Working out of home and taking care of a high maintenance baby

[annarose999]

So I've just accepted a job that will allow me to work from home as well as take the baby in with me when needed (the office is runout of a home too so no issues). It is a great situation however I'm worried how I'm really going to handle it. Dd is really high maintenance as she likes to be held most of the time, can't be left alone to play and only sleeps with my boob at the ready.

How did you working moms do it? How did you get your lo not so dependent on you? Dd is almost six months so not a super baby baby. Any thoughts??
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[Jayray]

I work part time from home and it is hard. DS is not high needs, but he is still a baby. (He's 12 mo, BTW.) There are times when he will not let me be on the computer without whining and fussing at my lap because he wants to be up with me banging on the computer. There are times when I need to answer a phone call and he is screaming/shouting/whatever (happily or not). It's hard. And my job's not that hard. I try to do as much as I can while he's napping.

[SilverFish]

get good at a back carry? that seems like the simplest solution... and how moms around the world get on with their day with a young baby. i can't imagine you'll be very productive with a baby on your lap.

will she hang out if you're in the same room? our "nursery" (she sleeps with us, but has a crib) and office are in the same room, and she'll hang out in her crib for a while if i'm in the room on the computer. maybe you could try extending the amount of time she'll occupy herself while you're in the same room working?

anyway, i'm not working yet, but i imagine i'd be creating a pretty strict schedule for myself to actually get anything done. you might want to try timing your day for a couple days just to see how long she actually naps, plays independently, etc to see how much time you realistically have to work. if i'm not careful, it's suddenly late afternoon and all we've done is change diapers, nurse and maybe a load of laundry or two!

[kriket]

Originally Posted by SilverFish

get good at a back carry?

When DS was littler, I was able to do computer work with him asleep or nursing in the front carry (a fake moby) Otherwise, I work when DH is home or at night when he is asleep. Which is what I should be doing now, but my brains hurt so I came here

Oh, and now that he is a little bigger, he has a keyboard of his own to bang on while I work. If I am on the laptop, I turn off the num lock, he seems to like to play with the number pad the most. It's not ideal, and it is distracting, but when I am setting my schedule, or doing emails, it works for a while.

[candelaria80]

Originally Posted by annarose999

So I've just accepted a job that will allow me to work from home as well as take the baby in with me when needed (the office is runout of a home too so no issues). It is a great situation however I'm worried how I'm really going to handle it. Dd is really high maintenance as she likes to be held most of the time, can't be left alone to play and only sleeps with my boob at the ready.

How did you working moms do it? How did you get your lo not so dependent on you? Dd is almost six months so not a super baby baby. Any thoughts??
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I am in the EXACT same situation. I live 5 minutes away from the office and I bring DD in every once and a while. We have been doing it regularly since she was about 3 months old and some things have gotten easier while others have gotten more difficult. DD is fairly high needs, but getting a little more independent everyday.

at home:
We do the back carry with the laptop on an elevated surface

Jumpy seat - she can stand to be in it for 15 minutes at the most, but if I need to send an email that I really need to concentrate on it comes in handy even if it only buys 5 minutes.

toys that are not toys - she loves my wallet, cell phone, pans, wooden spoons etc.

Nursing with a cover - we started using a cover at home when I need to work on the computer, it cuts down on distractions and calms her.

Does you DD wake the second you put her down, even if she is in deep sleep? I have to say, DD sleeps for a solid 2 hour chunk in the morning and an hour in the afternoon so I get a lot done during that time.

at work:
We have toys that stay there, she loves them and isn't bored of them like her home toys

back carry

Will she go with anyone else? Everyone at my office is so excited to see her and usually will steal her for a few minutes at a time throughout our time there.

Once DD became mobile she started testing her independence a lot more, we chose to baby proof the house and let her roam. The more freedom we allowed her, the more she would freely take. She still wants to be held a lot and nurses to sleep, but we are starting to have some free moments.
When I first started working from home I was totally overwhelmed, but we got into a groove within a month or so.
Good Luck!

[annarose999]

These are all great suggestions. I can't wait to try the back carry, I just got a beco today. The biggest set back for us is that she doesn't nap alone. She usually wakes up when I try to set her down. I guess all I can to is keep trying right?? Today was interesting though. I worked from 8 to noon in the office and had to run errands after that so she was able to sleep on the car but it was 30 minutes at a time. Boy was she cranky! Hopefully she sleep hard tonight so I can roll out of bed and work.