he was with my and my partners parents, then 4 days at nursery and one day with us (we took half a day off on Fridays until he was one). It helped that I mostly work from home with infrequent business trips. The key for you and your partner is to share drop off / pick up responsibilities and all other child-related activities

Thank you all for your insights and for sharing your experiences, it’s been really helpful to read through everyone’s journey. From this, I’ve realised that a childminder or nursery is definitely the best option for me given how demanding my job is in the film industry. After reflecting on it more, I also wanted to ask what should I be looking for when choosing a nursery? I want to make sure my daughter gets the best care possible without it impacting my work, especially since my clients trust me to handle their projects as if they were their own babies too! @Karis @Emily @Jennifer @Francesca @Roma @Sofia @Maria

I was most interested on what they feed them (it makes up the majority of their diet if they are there full time) plus whether they have outside time and general vibe/routine/level of organization. The other thing that is really important (to minimize disruption to work) (but which I didn’t consider at the time of choosing) is their sickness policy. Eg our nursery follows NHS guidance so children can attend with hand foot mouth, or a fever (provided calpol brings it down, which it usually does early on). Given they have a fever almost constantly for the first few months this is quite important. Mine has had hand foot and mouth twice, was barely ill, so could attend, whereas a colleague at a different nursery was unable to take their child in for a week with hand foot mouth.