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It probably depends on your lo..... but as a sahm id have to say there's no way I could work too. My baby girl is a handful! She is 13 months old and not really old enough to entertain herself yet. She has no interest in tv (I get bad migraines so I try to get her to watch to give me a break every once in awhile) and can play independently .... as long as I'm there on the floor near her. If I'm off at my computer she wants to be there too, and she'll stand up and grab the mouse and try to type and makes it impossible. Phone calls are also impossible because she wants the phone so she cries because I wont give it to her. So I get nothing done until nap time or when dh comes home.

@Ali: Lol, well they do have pack n plays but my LO doesn't go for that. She wants to be moving! For the newborn stage they're less active and able to move around, but they still tend to need your attention constantly. It also just depends on your LO. For a long time my LO didn't want me to put her down. When she was a newborn she would only nap in my arms, so even when she napped I couldn't get anything done. And even if you say I'm not going to allow that, she's going to nap in her crib...... you just get to that point where you don't care as long as they nap! Good luck!

My attitude is always prepare for the worst and hope for the best. There would have been no way that I could have worked and cared for my son in the same set of hours, it would have required sending him to daycare because his schedule would have disrupted phone calls.

It is really hard to work and be home for sure. I don't think I could ever do it.

Also, I would REALLY think about your relationship with having your mum watch her. Its a great solution but it does add a lot to the relationship and its amazing how people change or their personalities come out around babies.

I think it sounds ideal, especially since your mom will watch her. She'll be very close to her grandma, which is excellent!

I don't know that you'll get a lot done on that day that you are home but have no childcare...perhaps you could talk to your employer about working extra hours on the other days to make up for it? One of my friends works only a half day the day she has her kid at home (grandma's day off) but it takes her ALL day (sometimes not until her husband gets home) to get 4 actual hours of work in. Worst case scenario, you can hire a sitter to come to your house one day/week.

So, you would also be helping to care for your sick dad, as well as a new baby?

If that is the case - no way.

I'm working from home a few days now, and it's only possible because my husband is also home and can take LO. Otherwise, she just doesn't nap enough to actually be productive. There is a reason my company requires work from home employees to provide proof that their child is in outside daycare I've found!

Daycare doesn't have to be a negative, if you don't force yourself into thinking it is. You never know how you will feel - you might not be upset to go back to work at the end of your maternity leave. You might not want to spend all day taking care of LO. Also, daycare is great for your LO's socialization. S/he will get to play with other babies all day long, and babies love babies! Good luck!

I think you can totally do it. I've been working from home for the past 7 months with my LO.

Some tips:
- Be organized: this means meals, cleaning, etc. This makes things run much more smoothly
- Enlist help: if your mom can watch the baby sometimes during the day so you can get some work done, do that. I find it difficult not to socialize when someone helps me at home, so I go out to Starbucks and work for a few hours
- Get a carrier: you can be holding a tiny baby while doing work. I got an Ergo which was a total disaster; you can't sit down in an Ergo (or I couldn't). I ended up with a double ring sling which was the best
- Enlist your SO: my husband was great about coming home after work, making/finishing dinner and watching the baby so I could get another 2 hours in.

Things that help:
- a reasonable and understanding boss: mine is a knob and doesn't know what a baby is
- a reasonable and understanding husband that is supportive of your goals: mine is the best

Things I find difficult:
- My boss
- Sitting at my computer writing a report while the dishes are piled up in the sink and the laundry isn't done (this may just be me though)
- Watching LO play alone while I work on something "urgent"
- Lack of adult interaction (but if you're in the office 2-3 days a week, this will help)
- Hearing that all my other SAHM friends are going out to the zoo, park, lunch, etc and I'm stuck at home working

I will be returning to the office full-time next week, and my husband will be staying home with the LO for the next 5 months. He will also be working from home. I think it's all about your priorities. If you want it to work, it will.

I feel like I need to add that my baby is super laid back and an amazing napper, most of the time. And while I do have deadlines, they're not set in stone. And I have been told by most of my friends that I'm nuts and they would not be able to do what I do, but I really believe if that's your priority, you will make it work!!!

@JennyD: what a fantastic post!!

It is possible and Jenny D has great tips! I'm working from home from 9-12 M-F and it's working. My lo is 10.5 months old, very active, but a very good napper. It also helps that I have a 10 yr old son that helps entertain her for me.

@Ali: I totally understand about the "time poor". I just went back to work last week, and I already feel like I never see my girl. I'm sure you'll find a balance that works for you.

