The Baby Boat Logo and Name is a registered Trademark and is protected under Copyright - All rights reserved - ™ ® ©
® ©
Baby, Preconception, Fertility, Pregnancy, Birth, Mum, Dad, Mum to be, Child, Toddler, Infant, Parent, Family, Kids, Toys, Activities, Baby Clothes, Nursery
Returning To Work after Maternity Leave - 6 Months on
Once you have a baby, for most of us it is only time before we will have to return to work after maternity leave. (For hints, tips and advice on returning to work -
Returning to work after having a baby is never easy, and the thought of leaving your baby in child care in order to return to work can make many mother cry.
The weeks before I returned to work after maternity leave and the weeks that followed were extremely traumatic for me and my baby. In this article I want to explore with you how I feel about being back to work and how my baby is finding long child care six months on.
Returning to work after maternity leave - Life as working mum with a baby
It seems like only yesterday that I was fretting about returning to work after my maternity leave, and within a blink of an eye six months have passed since I kissed behind being a stay at home mother goodbye and delved into the role of a working mother.
Without scaring new mothers about to take this step, I must admit that the transition from stay at home to working mother has not been easy. And has been to date, one of the most emotional and physical challenges I have ever undergone.
When I wrote my first article on the subject of returning to work after maternity leave, it was through the eyes of a new mother who was dealing with the grief and fear of placing my tiny precious baby into child care more so than a woman wondering how she was going to juggle this new dual role.
(For hints, tips and advice on returning to work - click here ).
Now months on I am able to look at this subject with new, if somewhat, bleary eyes and am able to provide mothers that are about to walk down this path, with a real view of what returning to work after having a baby is really like.
For the weeks and months leading up to the inevitable return to work; I fretted, cried and stressed daily about how hard it would be to go back to work, and how hard it would be to leave my baby with complete strangers. And when the day arrived that I did have to leave my baby for the first time, it was as bad, if not worse than I had imagined. When I handed her over to the carers, I raced to my husband’s open arms and fell into them sobbing just like my tiny baby was, only metres away. (Read the whole returning to work after maternity leave article here)
For the next month, leaving my crying baby to face the traffic and a day of corporate life broke my heart. I spent many days crying in the car, and the mummy guilt was almost unbearable. I spent all my days missing my baby and watching my phone in case the child care centre rang. It didn’t feel right leaving my baby in child care and it didn’t feel right being away from her. I beat myself up all day long.
Whilst they say it takes the average child around 7 weeks to settle in to child care, it took my little princess four whole months to stop screaming when I left her in the mornings. Knowing that she was OK ten minutes later, did little to calm my mummy guilt or make the morning drop offs any less unbearable.
However, as the months passed whilst it was still hard to leave my baby, I am happy to report that it did get easier. Whilst I still feel a pang of guilt and get an occasional tear in my eye, the drop off has gotten easier. Most days now she gives me a look that says “I would rather that you didn’t leave” but she seems to have accepted the situation and is usually happy enough to be handed over to the carers for a cuddle, and on the odd occasion has even toddled off to play with a friend or a toy.
At work now, whilst I do miss her, and wonder what she is doing during the day, once the initial mummy guilt about being at work disappears, I am able to get on with my day without feeling sick, scared or in fear for her safety. I can now get through the day without crying in the bathroom or constantly looking at my mobile. And that constant pit of sorrow in my stomach has cleared.
Though whilst there are now days when the drop off goes quite smoothly there are still days where there are tears both hers and mine. The days when she is sick, tired and only wants the comfort of her mother’s arms. These days, like this morning when she had a full blown melt down when I tried to leave, are still hard.
I wonder if a day will come when I no longer have to worry about her crying when I leave, however when I look around at some of the older kids that have been at the child care centre for years, there are still days when they have a cry and a tantrum when their mums and dads leave, so I suppose all parents will have days like this occasionally, and it is just a part of a working parents life.
Apart from the emotional side of returning to work, I have been quite shocked as to how hard it is to cope with the physical side of balancing two roles. The days of a working mother are long and exhausting. I am up with the dawn and finally finish washing water bottles and packing kindy bags around ten o’clock each night. Then there is maybe an hour to myself before I fall into bed so I can do it all again the next day. Praying and hoping that my little princess sleeps through the night, so that I can get a little rest myself. The mantra of the working mother should be ‘the first to rise and the last to bed”. I am glad each day that I only choose to be return to work part time, as by Wednesday, we are both exhausted and I look forward to our less chaotic days at home.
Whilst the transition to returning to work has been difficult, it has not all been doom and gloom. I do enjoy catching up with my old work friends, having a chat about what’s in the news, or the latest gossip. And I actually get to have a hot coffee in a cafe on my own at lunch time. And after a day away from my daughter I do get a chance to ‘miss’ her and we have loads of fun catching up on our days off.
And apart from the protests about mummy leaving, my daughter really enjoys her days at kindy, and is doing all sorts of fun activities we would probably never do at home. It is fun to get your first homemade painting and my heart completely melted the first time she spoke another child’s name and I realised she had made her first friend.
