https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 07 May 2026 04:45:36 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344454 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:57:45 +0000 Adira 344454@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@birdieputt: Very true! I think my plan will be to go back full-time, but I know that if I'm miserable, my husband will be willing to accommodate me, so I could switch to part-time in the future if necessary. He'll just be less happy about it, haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344440 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:52:25 +0000 birdieputt 344440@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: it's good to plan ahead, but also be flexible - you just never know what will be best for you and your family until LO arrives. when i was pregnant, i was preparing to quit my career and become a SAHM. but during my maternity leave, i realized that i was happier working and contributing towards our family expenses. happy mom = happy wife = happy family. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344378 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:18:55 +0000 T.H.O.U. 344378@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: When LO arrived I moved my hours to 7:30-4:30. It is so much nicer to avoid traffic! Our daycare is about 30 minutes from work but the hours are 6:30-6:30. </p> <p>Typically I get to daycare around 6:40, I nurse her one more time, and then I leave by 7:00 and get to work at 7:30. For pick ups, its nice to be home by 5:15 because she goes to bed around 7:30 pm. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344243 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:02:51 +0000 Adira 344243@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: Yeah, I thought about going down to 4 days instead of 5, but it'll just be easier I think if I work full-time. Plus I do have every other Friday off, so it's close enough, haha. And you're right! I'm sure LO will be fine in daycare!</p> <p>@Smurfette: If it makes you feel better, I have to work 9-hour days to be able to have every other Friday off. Which is why drop-off and pick-ups will be hard. Our daycare closes at 5:30, so I need to make sure I can leave at 4:30 to pick them up (it's really only 30 minutes, but if I leave at 5:00, I'd get stuck in traffic). So that means I have to get to work by 7:30, and really I should plan on earlier since I'll have to pump during the day! So I'm thinking I'll have to get to work by 7:00, which would mean drop-off by 6:30, which is when our daycare opens, so Hubs will have to do drop-off instead since he doesn't have to leave for work until 7:30.</p> <p>That's good your husband can do Friday drop-offs! I think as long as you're both helping and do whatever works for your family, then it'll be fine! I would handle both drop-off and pick-up if I can, but with my 9-hour days, it would be too challenging. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344239 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:58:03 +0000 Smurfette 344239@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: That is great that you have every other Friday off. Jealous of that! </p> <p>Glad that he can do the drop-off. Since DH travels most of the time, I will be doing both. I just hate that baby will be in day care for so long each day. He usually is home on Friday's so he will be in charge of drop offs for sure on Friday. Whether he is working from home or not! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344236 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:56:46 +0000 JoJoGirl 344236@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: We're starting to talk about this too. We haven't crunched the numbers yet but I know we'll be struggling if I go back part-time. I'm hoping to make it work at 4 days/week instead of 5 but not sure yet. LOTS of people go back full-time so I'm sure LO will do great regardless :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344235 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:56:45 +0000 Adira 344235@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Thehistoryofus: Thank you for your insight! I did look into the part-time vs. maternity leave for kid #2, and I believe I WOULD still get time, but it might take me longer to have enough hours under my belt to be able to take it, so it might have forced me to space kid #1 and #2 further apart than I wanted. I hadn't really thought about that, but that's a really good point!</p> <p>Thanks for the thought about when they are in school! I didn't really think about this, but you make a good point - I do want to be there more when they will actually remember it, as opposed to when they are infants and it may not matter as much. I'm thinking what I might do at that point is change my hours so I can leave work earlier and have Hubs handle all the morning routine stuff so I can be there for after-school activities. But I guess I can figure all that out later. Thanks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344228 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:54:03 +0000 Adira 344228@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Smurfette: Yeah - I know we could get by with me working part-time, but I do make more money than my husband, so financially, we'll be a lot more secure if I continue to work full-time and bring home the bacon. :P</p> <p>Plus, I am fortunate enough that I have every-other Friday off, so I can still spend some extra time every-other week with the baby (or stick him in daycare and actually get some stuff done around the house).