Working from home can truly play a big role in helping working moms balance between work and family. There is time and place flexibility benefits that are absent when you have to report to the office every day.
Most moms take the remote working opportunity to work and still stay and care for their baby. As such they are still the primary caregiver to them while still working. But how is it like working at home with a baby?
Do you need to have a child care arrangement?
What are the main challenges of working from home with a baby?
Can you effectively manage them?
This post has answers to these key questions.
In this post…
How is it Like Working at Home with a Baby?
Challenges of Working from Home with a Baby
Effective Guide of Managing Working from Home with a Baby
Tips for Managing Remote Work with a Baby
Is Working at Home with a Baby Possible?
Working from home means that your office is also your home. You do not have to commute to the workplace. Working from home with a baby means that you are both a mom and employee at the same time at the same place.
As such the role revolves around balancing out these duties so that you can do them all. Unlike when you work from the office, working from home has more disruptions among other distractions that are not present in an office setup.
In an office, you can easily switch from home mode to work mode effectively and focus on the tasks at productivity. However, working from home is tested when it is hard to maintain that work mode, avoid disruptions and be productive.
However, working from home with a baby can still be achieved
Read: How to Manage Breastfeeding when Working from Home.
Top Challenges of Moms Working from Home with a Baby
1. More Disruptions & Distractions for Moms Working from Home with a Baby
If you are the primary caregiver of your baby you will need the baby within your sight if not napping. Which means you are trying to work in the same room that your baby is in. As such you are likely to be distracted.
You can also be disrupted by their crying among other things that make it hard for you to fully concentrate on the task at hand. This is one the main challenges that moms who try to work from home face.
Read: Staying Focused while Working from Home with Husband
2. It is Hard to Switch between Home/Work Mode
When you are in an office set up, it is easy to switch your mind from home mode context to work mode context. The environment helps you forget for a while your mothering duties and be productive at what you are doing. When you get home, you can easily switch back to the mom/home context.
However, when you are working from home switching from home mode to work mode and vice versa is difficult. You are always thinking about the baby when trying to work and also thinking about work when you are having baby time. The setup makes working from home with a baby very challenging.
Read: A Guide a Proper Self-care Routine
3. Demands From the Baby makes Working from Home with a Baby Difficult
While it does not apply to all babies, babies can be generally demanding. It makes working from home with a baby very challenging. Some want more attention than others who can be more independent.
The constant need for the baby to need the mother’s attention can be hard for moms trying to work. All the feeding and nursing demands prevent you from working. Others can’t sleep without being rocked etc. These demands are time and energy-consuming.
Read: How to Create Time for Baby while Working Full-time
4. There is ZERO Down Time/Break/Rest
Working and mothering are both full-time jobs, making it hence challenging to do them both at the same time. When you are working from home and caring for the baby, you are doing two full-time jobs at the same time.
They both demand optimal time and energy from you, especially during the day. This means that you will likely have no time for yourself as you juggle between work and baby. This will leave you drained out and fatigued. Most moms even have no time to eat or sleep or adequately re energize.
Read: How to Avoid Fatigue and Recover from Burnout
Expert Secret Tips How to Easily Manage Working from Home with a Baby without Fatigue and Burnout
1. Create a Consistent Work from Home Routine to Fight Fatigue
It is important that both you and the baby run the day on a consistent routine. It is more like creating a timetable of when certain things get done. This includes nap, feeding time, bath time, play/bonding which are the main things you will need to do as a mom.
Such a routine is crucial if you are to manage working from home while you are still caring for your baby. You also create your routine on when you do certain tasks such as check and receive emails, remote meetings, and send in reports among other works tasks that you have to do from day today.
You will need to find the most appropriate time to allocate your work such as early in the morning before the baby wakes up, in between naps, and when the baby is less demanding. Establish consistency in how this routine runs so that both you and the baby can stick to it effectively.
Note that you will need to adjust this routine as the baby grows and her/his needs change. Doing so will ease your arrangement of working from home with a baby.
Read: Rountine Tips for Toddlers
2. Establish Flexible Work Aspects to Easily Work from Home with a Baby
Remote work gives you the flexibility of time and place and a possible way to work from home when you have your baby. If your job allows it, it means you can do your tasks at any given time as long as you get it down.
It allows you to plan when to do certain tasks that are more demanding versus those that are not. It allows you to do these tasks on your schedule such as work in the early morning or late evening when it is easier to focus and be productive. As such look at how flexible your job is and create your working schedule from it.
Read: Best Time Management Tips for Working Moms
3. Multitasking Helps Moms Work from Home with a Baby
As a working mom remotely working with a baby, multitasking will be your savior if you have no extra help. It saves you precious time and gets multiple tasks done at the same time. Identify those jobs tasks that are less demanding and multitask them with less demanding baby tasks.
For instance, you can nurse while reading and replying to emails on your phone. You can also be in a muted online meeting while also doing something on the other end.
Hands-free tasks are the easiest to multitask. What you cannot multitask allocate their own separate time.
Read: How to Switch between Home and Work Mode
4. Manage Your Expectations
Remember that not everything will work on your plan every day. Your baby may be particularly having a bad day and you are unable to get anything on your work. Such things happen and the best you can do is look for ways to cover up for the lost work hours.
For instance, you can work late evening to finish off your tasks for the day as someone else watches the baby. Also, remember babies may not typically fall into a consistent routine until they are a few months old.
You can try out a basic routine, but be forgiving if it does not work out for a while. You will realise that working from home becomes easy this way.
Note: Your ability and success in managing to work from home and still look after your baby will largely depend on your child and age. It is easy to do it when the baby is small but up to until she/he is mobile. At this point, your workability will be largely limited to the time the baby is napping or someone else is watching them.
It also depends on the nature of your job. It is easier if you are not working on a schedule. Some jobs are less demanding and can be handled as you multitask caring for the baby. Also, the need for constant meetings will require you to have the baby napping or occupied by someone else.
Therefore your job type will help make it easier or harder for you to work from home and care for the baby as well.
Lastly working from home with a baby may not be a sustainable plan. This is considering the negative impacts on your parenting skills, career, and your mental health. It is doable yes but very difficult with crazy implications.
However, if you can hack it, good for you. Keep what is working and drop what is not. The main point is that the situation is only temporary until your baby can join daycare/kindergarten or you get help with the baby.
Read: How to be Effective Working from Home
Proven Guaranteed on Making Working from Home with a Baby Easy
- Sleep train to foster independent sleep in your baby to give time for work
- Feed on a schedule- e.g. 2-3 hours intervals to avoid caring for the baby taking up time for work
- Schedule meetings around nap time to avoid both working and baby conflicting
- Have a context switch enabler –e.g. music to switch to home mode to manage working from home and looking after your baby
- Have a sit/stand desk – mobile and great for when kids become mobile to make working easier and harder to be distracted
- Have a daily after-work self-care plan for work life balance and healthy routine.
- Make all your meals ahead to save time during the day and save time both for work and baby
- Have a backup plan- ask for a friend or family about helping with the baby in such situations
- Have a baby-friendly office-set up a carrier, changing station, play-station, etc.
Related Article
How to Work Two Jobs with no Burnout
How to Set and Enforce Work Boundaries
How to Work from Home with your Nanny Present
How to Remain Focused and Productive when you and your Husband both Work from Home
