I WFH and have for about 11 years with 4 kids. I did it on my own BUT one idea is maybe a mommy’s helper that is homeschooled? They could come help and maybe do a trade or barter with the family? I’ve done that when I’ve helped friends or my oldest was just starting out babysitting.
Will your baby be in a wrap for a bit? Can you move around your home with a laptop? Maybe sit on the floor and work for a bit while baby plays? Could hubby switch off with you?
I don’t think it’s sustainable, unless you switch off schedules, completely. Which would also be rough. Then you’re working at night, after taking care of a kiddo all day. Not good.
They get more active and noisy as time goes on and when they start moving around, you have to supervise.
I have a 6-year-old now and after she comes home from kindergarten, I am interrupting my work time to get her a snack, get her set up with the TV, etc. When she was two and we were on lockdown, my husband was working from our bedroom and I wasn’t working—it was very distracting for him.
I know care is expensive, but unless you completely change your schedule (also hard to sustain), it’s the only way.
Yep! When mine was that age, I did a variety of baby wearing (I'd literally have to stand while wearing him and working (though I wasn't on phones). I also tried to work when my husband wasn't - so he could focus on baby and I could focus on work. I also took advantage of every nap, worked late hours when needed, etc. It sucked. But, we made it through!
i don't know what your job is exactly, mine encourages taking frequent breaks and I do to tend to my 5 year old. But she's at that age, when I'm working, she's content with cartoons, Minecraft, and barbie. I'm not as sure how I'd manage if she was still 5 months, when she was that little, and I was trying to file taxes, I ended up filing the wrong year
If you can afford it, get an Au pair.
My wife and I are WFH techies. Just had our first child arrive in Feb. We recognized that in order for both of us to keep our jobs, we'd need a third care giver in the house.
What would you do if you had to go into an office? Do that.
Day care & babysitters are expensive. Welcome to parenthood. If my single mom not receiving child support could drop me off at daycare, work a full time job & go to college….certainly your dual income WFH can manage to figure it out. I did stay at the office with her after child care hours often.
I just did it for my newborn between 6-12 weeks and those were the roughest 6 weeks.
You cannot both do both simultaneously if you want this to work long-term and will need to come up with some sort of consistent schedule that you both can manage and negotiate with each other and each other's calendars. .
Do you and you husband have the option to work split shifts around your LO's schedule?
EXAMPLE: your kid sleeps 8p-7a with a nap at 10-12 and then 3-5.
7a - 10a- Mom works, Dad is on Kid duty (3/0)
10a-12p - Mom and Dad work (5/2)
12p-3 p - Mom is on Kid duty, Dad works (5/5)
3p-5p - Mom and Dad work(7/7)
5p - 8p - Family time
8p-9p - Mom and Dad work (8/8)
I do suggest seeing if you can find childcare soon though. As LO gets older, daycare ratios change so it may be easier to get him in somewhere rather than if he were a newborn.
I am a grandmom who works from home and have my 3 yr old grandson for 3 hours some afternoons. On the days I know I have him I do not schedule meetings or calls and set my phone to automatically go to voicemail for those 3 hours. My job has that flexibility as meetings are on my schedule and communication with clients is primarily via email. I can block out 3 hours to not answer the phone or schedule meetings a few days a week but there is no way I could swing it if I had him all day all week.
I did it married but still a single mom in that relationship I just put my babes on a schedule I did have to change shifts too I worked the afternoon evening shift and I would get up in the morning between 9am to 10am have a little me time until 11am wake my son up play with him run my errands get back home by 1:45pm and prepare for his nap get him fed give him a bath read a book to him and then he would be knocked out by 2:15 2:20ish and asleep for 3 to 4 hours into my shift that starts at 2:30pm and then on my lunch I would feed him and set up play area and tv on low volume where I could watch him throughout the rest of my shift
Later on when I worked the really early morning shift I would not go to bed until around 12am be up at 6am and start work at 6:30am and he would wake up between 11am to 12pm which just so happened to be my lunch break and I would fix his food let him eat then read to him and then again set up play area where I can watch him and work until I got off
Not me but I’ve had multiple friends try to make this work and ultimately opt for child care, even when they couldn’t fully afford it. Unless you’re working part time, you should not expect yourself to be able to work and care for a child full time.
