working from home with a newborn?

[nervousnelle]

Is it realistic to think that I can work from home with a newborn? I'm considering a telecommuting attorney position, 80% research and writing emails and 20% phone calls. My firstborn is due the first week in July, and I feel like I could make it work, but I'm wondering if that's just because I have no idea what I'm in for. Thoughts?

Also, realistically, how soon postpartum "should" be okay to be doing computer work from home? I sort of imagine myself working until I go into labor, having her, and then coming home and checking email while she sleeps. Am I being naive?

Encourage me and tell me I can do it? Or, tell me how I can do it?

[bluebunny]

I'm an attorney and tried to do work from home but it didn't work for me. Newborns do tend to sleep a lot but they also eat frequently. My oldest nursed every two hours around the clock for the first couple of months and every nursing session was at least twenty minutes. Then I had a little more than an hour and a half before he was ready to eat again. He barely cat-napped, and that was if I was holding him. I could barely get anything done. Plus, since he nursed every two hours, even at night, I wanted to sleep during the day when he slept.

My youngest is a lot more laid back and goes much longer stretches between feedings. I'm not sure you can predict how things will go. I wouldn't bank on being able to work much with a newborn.

ETA: If you want tips on how to do it, I suggest getting a mother's helper or someone who is around during the day that you can pass the baby off to.

[Thao]

I did it, but it really does just depend on your baby. My daughter didn't cry much, just nursed and slept. I was planning to take 6 weeks off after the birth but at about 3 weeks I got a job I couldn't turn down (I'm a translator) so I just propped a pillow up on the arm of my office chair and found she could nurse to her heart's content while I typed . So our first couple months were pretty much spent in that chair. She was perfectly happy to snuggle and nurse, and I got my work done.

Phone calls with clients are harder because it gets awkward if the baby starts crying in the middle of the call. I'd recommend you have a helper on hand when you are doing phone calls.

It got much harder for me when dd started moving around more. At that point I pretty much hung out with her all day and then worked at night. It was tough, but I did it.

[lolar2]

It depends a LOT on the baby too, and on your recovery. DS couldn't nurse so I had to pump and supplement all the time, which was a huge black hole for time and effort; and while labor and delivery went smoothly, I got an infection in the hospital and for about two weeks was in too much pain to think straight. While doing all that pumping and supplementing. And DS slept even less than most newborns. So I wouldn't have been able to work from home. But if I'd had an easy recovery and he'd been able to nurse, I might have had no trouble with working from home. It's the kind of thing where you shouldn't just assume you can't do it, but you shouldn't make an ironclad commitment to be able to do it if you can possibly swing that.

[Peony]

I would say plan on having lots of help and taking a break after she comes for 6 weeks or so. Then if you did have a rough birth/recovery or nursing problems, usually things are better by that time frame. If she is fussy, colicky baby then you have someone that you can hand her off to to get *some* work done. Plan for the worst and then hopefully things will be smoother but if they aren't then you are ready have a plan in place. Moms usually underestimate the time it takes to nurse a baby, it could a two handed process for a while with only very short breaks between to either eat, pee, sleep, or attempt to shower. And realize that through at least through the first month, usually a lot longer, that you are exhausted.

[kdtmom2be]

It's do-able, if your baby is co-operative

I worked from home when DD was little. From about 3 months until 12 months. Around 18 months it started to become very difficult because she was napping less and needed my attention more when she was awake. (and in between I gave up my job because my boss was a jerk). I have the option to work from home now and DD is almost 3 and DS is almost 1. I could do it with just DS, but for DD, I need someone else to watch her and MIL won't watch them when I am in the house. SO, I go to work with my laptop and hole up in the boardroom or an empty office. Luckily for me the office isn't too far from my house, about a 15 min drive in light traffic.

I'd agree with the PP that says you should expect to take 6 weeks off, possibly more, but definitely 6 weeks. "just in case"

[akind1]

It depends on the baby, TBH. I went back to work at 7 weeks pp, 3 days WAH, 2 WOH. Granted, technically, DH is home too (he is unemployed ATM) but on days I WAH, he often doesn't get out of bed until around noon. So really, I have the baby and work. my work is all computer stuff (I process disability claims), and DS has been fabulous, he goes about 3 hours between feedings, and in between, he is usually happy awake in his bouncy seat or laying on the floor. sometimes I need to hold him in my lap as I work, but usually he is ok if he can see or hear me. Nursing has gotten way faster than pumping, so I just nurse him. sometimes I can work and nurse at the same time, sometimes not. If not, ok, it is just usually about 15 or 20 minutes, then back to work. I think my overall workday takes longer at home, but I am not having to commute, so I think it works out.

As for phone calls - he is normally pretty quiet, except when hungry or sleepy. I usually make my calls while he naps. He isn't easily disturbed once asleep, so I can do this in the same room with him. Not all babies are this way though, you may just have to play it by ear once your baby arrives.

