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Returning to work after maternity leave
hints, tips and advice
hints, tips and advice
Returning to work after maternity leave can be a time of mixed emotions. One part of you may be excited at the prospect of returning to the adult world and getting a little bit of your old life back, whilst the other part of you struggles with the thought of leaving this new love of your life alone with complete strangers whilst you trudge off to work.
Going back to work when you have a young child is very difficult and has probably been one of the hardest things I have ever done. As a working mother not only do you need to perform at your place of employment but you have to come home and start your second job, which often goes late into the night, and never gives you a day off. As a working mum you need to learn to juggle both of these roles often on little sleep and usually with a bucket load of mother guilt.
Going back to work when you have a young child is very difficult and has probably been one of the hardest things I have ever done. As a working mother not only do you need to perform at your place of employment but you have to come home and start your second job, which often goes late into the night, and never gives you a day off. As a working mum you need to learn to juggle both of these roles often on little sleep and usually with a bucket load of mother guilt.
Follow up article -
Returning to work after maternity leave
“Life of a working mother and her baby”
Keep reading for hints, tips and advice on returning to work after baby.
Some women do actually look forward to returning to work after having a baby, but I found that I actually loved being a stay home mum, even more than I thought I would, so was never really thrilled about the prospect of going back to the office. However, as much as I wanted to stay home and play house, there were bills to be paid, so unfortunately after months of heartache and worry I had to push my tears and mother guilt behind me and reluctantly get on with this new and very challenging task.
Returning to work after maternity leave is never easy, once you have a baby there are a whole new set of challenges each day to deal with on top of the normal stresses of the corporate world. Where once there was only you to worry about and you could start and finish the day when you were ready, and come home after a gruelling day to a glass of wine and some down time you now have another person to factor into the equation.
As a working mother you now have child care pick up and drop offs to organise, meals to prepare, bags to pack and more often than not a sick, tired or cranky child to deal with. No longer can you just work back to finish a task, or take work home you now have a schedule to think about which means you will need to learn to approach your work day in a whole new way.
I have now been back to work for just over 18 months, and even after all this time I still find my working days long and exhausting. I am often still packing kindy bags at 11pm and am usually dragging my butt into work after getting up two to three times during the night. With the sleep deprivation, the endless kindy sicknesses and my daughter’s often refusal to leave home to go to childcare, I am certainly glad I was able to return to work part time. As I am not sure I could go through the stress five days running.
Even though it has been difficult returning to work after having a baby, I do somehow manage to get by, even though I feel like I zombie most of the time. Now that I have been there and done that I can now share with you a few hints and tips that may help you ease back into the workforce even with a baby.
And if you would like to read my personal accounts about ‘returning to work after baby’ then check out my two articles. One focusing on the weeks just before and just after returning to work, and the second a look at life as working mother after being back at work for six months. Both will give you a good look at the normal emotional response that a mother feels during this stressful transition.
Tips and Advice on Returning to work after maternity leave (having a baby)
One of the best things to do if you can, is to try to negotiate a gradual return to work, either by working part time or working less hours each day. Thanks to the concept of work life balance there are a lot more options now, like job share and part time employment. Some employers may even allow you to work from home some of the time. Talk to your employer about what options may be available to you, and if you meet a brick wall, you may want to look further into the new “Right to request flexible hours” policy that was introduced in Australia in 2010, which has been designed to help mums return to work.
Make sure people at work understand that you have new priorities now, and that you may not always be able to just stay back and do overtime or take work home. Take your baby in for a visit just before you go back to work or periodically on your days off. This helps remind people of your new and extra responsibilities.
As well as dealing with working mother guilt, you will also need to let go off the guilt you may have from changing the way in which you behave at work. Whilst you will still be able to put in 100% whilst you are there you will have to begin to realise that you now need to fit work in with your home life, and will need to start making ‘to do’ lists at work and sticking with them. As well as realising that you may sometimes have to leave work early or take days off to look after a sick or over tired child.
Organise back up plans. What will you do if your baby is sick? Can a family member take care of them? Is there someone else that could pick a sick child up from childcare if you are stuck in a meeting or someone you can call to pick them up if you are running late?
If you intend to continue breastfeeding, look into purchasing a breast pump and try to plan how you will incorporate your baby’s feeds into your day. Express and freeze milk on the weekends.
Try to organise as much as you can the night before. Pack all the lunches and milk bottles in the fridge. Pack both your bags and your child’s bag. Maybe have a master list that you mark off. Making sure you have food, clothes, nappies, creams, suntan lotion, hats, shoes, sheets, dummies, bottles, cups, comfort toys etc.
Make sure you have all your clothes ready and set them out for a quick change in the morning. Always have an extra shirt or two ironed just in case you have a food or nappy disaster two minutes before leaving the house.