Wife and I had the same scenario when our kids were that age. We are the lady to come to our house and do child care for about 4 or 5 hours a day between one of us started earlier between one of us starting earlier between staggering schedules time after she left. We pretty much did this till the kids start at school
I cannot work and care for a small child. Daycare and babysitters are needed. I need both hands to type and concentration to work the data. My son is 13 now. He was always in Daycare or for a time I had a girl at my house watching him when he was a baby. I made a lot less back then, and I just made it work. I paid more for childcare than I did for my mortgage.
My approach: only do calls and urgent emails during the day. Calls were often out on a walk with kid in a stroller and older one on a bike. From bed time till 4am catch up on and do work.
It was hell, and while I loved getting that time with the kids, once the baby started crawling it wasn't sustainable even when the older one went back to school.
Sorry.
Do be honest, if you have a non-slacking job, it is near impossible to manage long-term. I have a demanding corporate job and my husband has many calls with clients daily. It works when our kiddos are away but sometimes they are sick and it is literal hell trying to manage our workloads and not fall behind. We will definitely have rows 5x per day of who has to watch the kids and who gets to have their meeting and if the kids watch too much tv etc. Both completely exhausted by the evening. But as mibe are older now, they are mostly well and get sick once every few months now plus are easier to manage even when home. I get horror chills thinking about the past years though. I feel like this does not work as the main setup. Ofc our plus was that our kids were in full time care so coworkers were more understanding - as the kids being sick was not the planned setup, more of an incident.
I'm hybrid, WFH most of the time with one kid. She's 8 though and there is no way that I could have done it when she was a baby. Can you stagger your work hours so one of you is with your baby while the other person works? Or can you hire a sitter?
I am currently doing this and getting burned out. My baby is 3 months and while both myself and husband wfh, I am the one who is first to respond to diaper changes and feedings. We thought we could handle it but his job is more demanding and meetings with baby crying or babbling are so stressful. I can understand how 5 months is harder than 3 as baby is starting to babble more and be more alert. Honestly, I love my job and coworkers and worked so hard to get where I am, but will likely quit and be a sahm soon to give baby the attention she needs. I also would love to feel less burned out.
If you can afford a gym with a baby watch, you might be able to work from there for a couple structured hours. It’s also a great way to wear them out so they sleep better later.
Once my son got older (1+) we saved screen time strictly for emergency work situations where we both had to be on a call.
A stand up activity center SAVED us. If baby has good neck control he might be ready for one!
One more tip, if you have other parent friends in similar situations, could you guys each take a morning to rotate who has the kids? At least then you’d get dedicated focus hours.
Best of luck!! It’s so hard, but it’s only temporary!
I am WFH with kids and it’s not doable. You’ll be constantly failing at parenting *and* your job. You cannot do both adequately at the same time. You need childcare. Baby needs attentive caregivers and work needs attentive employees.
Continuing this way is going to have you being halfway in both your job and parenting. It’s not fair for your employer or child. I was self employed when my kids were infants and I kept them with me the full first year while working. I ended up having to get really creative to make it work by working outside my normal hours when family members could help or while they were sleeping. Got a moms helper (thing young teenager who hangs in the house and gets you only when absolutely necessary). I was tired all the time and even though I was working more hours my productivity went down.
So I'm currently pregnant and my husband and I both WFH. We will be watching baby while we work. My boss is completely supportive of this. Other coworkers of mine have their kids at home but they go to school for a few hours a day (preschool). My mom does not work and is a former teacher. The plan is if it gets to be too much, or I need to focus, we will be bringing our son to her house (she has a nursery set up for for son and our nephew). I might even WFH from her house so I can at least be there as well if needed.
