Working moms question

[Deleted]

I'm going backup work Monday and just wondering how everyone's mornings are going for working moms. billyhorrible random post got me thinking if anyone is having any challenges.

I think my biggest question is how should I handle her first nap of day. She is an early riser so she wakes at 6am then is ready for her first nap at 745am. Like she is usually asleep by 745 which means I start putting her down at 730. But I need to leave to go to work by 8am so I will be in work clothes and doing other things to get ready to leave the house. We have an in home care provider that works in our house watching both kids from 8am-5pm mom-fri. She has 3 kids of her own so she can't arrive before 8.

Should I just stretch her awake time and hand over a cranky baby to her at 8?

[islandgirl14]

I am a stickler when it comes to being on time with naps/bedtimes, etc., but that is just me. If I were in your shoes, I would try to get her down at her normal nap time, and not hand over a cranky baby. Are you able to get up earlier to allow yourself the time it takes to put her down for a nap/change clothes etc? Like if you know putting her down for a nap will zap up an extra 15 minutes of your morning when you need to get ready, can you get up that much earlier so you have time to get everything done?

Not sure if this helps or even answers your question, but that is my two cents! I always get up early "just in case". I never know if I will need to nurse J before I leave (it all just depends on when he wakes up, which I don't know until it happens)... So I always get up early and get myself ready to go, that way if I have to nurse, I have time. If it turns out I don't need to, then I wind up having a little bit of extra free time in the morning, which is fine.

[billyhorrible]

I have 3 possible solutions for you, but I can't promise any will work.
1) What time does DH leave for work? Can he put the baby down for that nap?

2) Get up earlier so you're ready for work by 7:30. This is what I do. Not because of a nap, but because I know at 6:30 I have to feed and dress BH and head out the door. So I get up at 5 so I can be showered and ready to go and make sure LBB is dressed and ready before 6:30.

3) When BH is awake when I'm trying to get ready, I leave him in his crib in a dark room with his Fisher Price Seahorse. Usually he goes through 2 cycles of that (while I'm getting ready) and falls asleep. Could you try something like that at 7:30? So you're not actively trying to get her down?

[Widget123]

I was going to propose something similar to billyhorrible 's solution #3. For example, my LO loves to nap in his swing. After I moved it back upstairs it made it easier to just plop him in there to chill or nap while the rest of us finish getting ready for the morning.

[dmoney]

I have to be at work by 8am, I get up at 5 so that I have plenty of time to shower, get ready and get her stuff ready for the day. To be at work on time i have to leave the house by 7:20 at the latest. By waking up so early, I make sure that I have enough time to nurse her if she wakes up. But like islandgirl14 said, I never know when that is going to be.

[Widget123]

Unrelated, I finally let DD pick out her own clothes for daycare this morning. She seemed to be more cooperative about getting ready from being more involved in the process. DH is usually the one who gets her ready in the morning though, so I am a little bit nervous about him supervising her picking her own clothes... she is probably going to be completely mismatched every day

[islandgirl14]

Oct 16, 2015 10:18:41 GMT -5 dmoney said:

I have to be at work by 8am, I get up at 5 so that I have plenty of time to shower, get ready and get her stuff ready for the day. To be at work on time i have to leave the house by 7:20 at the latest. By waking up so early, I make sure that I have enough time to nurse her if she wakes up. But like islandgirl14 said, I never know when that is going to be.

I have basically this exact same schedule... I often think it sounds insane to have to get up that early to make it to work by 8am... I'm glad to see I'm not the only one!

[dmoney]

Oct 16, 2015 10:28:57 GMT -5 islandgirl14 said:

Oct 16, 2015 10:18:41 GMT -5 dmoney said:

I have to be at work by 8am, I get up at 5 so that I have plenty of time to shower, get ready and get her stuff ready for the day. To be at work on time i have to leave the house by 7:20 at the latest. By waking up so early, I make sure that I have enough time to nurse her if she wakes up. But like islandgirl14 said, I never know when that is going to be.

I have basically this exact same schedule... I often think it sounds insane to have to get up that early to make it to work by 8am... I'm glad to see I'm not the only one!

