Going Back To Work After Baby

Some new mothers will not be able to stay at home with their babies for long. They may have to return to their jobs after three or four months. However, you should try to stay at home for as long as you can. If you can work part-time or from home, nothing like it! The newborn needs your attention and care and a child minder is not going to give your baby the motherly care that only you can give. At the same time, you will have to get back to work sooner or later. You can’t avoid work for long no matter how much you want to be with your little baby. Eventually, both the mother and the baby will have to learn to live without each other for 8 to 10 hours of the day. Here are some things you can do to prepare yourself and your baby, so that going back to work after baby is easier for both of you.
Working After Having A Baby

• Before you join work, start leaving the baby for sometime with the child minder. This will make him/her get used to being with the child minder in your absence and he/she will not miss you terribly, when you are not around.
• Begin with a few hours and gradually, increase the number of hours you leave the baby with child minder. The baby will take some time to feel comfortable with the child minder. Therefore, don’tleave him/her with a stranger for long hours, right from the beginning.
• You could even give yourself a trial run of traveling back to work. This will give you confidence that you can travel again. Since you have been at home for quite some time, its better to get a hang of office work once again.
• These physical separations will help both the mother and the baby, once the mother returns to work. Leave the baby with the child minder and do outside jobs on your own, so that the baby doesn’tmind your long absence later on. It will give the baby time to get to know and adjust to the child minder.

Additional Tips

• During your maternity, keep in touch with your colleagues by phone or by E-mail. This will help you to maintain the same comfort level in rejoining after a long period of time.
• Be aware of what is going on in the office. Keeping yourself informed will only help you to be in touch, so that you look forward to joining office after the break.
• You can make some short visits to the office before your official joining date. This will help you get to know what is happening at office and will be seen as a proactive step to getting back to work.