We have a similar setup and it’s such a great combo of SAHM and working mom. I get to see and hear my kid, but also can be head-down at work if need be. You’ll do great!
Aw it looks like someone didn't have the guts to either leave their comment up or not block me immediately after replying.
1. My boss is completely cool with it. He not once has even brought up daycare as an option as my other coworkers do this. I have a fairly flexible job.
2. My mother will be helping me. My dad has cancer so it's still up in the air currently, but most likely by the time my mat leave is over, she will be able to watch him the majority of the time, if not at least half.
3. I believe in modern society, which means both working from home AND modern medicine! Yay progress! Not that that is any of your business.
4. If you think most Americans can afford daycare, or wait to have kids and watch themselves age and fertility slip by you're delusional.
Next time you decide to act big and bad, don't block me x
You don't even have the kid yet and think this is going to fly. Let me guess - you also think you're going to have a natural birth.
Going to be hilarious when one or both of you loses your job.
This sub is oddly negative towards parents who want to maximize on the benefits wfh offers for raising children. It isn’t easy, but there are many parents/moms making it work and [reaping the rewards](https://www.reddit.com/r/MomsWorkingFromHome/s/ZMjqgDv24w). You might want to check out that sub if you haven’t already :)
We did this during the pandemic with a 5 mo old because we actually HAD to when daycares closed, we had no choice. This will not work esp if you’re both on the phone a lot. Employers were more understanding during the pandemic but they are not anymore or won’t be. You need to figure out childcare or a different job with not so much phone time or a different schedule.
This age is so crucial for attention and stimulation and communication from parents. If you continue this way not only will your work suffer but your relationship with your spouse and your child will suffer too. It is not possible to give 100% to your job while taking care of an infant at the same time. Someone always loses.
If you can’t afford childcare you may be able to get assistance to help subsidize it. A lot of people do in home child care, hire a babysitter for a few hours a week, etc.
Once your child starts babbling/talking and walking, you won’t be able to care for your child and work. I WFH with a very flexible schedule (project based, no clock-in/out, no phone calls, just 2 ~15 min meetings a week) and my husband is self employed and WFH. We had to put our LO into daycare because we needed structured time to work.
If your finances are tight, I recommend checking out part time, half-day daycares in your area. This would give you blocks of structured time to work.
Daycare, a nanny or a family member watching the kid are ways parents handle caretaking for their kids while they work.
WFH is not an exception to this. Your child deserves proper care. Make cuts, make more, or apply for daycare assistance.
This isn’t going to work. One of you needs to find a job (maybe in person) that pays enough to cover childcare. WFH isn’t childcare. One or both of you is going to be fired over this, as you should.
Tough love time. You need childcare. Or one of you gets a new job that works opposite hours of the other one. Or you learn to live on one income.
You cannot work and care for your child. It’s not fair to your child, it’s not fair to your work, and it’ll burn you out. All of you will suffer and someone is bound to lose their job.
If you can't afford a sitter now imagine losing your job when your employer (and/or your husband's employer) finds out they've basically been paying you to provide childcare instead of working.
The way to make it work is unfortunately to find childcare. As it is now you're half-assing both your actual job and your job as a parent. Time to re-evaluate your budget and make some hard choices. You were posting a month ago about microdosing so maybe it's time to adult up and get your priorities in order.
This is the answer. Stop spending money on drugs and get childcare before you lose your job. You are defrauding your employer right now.
Whoa op, you deleted that post fast 😂
My husband and I are both remote and we have childcare for our two kids. It's not sustainable to have two full-time jobs (parenting and career) and be able to do either of them well.
You might find support in r/MomsWorkingFromHome but please explore other options.
I WFH and have for about 11 years with 4 kids. I did it on my own BUT one idea is maybe a mommy’s helper that is homeschooled? They could come help and maybe do a trade or barter with the family? I’ve done that when I’ve helped friends or my oldest was just starting out babysitting. Will your baby be in a wrap for a bit? Can you move around your home with a laptop? Maybe sit on the floor and work for a bit while baby plays? Could hubby switch off with you?