Place your keys, phone, sunglasses and other important items on the kitchen bench before you go to bed, that way you won’t need to waste time looking for lost wallets in the morning. If you have your phone on charge, leave the case on the bench as a reminder to pick it up before you go.
Try to purchase some quick preparation meals such as Latina Ravioli and sauces for during the week, or cook up extra on the weekends and freeze meals for quick after work dinners. This goes for your baby’s lunches too.
Bath your baby at night so that all you have to do is give their face a quick wipe over in the morning and a quick hair brush. And that goes for you too, always have a shower at night just in case it all goes wrong in the morning, and you only have time to brush your teeth, throw your hair in a ponytail and chuck on a summer dress.
Dress your baby in the T-Shirt you want them to wear the next day when they go to bed, this way if they are being difficult in the morning and don’t want to get dressed, all you need to do is a quick nappy change and throw on a pair of play shorts.
Keep things like their shoes and hats in the car. If you are running late and they don’t want to get dressed in the morning, you can quickly through them on when you arrive at childcare.
Consider keeping a few travelling breakfast foods in the fridge for you both, like muesli bars, cheese sticks and squeezy yogurts. Both great for mornings where you are running late or your little one doesn’t want to eat breakfast. There is nothing like sending your child to kindy on an empty stomach to amp that mother guilt up a few notches.
Keep a container of crackers in the car, not only can you use them as a snack on your trip home in the afternoon, but they help keep a tired baby awake. The last thing you want is a tired baby falling asleep on the way home and keeping you up all night.
Try to dress your child in easy access clothes for nappy changes and long shorts or tights to protect their knees from the hundred falls a day they have a childcare.
Try to wash your hands before and after you leave the centre or keep hand sanitiser in the car to keep the sickness down.
Always allow extra time in the morning for meltdowns and unexpected events like a dirty nappy just before you are about to leave.
Fuel the car up on the weekend.
If your child is old enough add a few mls of children’s olive leaf extract and a liquid multivitamin like Pentavite to their juice at night to help keep the immunity up.
Take a blank copy of the communication sheet home at night and fill it out before you arrive to save time being at the centre if your child has trouble saying goodbye.
If your child does not want to go in the morning, don’t say things like “But you have to” instead talk about fun things, their friends and how great it will be. Sing songs and make the trip in a fun one. And maybe pack a favourite sleep toy.
And as hard as it is, try to say goodbye fast, the longer you hang around the worse it is for both of you. Call the centre when you arrive at work to check how your child settled if you want reassurance.
Make sure when you pick your child up that you tell them you miss them and give them lots of affection. Talk to them all the way home, so that they learn to reconnect with you after a long day away from you.
Take up any concerns you have with their carers and always ask how their day was so you know how to deal with issues at home.
Remember that it is hard, but does get a little easier as time goes on. Most mums I know cried for the first few weeks, and all of them still get mummy guilt years on. For articles on my personal experiences check these out: Returning to work after maternity leave and Returning to work six months on.
If you have any questions, hints, tips or want to share your personal experience with us then drop us an email.
Some women do actually look forward to returning to work after having a baby, but I found that I actually loved being a stay home mum, even more than I thought I would, so was never really thrilled about the prospect of going back to the office. However, as much as I wanted to stay home and play house, there were bills to be paid, so unfortunately after months of heartache and worry I had to push my tears and mother guilt behind me and reluctantly get on with this new and very challenging task.
Returning to work after maternity leave is never easy, once you have a baby there are a whole new set of challenges each day to deal with on top of the normal stresses of the corporate world. Where once there was only you to worry about and you could start and finish the day when you were ready, and come home after a gruelling day to a glass of wine and some down time you now have another person to factor into the equation.
As a working mother you now have child care pick up and drop offs to organise, meals to prepare, bags to pack and more often than not a sick, tired or cranky child to deal with. No longer can you just work back to finish a task, or take work home you now have a schedule to think about which means you will need to learn to approach your work day in a whole new way.
I have now been back to work for just over 18 months, and even after all this time I still find my working days long and exhausting. I am often still packing kindy bags at 11pm and am usually dragging my butt into work after getting up two to three times during the night. With the sleep deprivation, the endless kindy sicknesses and my daughter’s often refusal to leave home to go to childcare, I am certainly glad I was able to return to work part time. As I am not sure I could go through the stress five days running.
Even though it has been difficult returning to work after having a baby, I do somehow manage to get by, even though I feel like I zombie most of the time. Now that I have been there and done that I can now share with you a few hints and tips that may help you ease back into the workforce even with a baby.
And if you would like to read my personal accounts about ‘returning to work after baby’ then check out my two articles. One focusing on the weeks just before and just after returning to work, and the second a look at life as working mother after being back at work for six months. Both will give you a good look at the normal emotional response that a mother feels during this stressful transition.
