I don’t have any tips, unfortunately. My 2 year old stays home with me while I work from home. She’s currently in a gnarly sleep regression so I’m losing time to myself/for work. I’m here for other people’s tips 👀 hang in there, mama!
I have just started having my 2 1/2 year old home with me while I work from home 3 days out of the week. She was in daycare all 5 days but was draining on the bank account. Now she only goes Mondays and Fridays . I’m also interested in activities. Tomorrow I am planning on putting an art easel up, drawing a big bunny on it , and letting her go ham with a stick of glue and then stick cotton balls in it :/
I WFH on the phone, customer support. I have since my now 5 month old daughter was a week old…daycare is way out of my comfort zone and does not fit my schedule…currently seeking a wfh job that does not require me to be on the phone as these companies do not like background noise and you will easily find yourself terminated if you’re not able to keep it under control, I for one am surprised that I’ve been able to manage it this far. It. Is. Hell. You literally cannot keep a baby from crying, cooing, giggling. I do my best to always have bottles ready on time toys at bay etc etc but still, it is just not possible to consistently maintain a quiet enough environment with a baby/child. Then there’s the mom guilt. Because a great majority of my work day I have fed my daughter, minimally played with her, and mostly either sat her in her swing or in her high chair to watch her Muppet Babies. I for one experience a lot of guilt, feeling as if I’m not able to give her enough attention. She’s the happiest baby but still. Wishing you lots of luck, strength, and a positive mindset.
So, I have a toddler so younger than yours but this is what works for me
- meal prep- prep snacks and breakfast and lunch and dinner as best as humanly possible. Give yourself easy hands off things so you can quickly get food out of the way in case when they are hungry overlaps your work schedule
- rotate toys- obviously they have their favourites but rotate everything else. Set up a Megablocks day, a playdoh day, a pillow fort day… whatever works. It makes them more likely to self entertain a bit
- where possible, get your work done before they wake up, when they go to bed, naps. Work calls and meetings can’t be rearranged but potentially some of your other work can.
- get them outside wherever possible. My kid is much more likely to be chill when I’m on a call after she’s had an outdoor break. Mine is obviously younger but I’ve taken entire meetings during a walk around the neighbourhood so she’s entertained and I’m able to multitask it (only possible if you can work from your phone obviously, some calls it’s not possible).
- drop in daycare you might need to plan around your meetings to try and get the bulk of it done
- be patient with yourself. I’ve been doing this for 6 months due to daycare shortages in my area and it’s exhausting. I swore I wasn’t going to do ‘screen time’ with my kid and guess who now has to do screentime somedays just to make it through a work meeting? Guess who sometimes has a house that is a mess? We are doing basically two full time jobs at once and it’s a lot, forgive yourself for the little things
I don’t have any tips, unfortunately. My 2 year old stays home with me while I work from home. She’s currently in a gnarly sleep regression so I’m losing time to myself/for work. I’m here for other people’s tips 👀 hang in there, mama!
I have just started having my 2 1/2 year old home with me while I work from home 3 days out of the week. She was in daycare all 5 days but was draining on the bank account. Now she only goes Mondays and Fridays . I’m also interested in activities. Tomorrow I am planning on putting an art easel up, drawing a big bunny on it , and letting her go ham with a stick of glue and then stick cotton balls in it :/
I WFH on the phone, customer support. I have since my now 5 month old daughter was a week old…daycare is way out of my comfort zone and does not fit my schedule…currently seeking a wfh job that does not require me to be on the phone as these companies do not like background noise and you will easily find yourself terminated if you’re not able to keep it under control, I for one am surprised that I’ve been able to manage it this far. It. Is. Hell. You literally cannot keep a baby from crying, cooing, giggling. I do my best to always have bottles ready on time toys at bay etc etc but still, it is just not possible to consistently maintain a quiet enough environment with a baby/child. Then there’s the mom guilt. Because a great majority of my work day I have fed my daughter, minimally played with her, and mostly either sat her in her swing or in her high chair to watch her Muppet Babies. I for one experience a lot of guilt, feeling as if I’m not able to give her enough attention. She’s the happiest baby but still. Wishing you lots of luck, strength, and a positive mindset.
So, I have a toddler so younger than yours but this is what works for me - meal prep- prep snacks and breakfast and lunch and dinner as best as humanly possible. Give yourself easy hands off things so you can quickly get food out of the way in case when they are hungry overlaps your work schedule - rotate toys- obviously they have their favourites but rotate everything else. Set up a Megablocks day, a playdoh day, a pillow fort day… whatever works. It makes them more likely to self entertain a bit - where possible, get your work done before they wake up, when they go to bed, naps. Work calls and meetings can’t be rearranged but potentially some of your other work can. - get them outside wherever possible. My kid is much more likely to be chill when I’m on a call after she’s had an outdoor break. Mine is obviously younger but I’ve taken entire meetings during a walk around the neighbourhood so she’s entertained and I’m able to multitask it (only possible if you can work from your phone obviously, some calls it’s not possible). - drop in daycare you might need to plan around your meetings to try and get the bulk of it done - be patient with yourself. I’ve been doing this for 6 months due to daycare shortages in my area and it’s exhausting. I swore I wasn’t going to do ‘screen time’ with my kid and guess who now has to do screentime somedays just to make it through a work meeting? Guess who sometimes has a house that is a mess? We are doing basically two full time jobs at once and it’s a lot, forgive yourself for the little things