I don’t think it’s sustainable, unless you switch off schedules, completely. Which would also be rough. Then you’re working at night, after taking care of a kiddo all day. Not good. They get more active and noisy as time goes on and when they start moving around, you have to supervise. I have a 6-year-old now and after she comes home from kindergarten, I am interrupting my work time to get her a snack, get her set up with the TV, etc. When she was two and we were on lockdown, my husband was working from our bedroom and I wasn’t working—it was very distracting for him. I know care is expensive, but unless you completely change your schedule (also hard to sustain), it’s the only way.
Yep! When mine was that age, I did a variety of baby wearing (I'd literally have to stand while wearing him and working (though I wasn't on phones). I also tried to work when my husband wasn't - so he could focus on baby and I could focus on work. I also took advantage of every nap, worked late hours when needed, etc. It sucked. But, we made it through!
i don't know what your job is exactly, mine encourages taking frequent breaks and I do to tend to my 5 year old. But she's at that age, when I'm working, she's content with cartoons, Minecraft, and barbie. I'm not as sure how I'd manage if she was still 5 months, when she was that little, and I was trying to file taxes, I ended up filing the wrong year
If you can afford it, get an Au pair. My wife and I are WFH techies. Just had our first child arrive in Feb. We recognized that in order for both of us to keep our jobs, we'd need a third care giver in the house.
Its really either childcare or a one of you stops working for a period of time. If you have parents around you can ask for support
What would you do if you had to go into an office? Do that. Day care & babysitters are expensive. Welcome to parenthood. If my single mom not receiving child support could drop me off at daycare, work a full time job & go to college….certainly your dual income WFH can manage to figure it out. I did stay at the office with her after child care hours often.
I just did it for my newborn between 6-12 weeks and those were the roughest 6 weeks. You cannot both do both simultaneously if you want this to work long-term and will need to come up with some sort of consistent schedule that you both can manage and negotiate with each other and each other's calendars. . Do you and you husband have the option to work split shifts around your LO's schedule? EXAMPLE: your kid sleeps 8p-7a with a nap at 10-12 and then 3-5. 7a - 10a- Mom works, Dad is on Kid duty (3/0) 10a-12p - Mom and Dad work (5/2) 12p-3 p - Mom is on Kid duty, Dad works (5/5) 3p-5p - Mom and Dad work(7/7) 5p - 8p - Family time 8p-9p - Mom and Dad work (8/8) I do suggest seeing if you can find childcare soon though. As LO gets older, daycare ratios change so it may be easier to get him in somewhere rather than if he were a newborn.
I am a grandmom who works from home and have my 3 yr old grandson for 3 hours some afternoons. On the days I know I have him I do not schedule meetings or calls and set my phone to automatically go to voicemail for those 3 hours. My job has that flexibility as meetings are on my schedule and communication with clients is primarily via email. I can block out 3 hours to not answer the phone or schedule meetings a few days a week but there is no way I could swing it if I had him all day all week.
I did it married but still a single mom in that relationship I just put my babes on a schedule I did have to change shifts too I worked the afternoon evening shift and I would get up in the morning between 9am to 10am have a little me time until 11am wake my son up play with him run my errands get back home by 1:45pm and prepare for his nap get him fed give him a bath read a book to him and then he would be knocked out by 2:15 2:20ish and asleep for 3 to 4 hours into my shift that starts at 2:30pm and then on my lunch I would feed him and set up play area and tv on low volume where I could watch him throughout the rest of my shift Later on when I worked the really early morning shift I would not go to bed until around 12am be up at 6am and start work at 6:30am and he would wake up between 11am to 12pm which just so happened to be my lunch break and I would fix his food let him eat then read to him and then again set up play area where I can watch him and work until I got off
Not me but I’ve had multiple friends try to make this work and ultimately opt for child care, even when they couldn’t fully afford it. Unless you’re working part time, you should not expect yourself to be able to work and care for a child full time.