</p> <p>I did get Hubs to agree that if I was working full-time, he'd have to be in charge of daycare drop-offs to make my life a little easier, so at least he's willing to chip in! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344223 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:51:49 +0000 T.H.O.U. 344223@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: A few more thoughts from a full time mom. </p> <p>- Its nice that LO is on the same schedule 5 days a week. I think if she were every other day, it would be harder to be on a good schedule.<br /> - Would you get maternity leave benefits for kid #2 if you were part time?<br /> - I am hoping to make go down to 30 hours a week when the kids are in school and starting activities. I want them to remember me at their sports and activities. They won't remember the extra hours at this age. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344218 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:47:03 +0000 Smurfette 344218@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: My husband really wants me to work too. Even with the high cost of day care, I will still be bringing home a nice amount each month</p> <p>Glad that yall talked and figured out what is best for your family! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-344210 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:42:33 +0000 Adira 344210@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Looks like I probably WILL be working full-time!</p> <p>I had a long conversation with Hubs last night and he really would feel more comfortable if I worked full-time. He was kind of wary about the idea of having kids in the first place because he really wants to be able to travel and retire early, so if I continue to work full-time, we'll be in a better position to still do those things.</p> <p>Thanks everyone for your advice and helping me figure out this situation! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342732 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:53:49 +0000 Adira 342732@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lozza: Thank you for your insight! Maybe what I should do is look into just taking Fridays off (or Mondays). Our daycare is closed on some Monday Holidays that I don't get off that I would have to take off anyway, and then I wouldn't have to use vacation. Working 4-days instead of 3-days would definitely help our income a bunch. I guess I'll have to crunch the numbers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342657 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:22:30 +0000 Lozza 342657@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I cut back my work schedule a bit when LO was about 6 months old... I'm not in the office on Fridays, and while I usually put in a couple hours on Friday, it's from home and not structured or anything (it's my catch-up day). My commute (nearly 2 hours/day total) was a big part of it, but I found that working far away 5 days a week was too much with a kid. Before LO, I could at least work off-peak hours a bit and minimize my commute to have more time, or run errands on my way home, or stuff like that, but I really find that I need that day home to get anything done. LO almost always goes to daycare anyways on Friday, so it's not like I'm home with him, but my Fridays (mostly) off are when I do all the week's laundry, and do some cleaning, and plan doctor's appointments or dental appointments for me and/or LO and/or the dog, and it's when I pay bills and make phone calls and go through the mail and do everything else that I don't have time for during the week, and don't want to spend my weekend on. If your LO is home with you on those two days, clearly you won't have that same kind of free time, but I think having an extra couple days at home is a.) really good for quality of life (unless finances are so stressful that it tips the balance)- it means that once everyone is home at night or on the weekends, we can have good quality family time instead of constantly trying to keep up with basic life stuff, and b.) it means I miss less work on the days I'm scheduled to be there... if I had to be in the office 5 days/week, I'd constantly be running out to appointments and stuff like that, whereas now I can just schedule everything for my days off, and when I'm in the office, I'm better able to concentrate on work since I have a designated time for all the other stuff in our lives.<br /> I can't really help with your question about whether it's good for LO to be home with you an extra two days... financially, we could definitely handle me being a SAHM, but we've chosen not to go that route, so clearly I think my LO is fine being a full-time daycare kid :)<br /> I also think a lot depends on how much your partner helps out. Working a full-time job is no joke... and I think if your DH wants you to keep on doing it, he definitely needs to be willing to do his share of daycare picking up and dropping off, and getting bottles together, and getting dinner ready, and all that kind of stuff. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342616 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:12:45 +0000 Adira 342616@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaMoose: haha, I suspect my husband would agree with you! He would just say "Good, then we can retire earlier!"</p> <p>@LemonLong: Thank you for your insight! I think I really need to crunch the numbers to figure out what everything will look like. As it is, I just used rough estimates, which probably aren't accurate. I am glad to hear your perspective as having two working parents! I only know what it's like to have a SAHM (same with Hubs), so I wasn't sure if there were really benefits to staying home or not. