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I considered this- I LOVED my job in Austin, Texas, but we were forced to move to Florida for FI's job. I was pregnant at the time, and would be giving birth about 2 months after the move, and at first, I thought I'd volunteer to telecommute and work from home because I loved my job in Austin so much. Ultimately I decided not to, and I'm so glad, because taking care of a baby IS A FULL TIME JOB. I know now that I'd never have been able to focus on my work AND on taking care of a baby while staying at home. The caliber of my work would definitely have suffered; it would have been tough to meet deadlines, and taking care of my child might have come second had I been working on a big project with a strict deadline. Although it seemed ideal when I was pregnant, I don't see how it would have been possible to do both jobs well. If you were to do it, I would definitely suggest getting a babysitter or a nanny to come in and help out while you were focused on work. There's just no way to give both the baby and the work the attention they deserve all alone.
My husband works from home and takes care of the baby. Maybe I can get him to post (doubt it but I'll try). Working from home and taking care of the baby is working well for him right now. I don't know if that will continue to be true when she's more mobile, but right now he's able to work very efficiently during naps.
He's a programmer so his work requires lots of attention to detail. We know 2 other guys in similar positions that have also been successful at working from home while taking care of their young daughters. Go daddy power!
My sister has a newborn, a toddler and a 6 year old and admitted to me that when she 'works from home' she doesnt' actually get any work done. She's only with the newborn all day, but he requires constant attention. She often has to cancel meetings she's only calling into because he's having a screaming fit or needs to be fed and she's the only one there to do it. You can't tell your baby to be quiet and wait until the meeting is over.
Every baby is different though, my niece was the most quiet baby I've ever seen. She actually slept throughout most of the day and night and barely ever cried. I feel like if you have an 'easy baby' it might be doable, but once they start crawling that might change things. Also it probably depends on the job. If you just have work to do solo with deadlines and don't have to call into meetings, it might be OK. Because you can always do the work once your husband gets home if need be.
very interesting thread!! i would LOVE to be a SAHM and work from home... we'll see tho :-)
@ohheavenlyday: I definitely see your situation! I know it would be easier/better to be a full-time SAHM rather than essentially work two jobs at once! But its not just about liking my job - I want to be able to go back to work eventually, and if I quit completely for a period of time, the likelihood of me doing that is seriously low.
@Mrs. DG: I really hope you get him to post! And yay for SAHDs :) Even though that looks like "sad", haha.
@moderndaisy: That's why I think if I did this, I'd need a occasional babysitter/helper at the very least. Someone who is willing to work a flexible schedule, where she can come in and help out when I have a particularly busy day or have a meeting. I have no idea where I would find someone with this flexible of a schedule, though! Maybe a retired woman who wants to be a surrogate grandma and make a little extra money?
Edited to add: I could also see having a babysitter twice a week for say, four hours, and scheduling all my meetings/important stuff during that time. That would still be a lot more affordable than full-time childcare, and I would still get to be home.
@daniellemybelle: During my summers off from college, I used to be a full time nanny for a woman who stayed at home and had 3 small children. She didn't work and was actually home most of the time I was there, she just needed a helping hand so she could meet with her trainer, take a shower, etc. I didnt' have a lot of experience and she paid me like $8/hr. I was there pretty much M-F 9-5. Maybe you could find someone like that who is in college looking for extra $ or another SAHM whose kids are grown.
I'd love to be able to work form home while being a SAHM. Definitely interested to hear the opinions in this thread!
I work from home now and I've thought about this. I don't think I could work full time and take care of kids... because obviously taking care of the kids would take time during the day. I do think if I dropped my hours down to half time I could do it.
There are two approaches I'd say. Work half time but actually be trying to work 5 days/week (and figure I'm going to be distracted about half the time with the kids). Or (my preference) just take 2 days totally off to be with the kids and the other 3 days work from my home office and hire a babysitter.
At my current job, I believe I could work from home for the most part. 80% of my job is on the computer, and 20% is in person. I could easily schedule appointments around, I think.
I'm sure that could all charge drastically when we actually decide to have kids though. LOL.
Personally, for me, I highly doubt it would work. There would be way too many distractions. I'm very easily distracted. And being at home regardless of having a different work area, time set aside for work or whatnot...I WILL get distracted.
TV, internet browsing, laundry, cleaning, you name it.
So for me it's not feasible.
At one place where I worked, they requested proof of childcare if a new mother wanted to work from home. They don't want to pay you to take care of your baby and do half a job.