Tips and Advice on Returning to work after maternity leave (having a baby)
One of the best things to do if you can, is to try to negotiate a gradual return to work, either by working part time or working less hours each day. Thanks to the concept of work life balance there are a lot more options now, like job share and part time employment. Some employers may even allow you to work from home some of the time. Talk to your employer about what options may be available to you, and if you meet a brick wall, you may want to look further into the new “Right to request flexible hours” policy that was introduced in Australia in 2010, which has been designed to help mums return to work.
Make sure people at work understand that you have new priorities now, and that you may not always be able to just stay back and do overtime or take work home. Take your baby in for a visit just before you go back to work or periodically on your days off. This helps remind people of your new and extra responsibilities.
As well as dealing with working mother guilt, you will also need to let go off the guilt you may have from changing the way in which you behave at work. Whilst you will still be able to put in 100% whilst you are there you will have to begin to realise that you now need to fit work in with your home life, and will need to start making ‘to do’ lists at work and sticking with them. As well as realising that you may sometimes have to leave work early or take days off to look after a sick or over tired child.
Organise back up plans. What will you do if your baby is sick? Can a family member take care of them? Is there someone else that could pick a sick child up from childcare if you are stuck in a meeting or someone you can call to pick them up if you are running late?
If you intend to continue breastfeeding, look into purchasing a breast pump and try to plan how you will incorporate your baby’s feeds into your day. Express and freeze milk on the weekends.
Try to organise as much as you can the night before. Pack all the lunches and milk bottles in the fridge. Pack both your bags and your child’s bag. Maybe have a master list that you mark off. Making sure you have food, clothes, nappies, creams, suntan lotion, hats, shoes, sheets, dummies, bottles, cups, comfort toys etc.
Make sure you have all your clothes ready and set them out for a quick change in the morning. Always have an extra shirt or two ironed just in case you have a food or nappy disaster two minutes before leaving the house.
Place your keys, phone, sunglasses and other important items on the kitchen bench before you go to bed, that way you won’t need to waste time looking for lost wallets in the morning. If you have your phone on charge, leave the case on the bench as a reminder to pick it up before you go.
Try to purchase some quick preparation meals such as Latina Ravioli and sauces for during the week, or cook up extra on the weekends and freeze meals for quick after work dinners. This goes for your baby’s lunches too.
Bath your baby at night so that all you have to do is give their face a quick wipe over in the morning and a quick hair brush. And that goes for you too, always have a shower at night just in case it all goes wrong in the morning, and you only have time to brush your teeth, throw your hair in a ponytail and chuck on a summer dress.
Dress your baby in the T-
Keep things like their shoes and hats in the car. If you are running late and they don’t want to get dressed in the morning, you can quickly through them on when you arrive at childcare.
Consider keeping a few travelling breakfast foods in the fridge for you both, like muesli bars, cheese sticks and squeezy yogurts. Both great for mornings where you are running late or your little one doesn’t want to eat breakfast. There is nothing like sending your child to kindy on an empty stomach to amp that mother guilt up a few notches.
Keep a container of crackers in the car, not only can you use them as a snack on your trip home in the afternoon, but they help keep a tired baby awake. The last thing you want is a tired baby falling asleep on the way home and keeping you up all night.
Try to dress your child in easy access clothes for nappy changes and long shorts or tights to protect their knees from the hundred falls a day they have a childcare.
Try to wash your hands before and after you leave the centre or keep hand sanitiser in the car to keep the sickness down.
Always allow extra time in the morning for meltdowns and unexpected events like a dirty nappy just before you are about to leave.
Fuel the car up on the weekend.
If your child is old enough add a few mls of children’s olive leaf extract and a liquid multivitamin like Pentavite to their juice at night to help keep the immunity up.
Take a blank copy of the communication sheet home at night and fill it out before you arrive to save time being at the centre if your child has trouble saying goodbye.
If your child does not want to go in the morning, don’t say things like “But you have to” instead talk about fun things, their friends and how great it will be. Sing songs and make the trip in a fun one. And maybe pack a favourite sleep toy.
And as hard as it is, try to say goodbye fast, the longer you hang around the worse it is for both of you. Call the centre when you arrive at work to check how your child settled if you want reassurance.
Make sure when you pick your child up that you tell them you miss them and give them lots of affection. Talk to them all the way home, so that they learn to reconnect with you after a long day away from you.
Take up any concerns you have with their carers and always ask how their day was so you know how to deal with issues at home.
Remember that it is hard, but does get a little easier as time goes on. Most mums I know cried for the first few weeks, and all of them still get mummy guilt years on. For articles on my personal experiences check these out: Returning to work after maternity leave and Returning to work six months on.
If you have any questions, hints, tips or want to share your personal experience with us then drop us an email.