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342594 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:05:06 +0000 LemonLong 342594@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The fact that you state you wouldn't be able to cover all your expenses unless you start cutting into your retirement fund would worry me. What happens if there's an emergency and you need cash? Would you have enough on hand to cover it? It sounds like it doesn't benefit you financially, so I think you need to look at whether the other benefits your family will get will be worth it. Especially if it will cause your husband extra stress financially.</p> <p>My Mom worked more than full time while we were growing up. She had a full time job, and then waitressed at night part time. My Dad did the same- he had an office job, then played music at night. We didn't have any effects from it, and I have no resentment that I didn't have a SAHM or SAHD. It was just what we were used to. Kids are very adaptable! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342585 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:59:52 +0000 MamaMoose 342585@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: I work in financial planning so in my world there is no such thing as over contributing to retirement savings : ) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342513 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:20:07 +0000 Adira 342513@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaMoose: I think you definitely make a valid point! I definitely need to do more research, but I have a feeling that we're actually currently saving MORE than we need to for retirement. I'm just not sure I'll be able to convince my husband of that, haha. Anything we decide, I definitely want to make sure that we stay on track with our retirements AND hopefully are able to open 529 plans for our children's college. If I can manage that AND still work part-time, that's what I want to do! I just need to figure out if we can manage that and if Hubs is totally on-board with any changes we'll need to make, haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342505 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:17:02 +0000 Adira 342505@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@photojane: I really wish that Hubs and I have different perspectives so we could figure out which one is really better (or more ideal for us). Both my mom and Hubs mom were SAHM for most of our lives (at least until school), so we don't really know what it's like to having a working mother. I think Hubs thinks it's not that big of a deal, and I honestly just don't know! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342315 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:04:09 +0000 MamaMoose 342315@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Personally I wouldn't be comfortable staying home if it affected our ability to contribute to retirement savings. If it just meant cutting back on luxuries that would be one thing, but if it's going to affect your future I think that's something you should really consider. Also, I always think it's unfair for a mom to stay home when her husband isn't 100% on board. It puts a lot of extra pressure on your husband to provide for the family, and he will likely become resentful if he feels like that situation is not what he signed up for. So while I do think you guys should continue to research and talk about options I would be careful about pushing too hard to talk your husband into something he really isn't comfortable with. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342277 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:51:40 +0000 photojane 342277@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i don't have a lo yet, but i can say that my mom was a SAHM while hubs' mom worked full time (8-5), so we have the perspective of both. after a little discussion about which childhood we wanted for our kids, for us it was a no-brainer that i need to be home as much as possible with our kids. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-342232 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:29:31 +0000 kml636 342232@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would say just give yourself some time once LO arrives. I'm seeing a lot of people on blogs willing to do anything to make staying at home part of the time work once LO arrives. Then your DH might be more willing to get on board.</p> <p>I'm planning on only working 20 hrs a week, and LO arrives in 4 weeks! Ah! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-341749 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:16:16 +0000 Adira 341749@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: Hmm... that's a good point. I definitely wouldn't work part-time forever, and it would probably make him feel better to know it was only for a set period of time. We DO want to have kids back-to-back if possible though, so it would probably be for a few years (assuming I have child #2 when child #1 is only 1.5ish, then I would end up working part-time for roughly 2.5 years if I was waiting for #2 to be 1).</p> <p>Part of my concern is I'm not sure of the total benefits for the kids for me to work part-time. Is there a substantial benefit to my kid seeing me full-time 4-days a week vs only for 2 (weekends)? At what point does this benefit end? When they are 1? When they are 5? