Hello nycity moms, I will be returning to work in a few weeks. My baby will be five months old and unfortunately due to covid will not have any help. Any tips on working from home with a baby? Any feedback is appreciated.
Well if they're live in, they could get tested and quarantine before joining you. That would be the point is to invite a cleared, safe person into your bubble who would stay there. But if you don't have space it's a moot point. Baby wearing definitely helps.
It is doable but obviously hard. You are saving time on the commute and getting dressed, and if you are still nursing, the ability to just nurse the baby is a big time saver over pumping, washing bottles, etc. I assume you have a flexible job. I don't have some magic advice other than the obvious which is that it helps when you can work odd hours and when the baby is sleeping. In many ways this is easier than people who are dealing with multiple and/or school age kids who need to be entertained, supervised, and fed real meals (though I'm not trying to imply that it's easy in any way). Is your baby a good sleeper? That is the key difference maker on how possible this is I think.
Yes, thankfully he is a good sleeper. Hoping I can get work done while he sleeps and yes, log in later at night as needed. I have also heard wearing them around the house helps if they are being fussy! Thanks for the insight
I think it's doable, particularly if this is your only child and you are sharing duties with your husband. Make the other stuff easy for yourself if you can -- order out (which I wouldn't do with other kids to feed), send your laundry out, etc. Taking out cooking, educating/supervising, and the work of cleaning up after big kids removes a lot of the burden that people are dealing with in this pandemic.
I think it is somewhat doable now if your baby is a good sleeper. My DD at that age was still taking two 2-3 hour naps a day. HOWEVER, you are kind of in a golden period right now. It won't last long. Hopefully there is a vaccine by spring and daycare/nanny will be safer. But by spring, your baby will probably be walking, need much more engagement (it won't be enough to just wear them for hours everyday) and not napping for as long. We resorted to moving in with my parents last spring because it was just impossible for us to work with our littlest being just under one.
This sounds really, really hard. zero downtime for you. My boss did it, she switched off with her db for meetings, had meeting with the baby fussing, worked during naps and well into the night. I was so happy for her when she finally got a nanny
I’ve been doing this with a 5.5yr old and it’s extremely difficult albeit doable at that age. As somebody already mentioned, you are in a golden age where the baby sleeps better part of the day. This will not last once you start getting closer to 1yr. unless your spouse also wfh and you can somehow alternate, you will have to hire somebody or use daycare. My colleagues who wfh (both parents) and have children around 1.5y all moved in with their parents to get help. Gl!
I posted above and agree with this. You are in a sweet spot now where baby sleeps for stretches but still mostly just sleeps and drinks milk. This arrangement would work for a few months. It's not doable once the baby becomes mobile. Between 1/1.5 years - 2.5 years is the most challenging time in terms of physical demands in my view. Because then the baby can walk and requires constant supervision and engagement, is eating real food (which is very messy at the younger ages), but still needs diapers, baths, etc.
Day care?? How can you possibly swing this without help?...
We don’t feel comfortable w day care or nanny due to covid, unfortunately - esp as numbers are going up :-/
Do you have room for a live-in or au pair?
No nanny, au pair etc. No space and not safe right now imo.
Well if they're live in, they could get tested and quarantine before joining you. That would be the point is to invite a cleared, safe person into your bubble who would stay there. But if you don't have space it's a moot point. Baby wearing definitely helps.
It is doable but obviously hard. You are saving time on the commute and getting dressed, and if you are still nursing, the ability to just nurse the baby is a big time saver over pumping, washing bottles, etc. I assume you have a flexible job. I don't have some magic advice other than the obvious which is that it helps when you can work odd hours and when the baby is sleeping. In many ways this is easier than people who are dealing with multiple and/or school age kids who need to be entertained, supervised, and fed real meals (though I'm not trying to imply that it's easy in any way). Is your baby a good sleeper? That is the key difference maker on how possible this is I think.
Yes, thankfully he is a good sleeper. Hoping I can get work done while he sleeps and yes, log in later at night as needed. I have also heard wearing them around the house helps if they are being fussy! Thanks for the insight
I think it's doable, particularly if this is your only child and you are sharing duties with your husband. Make the other stuff easy for yourself if you can -- order out (which I wouldn't do with other kids to feed), send your laundry out, etc. Taking out cooking, educating/supervising, and the work of cleaning up after big kids removes a lot of the burden that people are dealing with in this pandemic.
I think it is somewhat doable now if your baby is a good sleeper. My DD at that age was still taking two 2-3 hour naps a day. HOWEVER, you are kind of in a golden period right now. It won't last long. Hopefully there is a vaccine by spring and daycare/nanny will be safer. But by spring, your baby will probably be walking, need much more engagement (it won't be enough to just wear them for hours everyday) and not napping for as long. We resorted to moving in with my parents last spring because it was just impossible for us to work with our littlest being just under one.
This sounds really, really hard. zero downtime for you. My boss did it, she switched off with her db for meetings, had meeting with the baby fussing, worked during naps and well into the night. I was so happy for her when she finally got a nanny
I’ve been doing this with a 5.5yr old and it’s extremely difficult albeit doable at that age. As somebody already mentioned, you are in a golden age where the baby sleeps better part of the day. This will not last once you start getting closer to 1yr. unless your spouse also wfh and you can somehow alternate, you will have to hire somebody or use daycare. My colleagues who wfh (both parents) and have children around 1.5y all moved in with their parents to get help. Gl!
I posted above and agree with this. You are in a sweet spot now where baby sleeps for stretches but still mostly just sleeps and drinks milk. This arrangement would work for a few months. It's not doable once the baby becomes mobile. Between 1/1.5 years - 2.5 years is the most challenging time in terms of physical demands in my view. Because then the baby can walk and requires constant supervision and engagement, is eating real food (which is very messy at the younger ages), but still needs diapers, baths, etc.