I am a SAHM and I also babysit a little girl Monday-Friday from 7:30am-4:00pm. She has been in my care since she was 6 weeks old and now she is 2. We are very attached and I am trying to make my maternity leave as easy on her as possible. This is my plan:
Take 2 weeks completely off from babysitting her but have her stop by a few times to meet the baby and get used to seeing me with a baby. The next 2 weeks just have her come Tuesday and Thursday full days. Then the final 2 weeks have her come Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. After that have her come back full time. So only 6 weeks will be different and I plan to gradually bring her back so she and I both have time to adjust. Does this sound doable? Do you think I will be able to manage a newborn, 2 year old, and 4 year old?
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My worry is that it doesn't seem manageable from the perspective of the two year old's mom. That's a lot of schedule changes where she has to find alternate care for her daughter.
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I don't have any experience with this but I just wanted to say that I think it's awesome you're being so cognizant of the impact it will make on the little girl you watch. If I were the mom I would be so appreciative of that.
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@MamaMoose: We've already discussed it and she is happy with it. The back up sitter lives further away so she doesn't really like having to take her there.
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I was pretty unprepared for how all-consuming baby care and especially breastfeeding was- I had visions of getting some work done over maternity leave, and those totally did not pan out at all. So I probably wouldn't have wanted additional responsibility at 3 or 4 weeks out... but then again, you're clearly used to babies and know what to expect from them, and plenty of women have a newborn, a 2 year old, and a 4 year old living with them full-time and they can do it, so clearly it's possible. It just sounds hard to me. Will you have other support, like a partner or family around to help out?
I might just talk to the family about potential contingency plans in case something comes up- if you need a C-section, you may not be able to run around after a 2 year old after only two weeks of recovery time. Stuff like that. -
@Mrs.B: Gotcha. Then in that case I think that sounds good. Maybe the only thing I would change is for the two day weeks maybe do Mon and Wed, and then move to Mon Wed and Fri. I know the little one is only two but it might seem more consistent to stick with the same days and just adding, rather than changing from Tue/Thur to Mon/Wed/Fri.
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When your newborn is 2 weeks old, he/she may still be very needy and you will not even be healed by then and will most likely be feeling more exhausted than you can ever imagine. It will be hard to manage a 2 year old as well. I would rather wait and take her back when your LO is atleast 6 weeks old.
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I would say it took me a good 8 weeks of dealing with both my 2 year old and newborn full-time to get into a good routine. Is there anyone around that can help you out for the first few months? Maybe someone who can come over for a couple hours a day at first, while you get adjusted? Even if you have to hire someone (like a college student or "mother's helper") to come over and give you a hand at the very beginning, it might be helpful. I would say your plan is totally doable, it would just be easier if you had a little extra help at the beginning.
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That sounds like a lot of schedule changes that might end up being exhausting, confusing and stressful for everyone involved. But I really like your whole idea of easing everyone into it. Maybe you could wait a little longer - like 3 or 4 weeks before the first meeting, then start doing 2 days a week for a couple weeks then transition to full time? And maybe the first full time week you have someone there helping out? I of course have no experience here so I'm not really sure how hard it will be!
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I would be afraid of the germs the toddler would bring. I'd try and would want to limit the exposure to my newborn baby until after my baby got his/her shots. But that's just my thought.. That's very sweet of you to be so accommodating.
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Our 4 year old does attend school and is gone from 7:50-11:00 every day. My MIL can come over to help and would be very happy to. So far planning my maternity leave and how I'm going to do it has been our toughest decision. I'm not worried about the germs because our 4 year old will most likely be brining in more germs then my daycare girl. Maybe 3 weeks completely off will work better then ease her back into coming.
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It sounds like a really good plan to take off an extra week and then have your MIL come over to help!
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