* Also it helped, and does help, that he slept at least 4 hours at a stretch at night from early on, waking only once to eat, and he continues to do this. Since I get enough rest at night, I don't need to sleep when he does during the day. But this seems to be more the exception than the rule for an EBF baby.

[*MamaJen*]

My baby actually came to the office with me for a few months, from about four weeks to eight months, and we also did some working from home. It worked out really well. We spent a lot of time with me at my computer and him asleep in my lap. I also figured out the knack of nursing at the keyboard. He was a really chill baby, though. It could have been hard if was more high-strung.

[MittensKittens]

I don't think you are being naive, but some would probably disagree with me.

I did it twice. My firstborn was laid back, and as long as she was in a carrier or in my lap, she would let me do pretty much anything. I write from home, and with my firstborn I regularly took on freelance jobs too, including field work. My second was more high needs, and on top of that I had a toddler too. Still, I managed to work through his first month. In fact, I worked all through early labor, because I had a deadline to meet . I took a break a month after my second was born, and started again about four months back.

In my experience, anything is possible with a newborn; it is the later stages that are more difficult. Once your baby grows up and is mobile, work becomes challenging and potentially unpleasant for all involved parties. Still, you don't know in advance how you will both react to a work-at-home situation, how you will feel physically and so on. The more flexible your work is in terms of hours, the easier it will be.

[Mosaic]

It's probably doable. I worked half-time from home during DD's second month, before returning to work full-time. She was an easy baby, though, and most of the time I just sat around on the computer doing my thing, even while nursing, so it was easy. Physically I was no where near 100%, but since I have a desk job it was nice to keep my brain stimulated and stay in the loop while out on maternity leave.

I will say this: it worked for me because my job is flexible. Some days I could get 4 hours of work in, and other days I couldn't get in 5 min. With enough advanced notice, I could easily meet deadlines; but I could never promise a quick turnaround because you just never know what kind of day you'd have. Also, babies somehow KNOW when you have planned conference calls and are always noisiest then.

But I will add this: the babymoon period with your new baby is so precious. You never, ever get it back. I'm a total career woman and I love my job, but you never get another chance just to sit with your baby and stare at her, stroke her babyfine hair, smell that sweet newborn scent, and feel her melt and snuggle into your neck. And when/if you go back to work away from your baby, full or part-time, you will miss that with a strength and longing you didn't know existed.

I'm expecting baby #2 in the next month or so, and this time around I'm making it clear that my limited maternity leave is my time with this baby, to soak up as much as I can to help make the next several months tolerable. I just recommend that you take into consideration that what you CAN do and what you will WANT to do may be two very different things, especially given the power of hormones that come with birth and nursing.

[cyncyn]

It is doable, depending on your baby as PP have said. I had an 8-day hospital stay with dd (c-section, bp issues) but 2 weeks after that I was working on a project on the computer at home. Even with my incision, it wasn't a physical problem to sit there. DD was very laid back and spent a lot of time on my lap sleeping, or right next to me. At about 4 weeks, I was back in the office a couple days a week, baby with me, on my lap or next to my desk. DD came to work with me anywhere from 12-20 hours a week (I worked about 24 hours per week at the time), depending on her developmental stage, until she started kindergarten.

Random phone calls are tough, best to have prearranged calls for during nap time, or time when a helper can take the baby out of the room. Projects with deadlines are also tough. I remember sitting at the computer crying, tears just running down my face, exhausted and full of new mama hormones. It wasn't a difficult project, dd was easy to care for, I wasn't even feeling sad, it was just that I was post partum and you have to cut yourself some slack for new mom craziness. I underestimated how physically tired I would be (c-section contributed). In the early days, I could work about a 2-hour stretch, maybe 2 times a day.

I wouldn't choose to start working so soon if I have another baby, but it can be done if you want/need to.

[RaeEllen]

I'm going to be a voice of dissent and say, please don't do this.

Every place that I have worked, and that my husband has worked (he is an attorney) has a strict policy that you cannot be the sole caregiver of a child while you are working.

If you are planning to be upfront with your workplace that you are caring for a child while they are paying you to work, than, what I say doesn't apply. (Or to previous posters, of course, if you were upfront, or, if were not an employee, per se) However, I'd submit, that there is just no way you can be as efficient as someone who is not taking care of a child. No matter how good the baby is. Workplaces that become aware of abuses of their systems will offer fewer and fewer flex options to worknig moms. This hurts all of us.

[MittensKittens]

However, I'd submit, that there is just no way you can be as efficient as someone who is not taking care of a child.

I don't necessarily agree that the quality of work is automatically less with a small baby around. I am someone who works much, much better under pressure. When I was childless, being a reporter in a politically and potentially literally explosive environment provided this pressure. Now, as a write at home mom, meeting deadlines while also looking after my kids provides this pressure. My assignments are not particularly stimulating of themselves, and this added pressure definitely makes me more creative, and adds to the quality of my work, as well as making me more efficient.