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-341746 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:11:38 +0000 yoursilverlining 341746@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Do you plan on only working-part time for a set period of time; or do you want to work part-time on an open-ended basis? If your husband isn't on board with the financial loss; do you think it might make a difference to him if you both agreed you would only be doing this for 1 year (or whatever time frame), and after that period you would be going back to work fulltime? It's obviously easier to make up lost retirement income for a short period of time, and maybe you guys could make some more solid plans to do that after your period of part-time work is up? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-341741 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:08:58 +0000 PurplePumps 341741@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not pregnant yet, but I have struggled with this thought as well. It may change when I have a LO, but for now, I think I would continue to work full time. I just really dont want to cut back on retirement funds or the extra income. I have a terrible fear of being in financial trouble to cut back on hours, unless there was no worries and no major changes to cash flow. Of course this is selffish childless me speaking.... I do wonder if this outlook will change. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-341735 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:03:48 +0000 Adira 341735@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@stiffaknee: We have a chosen day-care. They're open 6:30 to 5:30, so that will work for us regardless of whether I work full-time or part-time. They offer both 5-day and part-time, so I can do 3 full-time days.</p> <p>These numbers are a little off, but if I work full-time and put the kid in daycare full-time, I would still be bringing home almost $2k/month. If I worked part-time and put the kid in day-care part-time, I would be bringing home about half there, roughly $1k/month. On-top of our other builds, this would not be enough money. We would need to cut back on how much we contribute to 401ks, IRAs, and other items in order for this $1k/month cut to cover our expenses.</p> <p>Hope that makes sense! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-341725 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:56:37 +0000 stiffaknee 341725@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What sort of decision have you made regarding childcare? That should also factor into the financial decision...My husband and I decided that I would stop working entirely and there has been some financial challenges to that decision, but nothing that has been completely impossible to overcome.</p> <p>For us, the biggest factor affecting our decision was childcare-The only daycare facility that we would consider cost $1800 a month for infants, plus their hours were 8-5 (which would mean I would have to convince my employer to allow me to work 8:30-4:30 so that I could be off in time to pick up LO). Add in the cost of gas, car maintenance and the overall stress of commuting and I would be working simply to pay for childcare. I also have more autonomy than I did when I worked, so I am able to focus my time on things that will benefit my family (couponing, meal planning, making my own baby food, ect) and save us money.</p> <p>Another "perk" (if you can call it that) is LO isn't exposed to all the daycare germs floating around...I know folks who have babies similar in age to mine who have made countless visits to the pediatrician because their baby is always sick (colds and stomach viruses mainly). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-341724 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:56:13 +0000 Adira 341724@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsmenow: We did make sure the daycare we chose offered part-time, but we'll be losing a lot more income with me working part-time (and putting the kids in daycare part-time) vs. me working full-time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-341703 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:47:07 +0000 mrsmenow 341703@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Have the two of you factored in the cost of daycare? We chose a daycare that has part-time rates and it was cheaper for us to have me only work 3 days instead of 5. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-vs-full-time-need-advice#post-341679 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:38:13 +0000 Adira 341679@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I've talked to my husband about this a little bit, but never in much detail. Once our LO arrives, I'd like to work part-time (3 days a week), but my husband would like me to work full-time to bring in some bacon. He's grudgingly agreed that if I wanted to work part-time, I could.</p> <p>BUT... I'm nervous. I was looking at the numbers today, and they don't fully add up. Hubs and I have a joint account that we both contribute 70% of our salary to. If we continue to contribute 70% to this account, and I'm only working part-time, we won't have enough money to cover all our expenses. I'm thinking we'll need to up our contributions to 80% but ALSO cut back on how much we put into our 401ks and IRAs in order to have enough money for our expenses.</p> <p>I'm worried my husband isn't going to be a fan of this plan. I'm not really sure how to approach him about it and convince him that this is a good idea and that my staying home with the kids two-days a week will be beneficial in the long run, even those financially, we'll be a little worse off.</p> <p>Has anyone else had to deal with this? How did you convince your SO that the benefits of you working part-time would outweigh the loss of income/retirement savings? And what ARE the benefits, besides me getting to spend more time with our LO and being less stressed? Will our LO actually benefit from it? </p>