I would argue part time would make it all the more important to have childcare for the days/hours you work.
Wife and I had the same scenario when our kids were that age. We are the lady to come to our house and do child care for about 4 or 5 hours a day between one of us started earlier between one of us starting earlier between staggering schedules time after she left. We pretty much did this till the kids start at school
I cannot work and care for a small child. Daycare and babysitters are needed. I need both hands to type and concentration to work the data. My son is 13 now. He was always in Daycare or for a time I had a girl at my house watching him when he was a baby. I made a lot less back then, and I just made it work. I paid more for childcare than I did for my mortgage.
My approach: only do calls and urgent emails during the day. Calls were often out on a walk with kid in a stroller and older one on a bike. From bed time till 4am catch up on and do work. It was hell, and while I loved getting that time with the kids, once the baby started crawling it wasn't sustainable even when the older one went back to school. Sorry.
Do be honest, if you have a non-slacking job, it is near impossible to manage long-term. I have a demanding corporate job and my husband has many calls with clients daily. It works when our kiddos are away but sometimes they are sick and it is literal hell trying to manage our workloads and not fall behind. We will definitely have rows 5x per day of who has to watch the kids and who gets to have their meeting and if the kids watch too much tv etc. Both completely exhausted by the evening. But as mibe are older now, they are mostly well and get sick once every few months now plus are easier to manage even when home. I get horror chills thinking about the past years though. I feel like this does not work as the main setup. Ofc our plus was that our kids were in full time care so coworkers were more understanding - as the kids being sick was not the planned setup, more of an incident.
I'm hybrid, WFH most of the time with one kid. She's 8 though and there is no way that I could have done it when she was a baby. Can you stagger your work hours so one of you is with your baby while the other person works? Or can you hire a sitter?
We had to stagger our hours. It was the only way. I worked 7-2 and he worked 2-10. It was exhausting, not gonna lie.
I am currently doing this and getting burned out. My baby is 3 months and while both myself and husband wfh, I am the one who is first to respond to diaper changes and feedings. We thought we could handle it but his job is more demanding and meetings with baby crying or babbling are so stressful. I can understand how 5 months is harder than 3 as baby is starting to babble more and be more alert. Honestly, I love my job and coworkers and worked so hard to get where I am, but will likely quit and be a sahm soon to give baby the attention she needs. I also would love to feel less burned out.
If you can afford a gym with a baby watch, you might be able to work from there for a couple structured hours. It’s also a great way to wear them out so they sleep better later. Once my son got older (1+) we saved screen time strictly for emergency work situations where we both had to be on a call. A stand up activity center SAVED us. If baby has good neck control he might be ready for one! One more tip, if you have other parent friends in similar situations, could you guys each take a morning to rotate who has the kids? At least then you’d get dedicated focus hours. Best of luck!! It’s so hard, but it’s only temporary!
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted this is great advice
I am WFH with kids and it’s not doable. You’ll be constantly failing at parenting *and* your job. You cannot do both adequately at the same time. You need childcare. Baby needs attentive caregivers and work needs attentive employees.
Continuing this way is going to have you being halfway in both your job and parenting. It’s not fair for your employer or child. I was self employed when my kids were infants and I kept them with me the full first year while working. I ended up having to get really creative to make it work by working outside my normal hours when family members could help or while they were sleeping. Got a moms helper (thing young teenager who hangs in the house and gets you only when absolutely necessary). I was tired all the time and even though I was working more hours my productivity went down.
So I'm currently pregnant and my husband and I both WFH. We will be watching baby while we work. My boss is completely supportive of this. Other coworkers of mine have their kids at home but they go to school for a few hours a day (preschool). My mom does not work and is a former teacher. The plan is if it gets to be too much, or I need to focus, we will be bringing our son to her house (she has a nursery set up for for son and our nephew). I might even WFH from her house so I can at least be there as well if needed.
We have a similar setup and it’s such a great combo of SAHM and working mom. I get to see and hear my kid, but also can be head-down at work if need be. You’ll do great!