Whilst emotionally returning to work has gotten easier, I am still finding it hard. Hard, coping with a day at the office after being up half the night with a sick baby. Hard, waking a sick baby that has just fallen asleep after a long night of coughing. Hard, dealing with tantrums and tears when I am running late for the office. Hard dealing with incident reports, conjunctivitis and endless runny noses. Hard being away from my little princess all day. And hard doing it day, after day, after day, with still no lotto win in sight.
About the Author
The author is Imogen – Proud Mother and Managing Director and in-house writer for Baby Boat
Without scaring new mothers about to take this step, I must admit that the transition from stay at home to working mother has not been easy. And has been to date, one of the most emotional and physical challenges I have ever undergone.
When I wrote my first article on the subject of returning to work after maternity leave, it was through the eyes of a new mother who was dealing with the grief and fear of placing my tiny precious baby into child care more so than a woman wondering how she was going to juggle this new dual role.
(For hints, tips and advice on returning to work -
Now months on I am able to look at this subject with new, if somewhat, bleary eyes and am able to provide mothers that are about to walk down this path, with a real view of what returning to work after having a baby is really like.
For the weeks and months leading up to the inevitable return to work; I fretted, cried and stressed daily about how hard it would be to go back to work, and how hard it would be to leave my baby with complete strangers. And when the day arrived that I did have to leave my baby for the first time, it was as bad, if not worse than I had imagined. When I handed her over to the carers, I raced to my husband’s open arms and fell into them sobbing just like my tiny baby was, only metres away. (Read the whole returning to work after maternity leave article here)
For the next month, leaving my crying baby to face the traffic and a day of corporate life broke my heart. I spent many days crying in the car, and the mummy guilt was almost unbearable. I spent all my days missing my baby and watching my phone in case the child care centre rang. It didn’t feel right leaving my baby in child care and it didn’t feel right being away from her. I beat myself up all day long.
Whilst they say it takes the average child around 7 weeks to settle in to child care, it took my little princess four whole months to stop screaming when I left her in the mornings. Knowing that she was OK ten minutes later, did little to calm my mummy guilt or make the morning drop offs any less unbearable.
However, as the months passed whilst it was still hard to leave my baby, I am happy to report that it did get easier. Whilst I still feel a pang of guilt and get an occasional tear in my eye, the drop off has gotten easier. Most days now she gives me a look that says “I would rather that you didn’t leave” but she seems to have accepted the situation and is usually happy enough to be handed over to the carers for a cuddle, and on the odd occasion has even toddled off to play with a friend or a toy.
At work now, whilst I do miss her, and wonder what she is doing during the day, once the initial mummy guilt about being at work disappears, I am able to get on with my day without feeling sick, scared or in fear for her safety. I can now get through the day without crying in the bathroom or constantly looking at my mobile. And that constant pit of sorrow in my stomach has cleared.
Though whilst there are now days when the drop off goes quite smoothly there are still days where there are tears both hers and mine. The days when she is sick, tired and only wants the comfort of her mother’s arms. These days, like this morning when she had a full blown melt down when I tried to leave, are still hard.
I wonder if a day will come when I no longer have to worry about her crying when I leave, however when I look around at some of the older kids that have been at the child care centre for years, there are still days when they have a cry and a tantrum when their mums and dads leave, so I suppose all parents will have days like this occasionally, and it is just a part of a working parents life.
Apart from the emotional side of returning to work, I have been quite shocked as to how hard it is to cope with the physical side of balancing two roles. The days of a working mother are long and exhausting. I am up with the dawn and finally finish washing water bottles and packing kindy bags around ten o’clock each night. Then there is maybe an hour to myself before I fall into bed so I can do it all again the next day. Praying and hoping that my little princess sleeps through the night, so that I can get a little rest myself. The mantra of the working mother should be ‘the first to rise and the last to bed”. I am glad each day that I only choose to be return to work part time, as by Wednesday, we are both exhausted and I look forward to our less chaotic days at home.
Whilst the transition to returning to work has been difficult, it has not all been doom and gloom. I do enjoy catching up with my old work friends, having a chat about what’s in the news, or the latest gossip. And I actually get to have a hot coffee in a cafe on my own at lunch time. And after a day away from my daughter I do get a chance to ‘miss’ her and we have loads of fun catching up on our days off.
And apart from the protests about mummy leaving, my daughter really enjoys her days at kindy, and is doing all sorts of fun activities we would probably never do at home. It is fun to get your first homemade painting and my heart completely melted the first time she spoke another child’s name and I realised she had made her first friend.
Whilst emotionally returning to work has gotten easier, I am still finding it hard. Hard, coping with a day at the office after being up half the night with a sick baby. Hard, waking a sick baby that has just fallen asleep after a long night of coughing. Hard, dealing with tantrums and tears when I am running late for the office. Hard dealing with incident reports, conjunctivitis and endless runny noses. Hard being away from my little princess all day. And hard doing it day, after day, after day, with still no lotto win in sight.
About the Author
The author is Imogen – Proud Mother and Managing Director and in-