[akind1]

Would I be as efficient at home, without the baby? maybe, I don't know as I've only done that since he's been born. I will say though, that I am far MORE productive at home, than at work, in the office. Too many distractions, stops to chat, my "groove" gets derailed by bathroom breaks, pumping breaks, lunch, meetings, etc.

Even on days I have DS in my lap for half the day, because he is being a cuddlebug, I get more done at home, and if it takes an extra 1/2 hour to get my production done, so be it. At the office, when it is time to go, it is TIME TO GO, regardless of how much or how little I got done. I need to get home to my baby! (which is why I am working on increasing my production overall so I can WAH FT) I'll miss the social aspect of the office, but I can get fulfilled socially elsewhere.

I also think my work is more efficient and better quality at home, I am not rushing to get through as much. Depending on your job, there is often, cannot be sole caregiver of child, clause for WAH. I know my boss knows the baby is home when I am home, and most of the time DH is there too (she doesn't need to know that most of my work day he is sleeping or on his computer )

So it can be done, but I do second a PP that said your babymoon is precious. you will only have this time, with this child, once. Enjoy it and don't rush it!

[samy23]

Originally Posted by nervousnelle

I'm considering a telecommuting attorney position, 80% research and writing emails and 20% phone calls.

Don't attorney's have to be in the court room, and meet with clients?

[PreggieUBA2C]

I'm surprised about the assumption of less efficiency from a wahm. Having four children myself, I have gained an enormous set of skills specifically geared toward greater efficiency. What used to take me two days to write, now takes me an afternoon; what used to take me many days to draw/paint/sculpt, now takes me a day or less. I have been able to plan for less time to production than ever before having children.

However, the overall amount of time I have for such things is reduced. BUT as far as efficiencty is concerned, I am a well-oiled machine!

I have found that the biggest reason for this is that I ruminate over ideas and plans while I am doing other things so that when I have a spot of time to work, I am already in the finishing phase of a project and can accomplish it straight away; there's no lag time at all.

I think if you are employed and paid by the hour, this could be a problem, but if you are paid according to accomplishment, then what you do with the time you are not working directly on your job is really none of anyone's business.

I have found that hourly work is a huge rip-off for me because I am so efficient; why should I be paid less because I can accomplish so much in so little time? I always opt for contract work at flat rates for projects rather than hourly wages. If my estimates are wrong, and it takes me longer than expected (not past a deadline of course, but just more hours of my time), then I suck it up. I didn't do that more than once anyway because I learned how to make sure I am estimating accurately and to err on the side of my benefit so that if I had any surplus, I could use that to polish things up even more and offer other benefits to my clients.

On the topic of working with a newborn, I couldn't do it; mine are very closely spaced, and my first non-high-needs newbie was ds3, followed by another high-needs babe with ds4. I have just recently returned to working (at home and in my studio) in this past year after seven years hiatus, although I did a few contracts within those seven years (at-home, short-term single assignments).

I thought I would keep working from home after ds1 was born, but had to stop when I was in my second trimester for exhaustion and then only began to recover last year (6 yrs later). That was shocking and not at all what I had envisioned. Also, I didn't account for the chaotic life-management of my dp, including his utterly chaotic career; that put the brakes on for sure, as well. There are so many things that I didn't know would happen, and couldn't have accounted for before, that I have now through experiencing them.

[jennybear]

Is your long term plan to WAH without childcare or just for the newborn phase?

Until 6 weeks or so, DD pretty much just ate and slept. I could have spent a good part of the day working, but the catch there is that you're still super sleep deprived. Now, at 3 months old, I can probably do a good couple hours of work/day during her naps if I don't worry about getting anything else done around the house. Working more than that would mean trying to keep a baby on my lap who is much happier playing on the floor with mom. I just wouldn't be able to be as engaged as DD needs nor would I be able to work effectively.

If you're trying to do a full-time job, you really need child care imo or something will inevitably suffer even if you have an easy baby. And if your baby isn't easy, all bets are off.

[bluebunny]

Don't attorney's have to be in the court room, and meet with clients?

Not all attorneys are litigation attorneys. Attorneys who do litigation go to court and have clients, like criminal defense attorneys, trial attorneys (wreck and tort cases), and family law attorneys (divorces, custody, social services). Some attorneys do transaction work (mergers and acquistions, for instance), contract work (business deals), and some are in-house counsel for companies (provide legal advice).

[tessie]

You might get lucky and get a placid baby, in which case it might work for a short time, but I don't think it's feasible as a long-term plan.

If you're caring for a child and working then neither are getting your full attention.

It would be unusual here for a firm to allow a parent to work from home without having childcare, other than in an emergency.

[samy23]

Originally Posted by bluebunny

Not all attorneys are litigation attorneys. Attorneys who do litigation go to court and have clients, like criminal defense attorneys, trial attorneys (wreck and tort cases), and family law attorneys (divorces, custody, social services). Some attorneys do transaction work (mergers and acquistions, for instance), contract work (business deals), and some are in-house counsel for companies (provide legal advice).

Oh! Thanks for explaining