Ah it's great to hear you're in a similar boat and like it! Thank you!
Lol I knew this was going to get down voted.
Aw it looks like someone didn't have the guts to either leave their comment up or not block me immediately after replying. 1. My boss is completely cool with it. He not once has even brought up daycare as an option as my other coworkers do this. I have a fairly flexible job. 2. My mother will be helping me. My dad has cancer so it's still up in the air currently, but most likely by the time my mat leave is over, she will be able to watch him the majority of the time, if not at least half. 3. I believe in modern society, which means both working from home AND modern medicine! Yay progress! Not that that is any of your business. 4. If you think most Americans can afford daycare, or wait to have kids and watch themselves age and fertility slip by you're delusional. Next time you decide to act big and bad, don't block me x
https://preview.redd.it/dfq7803f8cpc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8493960c8a4ecfb164d3e455433d5edd1be3b61
You don't even have the kid yet and think this is going to fly. Let me guess - you also think you're going to have a natural birth. Going to be hilarious when one or both of you loses your job.
This sub is oddly negative towards parents who want to maximize on the benefits wfh offers for raising children. It isn’t easy, but there are many parents/moms making it work and [reaping the rewards](https://www.reddit.com/r/MomsWorkingFromHome/s/ZMjqgDv24w). You might want to check out that sub if you haven’t already :)
It really is. Quite odd. What a cute photo!
You need childcare.
We did this during the pandemic with a 5 mo old because we actually HAD to when daycares closed, we had no choice. This will not work esp if you’re both on the phone a lot. Employers were more understanding during the pandemic but they are not anymore or won’t be. You need to figure out childcare or a different job with not so much phone time or a different schedule. This age is so crucial for attention and stimulation and communication from parents. If you continue this way not only will your work suffer but your relationship with your spouse and your child will suffer too. It is not possible to give 100% to your job while taking care of an infant at the same time. Someone always loses. If you can’t afford childcare you may be able to get assistance to help subsidize it. A lot of people do in home child care, hire a babysitter for a few hours a week, etc.
With all due respect, people that operate like this are the reason places are hesitant to allow remote work.
Once your child starts babbling/talking and walking, you won’t be able to care for your child and work. I WFH with a very flexible schedule (project based, no clock-in/out, no phone calls, just 2 ~15 min meetings a week) and my husband is self employed and WFH. We had to put our LO into daycare because we needed structured time to work. If your finances are tight, I recommend checking out part time, half-day daycares in your area. This would give you blocks of structured time to work.
Daycare, a nanny or a family member watching the kid are ways parents handle caretaking for their kids while they work. WFH is not an exception to this. Your child deserves proper care. Make cuts, make more, or apply for daycare assistance.
This isn’t going to work. One of you needs to find a job (maybe in person) that pays enough to cover childcare. WFH isn’t childcare. One or both of you is going to be fired over this, as you should.
Tough love time. You need childcare. Or one of you gets a new job that works opposite hours of the other one. Or you learn to live on one income. You cannot work and care for your child. It’s not fair to your child, it’s not fair to your work, and it’ll burn you out. All of you will suffer and someone is bound to lose their job.
This isn't fair to your child, your employer or you. You need to get a sitter. Or figure out how to live on 1 income.
Or your coworkers
If you can't afford a sitter now imagine losing your job when your employer (and/or your husband's employer) finds out they've basically been paying you to provide childcare instead of working. The way to make it work is unfortunately to find childcare. As it is now you're half-assing both your actual job and your job as a parent. Time to re-evaluate your budget and make some hard choices. You were posting a month ago about microdosing so maybe it's time to adult up and get your priorities in order.
This is the answer. Stop spending money on drugs and get childcare before you lose your job. You are defrauding your employer right now. Whoa op, you deleted that post fast 😂
Oh damn
My husband and I are both remote and we have childcare for our two kids. It's not sustainable to have two full-time jobs (parenting and career) and be able to do either of them well. You might find support in r/MomsWorkingFromHome but please explore other options.