I am TTC. But, next year I have to start my externship (25h/w).
If I get pregnant within the next 2 months, lo#2 would be anywhere from 4-8w old when I start. Too young for me to leave in my opinion and experience. My supervisor said she would let me take up to a year deferment. I don't want all that time because that pushes graduation a year further. DH would like me to take the full year.
I want to know: if you got to choose when to return to work, when would you have gone back? When did you feel comfortable leaving LO and when did you have some energy and feel hormonally stabilized? When did feeding a become less random and more scheduled?
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I went back at 14-15 weeks and thought it was good. He had an easy time adjusting to a feeding schedule, he was old enough for me to feel better about him being without me, & I felt great physically. Mentally, it's likely hard no matter when maternity leave ends.
If I could have, I think 4 or 5 months was ideal for me (older than that. & I think he maybe would've had trouble separating from me)
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LO was 5 months when I went back to work and it felt like a good time. I'd been ready to get out of the house for a while before that, but she was also really colicky. If I got to choose, I'd say maybe 6 months. For me, I think staying home a year would be too long for me. One thing I learned about myself was that I couldn't be a SAHM. I'm a happier person and better mom when I can get out of the house and work.
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5-6 months!
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4 months is perfect I think!
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I've had a year and wish I could have more time. I say take the year, even if it means graduation is pushed back, its worth it.
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I had a year (Canada) and it was awesome! I could have gone back as early as 9 months and felt OK about it though.
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I was able to decide, and I went back at 4.5 months, and it was ideal. With my oldest I went back after a year, and {for me} it was a little too long.
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5-6 months! I took 5 months off with my son and I thought it was the perfect amount. I only took 3 months off with DD and it felt waaaaay too short.
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6-9 months would be ideal for me!! I told DH if/when we have another one, it will be a three month minimum but even that seems too early to me. With my first I was a SAHM for the first year, and it was around 6 months that I start to feel the itch of going to work, and actually started working after a year.
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6 months!
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@MsMini: I think 9m is nice too. I am a sahm but went back to school when LO was 9m old and felt fine.
Would you go back to work if your husband asked you to stay home for the year? DH wouldn't be mad, but he's made it clear that he'd *like it more* if I stayed a year with lo#2 because that's what I gave lo #1
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I really think ~6 months is perfect for me, as it really took me that long to feel like I had a groove with being a mom.
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If I could choose, I'd stay home for the full year.
I am the breadwinner in our house and so we had to look realistically at how much time I could afford to take. I will be going back full time when LO is 6 months old and there's so much I am going to be missing out on: crawling, walking, introducing solids... I HATE that my MIL will be trying out different foods with LO while I am stuck at work and telling me, her mother, what she likes and doesn't like.
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I went back at 10 weeks and felt I got a better handle on things once R was 12 weeks old. I really, really wish we could've afforded to let me take more time off though.
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I had 7 months of maternity leave. I ended up not returning to work, but 7 months was enough. I could have returned, there would have been some hiccups, but survivable.
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I went back at 13 weeks. I would have preferred to stay home for 6 months.
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i was lad off shortly after LO was born but went back to work part time when he was 9 mos. That felt like the perfect amount of time for us.
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I went back at 8 weeks because I had no choice. I would have loved at least 3-4 months.
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Ideally I would want a year! But I realize I'm lucky to be taking 6ish months, most of which is unpaid. I work in a school, I'm taking off the rest of the year + summer (due in jan).
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i went back with DS after 12 weeks...i think 6 months would have been great, but would have loved a full year.
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6 months is just perfect, I think. I went back to work after my first baby at 7 months, and we were both ready!
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Yeah I'd say 6 months. They start getting so fun around 4.5, it's harder going back right when the good part starts. Plus 6 months is when sleep (finally) turned a corner for us and I felt able to work!
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I went back at 14 weeks but DH stayed home with DS until he was 5 months. So at 5 months he started DCP. I thought it was the perfect age!
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6 months would have been ideal for me! His feedings were more scheduled and I was finally starting to feel like myself again.
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I went back after one year (Canada too) and felt uneasy about it. 18 months would have been ideal (in hindsight) as a) daycare options really open up once they hit toddler age and b) at least at 18 months he could walk and communicate a bit.
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@stp: exactly how I feel. I am happy we have a nanny until he is at least 18 months, but I'm still sad that I won't be the one home with him. I guess I want to be a SAHM for a few years if I could, so I'm probably very bias in my response!
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I went back at 4 months. 6 months would have been perfect!
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So, saying I would never want to go back is not helpful, I'm assuming...
Assuming I did want to go back to work: I went back at 7 weeks, and that was do-able for me. It was rough, but I love our sitter. Ideally I would have stayed home for 3 months, but for #2 and #3 (maybe #4), I'll still probably only take 7 weeks.
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I think somewhere between 4 - 6 months.
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I went back after 12 weeks, I would have loved to wait until 6 months, I think I would be ready and comfortable to leave at that time. 12 weeks was fine (the most I was allowed) but tough.
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@JoJoGirl: Totally agree about it getting harder when they start to get fun!
I went back at 12/13 weeks, and IMO it was easier to go back to work then than it would have been to go back to work at 6, 9 or 12 months. By 6+ months, she was so interactive and we could do so much together....at 12 weeks I was fine with having the break during the day since she wasn't so interactive.
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6 months sounds pretty good . . . It would not have worked for my LO (she had surgery at 8 months and I wouldn't have wanted her in daycare until at least 9 months because of it), but, if she hadn't needed surgery, I think 6 months would have worked out much better than 12 weeks/3 months.
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ideal for me would be a year. But I would say 6-9 months is when we had more of a routine and things were a little easier.
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I think 6 months would be good. A year would be awesome because so much happens their first year of life - learning to roll, learning to crawl, etc. I hate to miss those firsts.
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6 months? Especially w/ #2
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I'm six months into a yearlong mat leave. Honestly, I would want nine months because, for me at least, it didn't start to get fun until the 5-ish month mark. It would suck to have to go back just as it was getting good....
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I vote 6-9 months, in a perfect world I would be a SAHM but was lucky enough to work part time from 4-7 months and I continue to be on a half-year full-time and half-year part-time schedule (job is busy seasonally). By 6 months they have more of a schedule. It is basically sad what you miss at any age though!
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