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I WAH and had a babysitter come 4-5 mornings a week for my DD between 4-13 months. I had them go out every day, otherwise my DD would have wanted to be with me (she was very clingy from early on). So they would go for walks with the stroller or to the park and I didn't mind if they did the babysitter's errands while out. Occasionally I would ask her to do errands for me.

When you use the term "mother's helper", does that mean you are looking for somebody on the younger side who presumably would charge less? We tried a neighbor girl who was in 3rd grade once with the thought that our 3.5 year old would have somebody to play with while we got some things done at home. Our trial wasn't very successful, though, because our son just wanted to be with us and the young girl didn't really have the savvy/understanding to know how to steer him away. The day ended with my making both of them lunch and I felt like I was watching 2 kids instead of one. I don't necessarily think everybody's experience would be like that but you would definitely need a mother's helper who was mature enough to understand that she is there to keep your kid occupied and that you are not to be bothered. I think if we had hired our regular 20-something babysitter to occupy our son while we were at home, it would have been an entirely different story (she just charges twice as much!).

I also assume that by "mothers helper" you mean someone who is younger, like a babysitter-in-training who you would pay less and not necessarily expect to be leaving alone.

I think its success would depend a lot on the size/layout of your house, the skills of your helper, and the personalities/ages of your kids. I probably wouldn't use a sitter under 12, and I'd make sure to lay-out the ground rules of what you expect them to do/when they can get you. I'd also do a fair number of trial runs where you are just doing work that can reasonably interrupted vs trying to do, say, a conference call.

It would also be helpful if you have a specific office/work area with a door that you can close & lock to make yourself unavailable & not in the kids' line of sight.

My DD1 is 4.5, and would probably be fine with this, as she likes to take babysitters into the playroom and close the door to "play camping" or other imaginative games. She'd also better understand that mommy needs to work. I'd be more worried about my 2yo, honestly, since she understands too much but not enough...if that makes sense!

I'm on the other end of this, I am a nanny, bring my own toddler to work with me, and my nanny kids' mom works from home. Depending on your house layout, and as long as you find someone who is a good fit with your family and with you, it can be great.

I have a 15-year-old family friend that comes over sometimes when I work in the evenings and DH is out of town. But I also have daycare two mornings a week .