I'm glad I could help

@Ali: it sounds to me like you have your head screwed on just right. You're doing things the right way - worrying about how you're going to afford a baby and give him/her the time she needs from you when you're working full time BEFORE you have the baby.

We didn't know if we could do it so, we sat down and wrote out a budget to follow after baby. It included both paychecks and then all baby expenses plus our monthly expenses. I won't lie, it's going to hurt. We're sending her to a daycare near home because it's cheaper than the fancy ones near work. It's still $1,000mo, though. With that, we were able to keep saving for retirement, saving for our future, saving for her education, pay our bills and maybe treat ourselves every once in a while. Our goal is to give her the best life possible. To do that, we need to both work and unfortunately, neither of our companies would let us work from home. Our daughter has been really good recently about playing by herself. That being said, when she's fussy, there's nothing we can do but help her. I don't think I could work at home without help.

I think everyone can find the way if they really want to. I know our daughter won't have the same life I did growing up but we're going to do everything we can to make sure she knows she is loved and taken care of.

Maybe try looking for cheaper daycare options like in-home care versus being in a centre. That could be cheaper. My LO is. Extremely laid back and happy to hang out lo but I still couldn't work from one effectively for 3 days in a week. One day yes, but it 3. nothing anyone tld me could have prepared me for how all-consuming it is to care for a baby.

As Mrs. Jacks said, I worked the last 2 years from home while taking care of Little Jacks. I was doing software development so, I could make my own schedules for the most part as long as I met my deadlines. One thing that helped was that I worked with my boss to get larger projects that lasted in the range of months instead of weeks.

The only times that I actually did work durring core business hours was when Little Jacks was sleeping. She was not a good napper for me at all. I ended up wearing her in an ergo baby carrier for naps and just sat on a yoga ball and worked with her on my chest (not the best solution, but I developed some serious lower back muscles!).

When I was on conference calls I muted my end the entire time, unless I absolutely needed to speak up. I generally had phone calls directly with my boss afterwards to wrap things up, since he did not care if Little Jacks spoke up on calls with him.

When I had to do calls with clients, I always made it clear to the client managers that I will have Little Jacks with me (unless Mrs. Jacks was home), and that she may speak up on the call. I never ran into a client who had a problem with this as long as we were very up front with my situation.

Now as far as getting the actual work done, there were definitely times where my 2-3 hours of work a day did not cut it, so to make up for that I did work several late nights and on some weekends to make up for it.

But the biggest plus that came with working from home was that I was able to do most of my work in 2-3 hours a day. This was mainly due to the fact that I was not pulled into meetings 10+ times a day, and even if I was, I could mute the phone and work through it. My productivity and quality skyrocketed! My time estimates also were calculated by how many naps it would take me to complete a given task.

But one thing that I was very diligent with was alway staying connected. If I took a walk or went to the park, I had my phone forwarded to my cel and checked my email every few minutes. You never want your boss to think you are not available if you are working from home.

The other good thing about this was when Mrs. Jacks started going on business trip, I went with her and just remoted into my desktop at home and worked from the hotel while she was working! I got to take Little Jack on some cool trips that way without ever using my paid time off!

So, is it doable? Absolutely! Can anyone do it? no. I can name countless people that I have worked with that could not do it, but I can also name countless that can. So it really depends on your self discipline and the job that you are in.

Well to be honest, the house is actually cleaner now that I am working out of the house! Mrs. Jacks was very supportive in every way. She was never upset when she came home to a disaster of a house because she knew I was working. The kiddo was sleeping and when she was awake we were out doing stuff. The house work in our house was always split in a way that we did what we did best. Anything detail oriented, Mrs jacks did. Things like the laundry and the kitchen were always my areas (folding clothes is about all you can do with a little one around).

But as far as things Mrs jacks did, taking little jacks when she walked in the door when I needed to finish something up or put out a fire (at work) was the most helpfull. I had several late phone calls with our India office that I am sure she never enjoyed. But the main thing was that she was supportive.

And yes program development/software development, its all pretty much the same thing.

@Ali: having a backup plan is a good idea. I have to admit ar jumped into it with no.backup other than me potentially quitting my job and not working! That was not much of a choice, but luckily I Fletcher like I took to it like a duck to water. One thing that it helped melearn to do was switch back and fourth between work and kid on the drop of a hat. There were definite times where I was on a good roll and had to walk away from work. Being able to switch gears constantly can be frustraighting but it is a good skill to have in life.