Babies are cute, but they are not necessarily the best people to work with, especially if they are a new born. Working from home may be considered an easy task for most, but having a newborn to look after while working cannot be easy. When a person goes to his or her workplace, a proper schedule and routine is followed. But working from home for most of the mothers tends to get hectic. Now, for children who are of 2 to 3 age, even they can understand when their mommy needs a minute, but for a newborn, well it is safe to say that it can be quite challenging. Newborns can be very demanding and they make sure that their needs are being met or they tend to get very loud. But hey, nothing is impossible, and we are here to help!
In this article we will talk about the do’s and don’ts of working from home with a newborn:
DO’S:
TRY TO KNOW YOUR BABY AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
One of the greatest ways to spend your maternity leave is by getting to know you baby inside out. Make use of this maternity leave so that working can be easier later on. Understand his or her likes and dislikes. Does your baby like to sleep in a baby carrier or on a pillow? Try to understand his or her cries, is your baby crying because he is tired and needs sleep? Or because he is hungry? By knowing all these little things will help you majorly in making a schedule later on when you decide to work again.
MAKE A SCHEDULE/ROUTINE
Try to work on a routine. Now I know babies don’t work according the clock, but you can. Follow a routine and try to figure out the times your baby wakes up and needs feeding. When does he or she nap again? You can try waking up your baby at the same time in the morning and feed him at a particular time to so that it becomes a habit. This routine will help you a lot when you are working because then you will be able to predict the time your baby needs you.
IT’S OKAY FOR THE ROUTINES TO FAIL
Routines are great but when it comes to a newborn, they can fail. However, that’s okay. Try to be flexible. Sometimes you might have to work at different hours to get the work done because at times your baby might be very demanding and fussy.
MAKE A PRIORITY LIST
For the work to be done, make a priority list. This will help you in getting work done and make you feel productive.
DON’TS
DON’T BE SHY FROM ASKING FOR HELP
It is okay to ask for help. Having time all to yourself will help you a lot in getting the work done. You can hire a baby sitter or ask your mom, spouse to take care of the baby somedays.
DO NOT FEEL GUILTY
If you are not able to give 24 hours to your baby, it is okay. You have all the time in the world to spend it with your newborn, so don’t feel guilty for sometimes prioritizing your work.
Everything might seem very hard for the first couple of weeks, but believe us, you will get a hang of it. You got this!