 Nope you are not the only one!! The days that she doesnt wake up before I leave in the AM< I Just add an extra pumping session in while at work. 

[dmoney]

Oct 16, 2015 10:44:35 GMT -5 budders said:

I was going to suggest similar strategies based on what we do.

Just out of curiosity, why do work clothes impact putting her down to rest?

Just guessing, that maybe if she throws up she doesnt want to have to change her shirt... But the Mornings that I do nurse DD i have my shirt laid out and after i am done i put it on...

[islandgirl14]

Oct 16, 2015 11:01:06 GMT -5 dmoney said:

Oct 16, 2015 10:44:35 GMT -5 budders said:

I was going to suggest similar strategies based on what we do.

Just out of curiosity, why do work clothes impact putting her down to rest?

Just guessing, that maybe if she throws up she doesnt want to have to change her shirt... But the Mornings that I do nurse DD i have my shirt laid out and after i am done i put it on...

+1... I actually change at work. I get spit up on me so frequently and have learned the hard way... I put my work clothes in a little bag and just change in the bathroom at work.

[billyhorrible]

Oct 16, 2015 11:05:09 GMT -5 islandgirl14 said:

Oct 16, 2015 11:01:06 GMT -5 dmoney said:

Just guessing, that maybe if she throws up she doesnt want to have to change her shirt... But the Mornings that I do nurse DD i have my shirt laid out and after i am done i put it on...

+1... I actually change at work. I get spit up on me so frequently and have learned the hard way... I put my work clothes in a little bag and just change in the bathroom at work.

This is brilliant.

Widget123 - LBB picks out his own clothes and gets himself dressed every morning. I'd say 95% of the time he looks like a homeless person, but it's not a battle I care to fight.

[wegrowsheep]

Oct 16, 2015 11:22:53 GMT -5 billyhorrible said:

Oct 16, 2015 11:05:09 GMT -5 islandgirl14 said:

+1... I actually change at work. I get spit up on me so frequently and have learned the hard way... I put my work clothes in a little bag and just change in the bathroom at work.

This is brilliant.

Widget123 - LBB picks out his own clothes and gets himself dressed every morning. I'd say 95% of the time he looks like a homeless person, but it's not a battle I care to fight.

DD doesn't take fashion advice from me anymore. So she looks very *unique* all the time.

[dmoney]

I will add that I get everything for DD ready the night before.. All bottles are made, in the fridge in her lunch box ready to go to day care. Her outfit is also picked out the night before and on the changing table so I just have to grab it and put it on her. Everything is packed and by the front door ( its to cold to leave some things in the car over night) Before i strap her into her Car Seat i put her in her rock n play and take everything out to the car. Then put her in the car seat and we are ready to go. Getting everything together at night has really saved me a great deal of time.

[islandgirl14]

Oct 16, 2015 12:00:01 GMT -5 dmoney said:

I will add that I get everything for DD ready the night before.. All bottles are made, in the fridge in her lunch box ready to go to day care. Her outfit is also picked out the night before and on the changing table so I just have to grab it and put it on her. Everything is packed and by the front door ( its to cold to leave some things in the car over night) Before i strap her into her Car Seat i put her in her rock n play and take everything out to the car. Then put her in the car seat and we are ready to go. Getting everything together at night has really saved me a great deal of time.

Hah... I do this all as well... I feel like we could be writing identical posts today... haha!

[dmoney]

Oct 16, 2015 12:13:09 GMT -5 islandgirl14 said:

Oct 16, 2015 12:00:01 GMT -5 dmoney said:

I will add that I get everything for DD ready the night before.. All bottles are made, in the fridge in her lunch box ready to go to day care. Her outfit is also picked out the night before and on the changing table so I just have to grab it and put it on her. Everything is packed and by the front door ( its to cold to leave some things in the car over night) Before i strap her into her Car Seat i put her in her rock n play and take everything out to the car. Then put her in the car seat and we are ready to go. Getting everything together at night has really saved me a great deal of time.

Hah... I do this all as well... I feel like we could be writing identical posts today... haha!