@EmeraldR: I really wish my company would do this because I've been slammed with higher managers work lately who 'work from home' but don't actually do anything! It's not fair, I'm not getting paid any more for the extra work and they aren't getting anything deducted for their paychecks and don't even have to take a vacation or sick day!
i'm not a mom yet, but i think it depends on the nature of your job. my husband works from home, but his job is still very much a 9-5 kind of job that has a fairly set schedule, and he's often in meetings, conference calls, and other phone calls. i'm in grad school now, but my old job was much more focused on the content of the work--ie, it didn't manage when you worked as long as you worked at least 40 hours each week. it was pretty easy to work from home, and lots of parents worked at home a couple days per week. my ideal plan would be for us to have kids while i'm writing my disertation because i'll be more likely to be able to set a schedule that fits with a baby, and i'll only really be accountable to myself for getting things done
I already work part time from home and will continue to do so after we have a kid. There's this wonderful thing called a mute button on phones that even helps when the puppy is barking during conference calls.
I will admit though, having someone, like a college student, come over a few hours a week even i fI was home would be lovely.
I think it really depends on your type of work. Independent work you can easily start/stop whenever you want would be ideal. I think work where you have a lot of meetings/consultations/etc... or work with other people a lot may be more difficult. I also think age of the child is an important factor, because newborns/infants sleep a lot and toddlers/small children require more attention.
My company has a very flexible work-from-home policy, but it's written into the official policy that "working from home is not a substitute for childcare." I haven't been through it but I can't imagine giving an infant the attention it needs while also being able to competently perform my job, even if it were in the same room. It's an incredibly difficult problem that almost every woman with aspirations for a career and family has to face, since many of us share the problem that a 5-year pause in work would be crippling to our careers. I have one coworker who is pregnant now, and she and her husband are already on waiting lists for a couple of daycare facilities so that they'll be able to put their child in one of them by the time it's six months old. Even that is longer than you're "supposed" to take away from work and be able to come back and count on having your job. It's tough.
I think your job would be very concerned if you were actually working if you had no other child care help. I think most require that you prove you're employing child care while working from home.
I would sooner explore the option of working part-time. Getting your face in the office, but still spending a few days a week with your kids.
I would LOVE to be able to work from home, even if it was part-time so I could continue to bring in money and take care of my baby. It can't really be done in my field, but I'd love to figure out a job/career that would actually make that possible.
Like a couple of others posters have said, you need to CAREFULLY read your telework agreement before considering this. Most employers (including the Federal government), require proof of FULL-TIME childcare if you work from home, and I have seen many women turned down for telework options if their child was going to be at home (even if they had a nanny in place). The idea is that it is too distracting for a mother to work a full schedule. Obviously, there are many jobs where you can completely set your own hours, and the situation may be different for those jobs.
This is my last week as a SAHM.... next Monday I become a WAHM. Give me a week or two to let you know how it's going :)
My game plan is to work 25 hours/wk... so 5 hours a day. Luckily for me we have an 'easy' baby. I'm 'hoping' to get most of my work done during his naps (or before he wakes up. It may be a little tricky to plan meetings but I'll figure it out :) I know they'll also be some hard times... when Warren is teething or if he gets a cold or another other reason he may not be his happy self :)
I have worked from home all year... so I won't be making that transition as well. I'm already used to balancing home distractions (laundry, TV, dishes, cooking) with working. Also I work for a small (3 people) consulting firm... that I've been at for 9 years... I'm very close with my boss. We've already laid it on the line that the only way this will be successful is if we are both open about what's working and what's not. We plan to discuss any issues monthly.
I have thought about having childcare a couple hours/wk but it's just not worth it financially. I'd be looking at paying $200/mo for 5 hrs of childcare a week or $700 for full time day care which is 40+ hours per week. The 3x the cost for 8 times the amount of childcare for full time. I know there are very good reasons for in home nannying - but I just can't justify the cost considering I'm only earning a partial salary.
Either this works out or I looking into splitting a nanny or co-oping childcare with another mom. OR I'm looking for full-time work. Hopefully this will work out for at least a couple months!!!! :)
I'm so glad you brought this up because I was actually talking about this very subject with some of my friends last week.
We are planning on starting a family in couple of years and while I don't see myself being a stay at home mom, I would love to work from home while raising my children. I guess it's something that you can't really plan on until you actually have a baby, but ideally I'd love to have a nanny come a few days a week while I'm working. Of course this is all a fantasy idea, but it's ideal to me.
My DH managed to stay home playing video games all day, so if it's a desk job requiring no use of the telephone, I'd say it's doable. A lot harder to do in the first months though, because the baby eats more often and can't play by herself. Although once she CAN play by herself, she's probably going to be a handful.
Props to thos SAHM/SAHD! I can't imagine!
How well this would work probably depends a lot on your role and the industry, but I wouldn't let my direct report do this. I would know there's no way you're putting in a full day's work - during normal office hours - if you're also taking care of a baby solo at the same time. It might be different in industries where it's not as time sensitive and you can put in your time late at night or whatever if you want to. Buf if I have to be in communication with you, I'd want you to be fully available to solve issues and get back to me during "normal" office hours - I don't want to work all night just because you do.
If this really worked so well for all involved, why would there be corporate policies banning it?