Sad thing is I have to do it on the days that DD doesnt go to day care and Daddy watches her...or we end up with days like yesterday that she wears all pink, and in his mind. well its all pink so its okay...But it was 4 different shades of pink!

[jessila]

As pp said have her napping when you leave. I do all my prep the night before-shower, hair, packed lunch, pumping stuff packed, bottles clean, my outfit & his laid out. He is still asleep when I leave but I always have my alarm set for 30 extra minutes in case he does wake up and want to nurse.
Since I shower and prep at night I only need 15 minutes from waking up to leaving.

[Widget123]

I used to prep everything the night before but with two kids it hasn't been worth it. For example, we run the dishwasher every day because even though I usually have enough bottles I like to wash pump pieces too (even though I have multiple sets). With just DD I used to hand dry everything the night before so I could fill the bottles, etc. Now it was outsourced to DH to do in the morning, when it has had the benefit to partially dry overnight.  I'm busy enough as it is in the evenings.  I do prep LO's shirt and pants.

[Deleted]

Oct 16, 2015 10:16:33 GMT -5 Widget123 said:

I was going to propose something similar to billyhorrible 's solution #3. For example, my LO loves to nap in his swing. After I moved it back upstairs it made it easier to just plop him in there to chill or nap while the rest of us finish getting ready for the morning.

We don't have a swing but I'm thinking this could be a good solution since she isn't one of those babies that will just fall asleep in her crib. She tends to get excited in her crib and she needs motion to get drowsy. My current routine is i wear her in the ergo while cooking breakfast and she falls asleep in there.

[Deleted]

Oct 16, 2015 13:12:58 GMT -5 jessila said:

As pp said have her napping when you leave. I do all my prep the night before-shower, hair, packed lunch, pumping stuff packed, bottles clean, my outfit & his laid out. He is still asleep when I leave but I always have my alarm set for 30 extra minutes in case he does wake up and want to nurse.
Since I shower and prep at night I only need 15 minutes from waking up to leaving.

Wow 15 minutes! You are a pro

[baytosa2013]

Oct 16, 2015 12:00:01 GMT -5 dmoney said:

I will add that I get everything for DD ready the night before.. All bottles are made, in the fridge in her lunch box ready to go to day care. Her outfit is also picked out the night before and on the changing table so I just have to grab it and put it on her. Everything is packed and by the front door ( its to cold to leave some things in the car over night) Before i strap her into her Car Seat i put her in her rock n play and take everything out to the car. Then put her in the car seat and we are ready to go. Getting everything together at night has really saved me a great deal of time.

+2 for this!  I have to be to work by 7:30 so I'm up at 4:50 and in the shower.  I'm out, in comfy clothes, makeup and hair done by 5:30.  I go down and get her bottle warming while I feed the cats.  While I'm downstairs DH gets up, gets her up and changes her diaper.  By that time I'm back upstairs and I dress her and he feeds her so I can get dressed.  He brings her down and gets her in the carseat to all be out the door at 6:30.  Her bottles are ready in the fridge the night before and we prep enough to last all the way through to her last feeding of the day.  Her clothes are out the night before as well.  I too can drag ass in the AM so I don't want to forget anything.  When we need to take diapers and such to daycare they are all by the garage door so I literally would trip over them on the way out.

[Deleted]

All this information is so helpful. Thank you everybody!

[periwinkledaydreams]

As someone who is potentially going back to work at any time (currently applying for jobs) this thread is super helpful. As it is, I feel like every time I want to leave the house I have to come up with an elaborate strategy based on what time of day it is, and it leaves me stressing that Id never be able to get a morning routine down if I went back to work. Yall have made it seem a lot more doable, thanks! Although still very strategic, and so so very early....

[carolyngrace]

baytosa2013, holy shit! up before 5am?? What time do you go to bed at night?

This was all somewhat helpful and also discouraging to read. I only work 2 days a week and I'm constantly running late for work. Mainly because I hate to wake a sleeping baby and Oscar can wake up any time between 7-8am in the mornings. I should really leave the house by 8:15 at the latest, so obviously when I let him sleep we run late. Also, it kills me to wake up before him! When he's sleeping, I want to be sleeping.