Interesting to hear all your perspectives! Very informative :)
I certainly would not be able to work a corporate job where I would need to follow a strict 9-5 schedule. I would need to be able to keep flexible hours so I could work when I had the time. In my field, I definitely think I could find a position where this was possible, though I realize I would most likely have to work part-time. The point is not as much earning money as it is to just stay involved in the industry, so part-time work would be perfect.
I understand concerns about moms working from home being distracted, but in all honesty, the moms in my office are not at 100% either! While I know its not the same thing, the point is that once you become a mom, that is the most important thing in your life, and I think good employers are understanding of that and help you work with that reality rather than against it. I think when employers aren't understanding is when women start overextending themselves because they are trying to meet unrealistic expectations.
Even as a SAHM with no job, children are demanding, period. They don't remain infants very long and once they reach that next stage they require much more interaction and care. Most people can't completely tune them out (nor should they), but once they stop napping as long or as often, they pretty much take up all your time,leaving little of it to do much in the way of a job requiring all your attention. I'm sure many people can pull it off quite successfully, but I think one or the other will have to give...and for me, it would be my job.
I actually read a bunch of studies about working from home when you have children back when I was in sociology. Most workers actually became more productive because instead of taking time to call the babysitter, worry about your child or try to make arrangements of any sort from the office, you could easily do it at home. Most people also took 'breaks' that they spent with their child or cleaning, which meant that they weren't actually losing any time by being at home, they were just able to do more.
The people who participated in the study all really enjoyed the flexibility of working at home. It didn't work well for everyone, though, especially those with numerous small children who didn't understand why mommy/daddy was home but couldn't play all the time. But, overall, the response was overwhelmingly positive!
i think about this a lot, since i work from home full-time now. i'm able to get the same amount of work done at home in about half the time it took me when working from an office. my office was very social and it was normal for a coworker to come over to say hi and end up chatting for an hour, or for people to take an hour lunch break. without those distractions, i just put my head down, and get my work done. so the point is, i have a good amount of free time now during the day. enough free time to take care of a baby? hard to say, as i don't have one. but i feel confident that at least with my current job, i could work from home and take care of a baby with possibly just a little help. i think it's also somewhat dependent on your willingness to do some work in the evening when your husband is home with the baby (to round out any work you weren't able to get done during the day).
@jo.lee: That's interesting information! I loved sociology in college. I would love to read those studies.
I already work from home and plan to continue doing so once baby arrives... although I know it won't be easy, it's all about scheduling! Fortunately I run my own biz and can take care of things whenever I have the chance, so it's pretty flexible - I think that will make a huge difference in how successful I am at being a WAHM.
I don't think I'd want to tackle a corporate job with an baby at home... maybe a toddler, but it would totally depend on the child and how often I had to be on the phone or "in meetings." Day-care/in-home help a few days a week is a great idea though!
Another POV - last year I worked part-time in an at-home office for an entertainment agency. The lady who owned/ran the agency also took care of her two young grandchildren {4 + 6}. It got hairy at time, but she had been taking care of them since they were babies, so they grew up more or less knowing the 'rules' {like being quiet while someone is on the phone, keeping toys out of the 'office space', etc}. It was hard for me as an employee, but it seemed to work well for them!
My SIL has three kids and works at a very easy going firm. While they wouldn't allow her to work at home full time there are many people that leave at 3 to pick their kids up and work the rest of the day from home.
Her boss won't let her do this yet because her youngest child is 4 years old. Even at 4 she still requires a lot of attention. Its really hard for her to keep herself occupied for more than 20 minutes or so before needing help with something or coming to "talk".
My mom is a vice president for a very big company (don't want to name names) but she said that when they move people to work work at home that there has to be documentation that the child is in daycare or has a nanny, on the other side of the house! They don't want their people working out of the house and having a baby crying in the background while on the phone with important people.
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I'm only 22 (almost 23) so I am still quite a few years from becoming a mom, but I have already started my career and have been giving the whole SAHM/working mom decision consideration. My mom stayed home with me and I have very fond memories of it. I also see my coworkers who are working mom rockstars, but they seem stretched so very thin. I would love to stay home with our babies, but I also don't anticipate being a full-time SAHM indefinitely. Ideally, I would be able to stay home until the youngest is preschool aged so they can all go to school during the day and then have a babysitter for a couple hours until I get home from work.
However, in my industry, having a 5+ year gap on my resume would basically end my career. I would need to stay in my field somehow in order to re-enter the workplace when my kids go to school. Thankfully, there are a lot of telecommuting options in my industry. I could pretty easily find a job where I could work from home a few days a week or all the time. The benefit of this is that I can continue to be relevant in my field and earn income while being present in the home with my baby and also be able to breastfeed.
So, having said all of this, those of you with babies - do you think you could handle working from home and caring for your baby? Would it be feasible to work when the baby is sleeping or would you end up too sleep-deprived? Do you feel like you could let your baby play by themselves for periods of time and work, or would you be too distracted? Do you think you'd need a babysitter/mother's helper, or could you swing it on your own?