Working from home with a baby below 3 months of age is mostly like getting a big picture done piece by piece. Though it may sound great to carry on productive work hours alongside caring for your baby at home, striking the right balance is always a tricky venture. Nonetheless, a few tips can help you prepare a better strategy in managing a newborn while you work from home.
1. Work while your Baby Sleeps
No matter how obliged you feel to multitask by entertaining the baby right by your side while getting a few important emails answered- just Don’t do it! The matter that you have left a 9 to 5 job for working at home should make the work hours flexible enough for you to prioritize one task at a time. Giving your baby the time that he/ she needs in the non-sleepy hours is crucial in developing the bond with your baby.
The best time to get the heavy workloads off is when your baby sleeps. You can be benefitted from the multiple naps that babies tend to take in their early years. Cherish the time you spend with your baby when he/ she is awake and then sleeve up to get the presentations done after you have fed the baby and put him/ her to sleep
2. Work while the other parent manages the Baby
Unless you are a single parent, let your partner have some sharing of roles if you have urgent work on the table right when your baby needs care. You can’t be a professional businessperson and a careful parent all in the same minute so switch the roles and let the other parent play with the baby if your professional role needs you to respond immediately. Not only for emergency tasks, but you must also seek the help of your partner for getting yourself that much-needed coffee or meal break.
Taking shifts with your partner shall help both of you focus and manage your work with the parenting role. If you are a single parent, seek the help of any of your family members. It is better to attend to your work responsibilities when your baby is playing with siblings, the other parent to family members.
3. Use Breastfeeding Sling
A baby carrier or a breastfeeding sling can be extremely useful in keeping your baby closer to your chest without having to put both hands in use. A breastfeeding sling is not only for new parents who find it difficult to hold the baby all the while but it is also the most versatile equipment for working parents.
Breastfeeding Slings can deliver your body’s warmth to your baby, helping him/ her feel secure, as if in a womb, and at the same time give you the flexibility to type using both hands. Another benefit of a baby sling is that it makes food accessible to the baby if you are occupied in the baby’s feeding hours. However, the sling can be used by the mother as well as the father since it gives a comfortable environment and bonding to your baby. You can check the Best Baby Slings for Breastfeeding guide on Two in Mind to get the best one for yourself.
4. Engage your Baby in some Activities
As your children grow, you can guide them into occupying themselves with several interactive games and toys. Don’t hand over a smartphone to your toddler- give them toys to play with or at best get a baby bouncer, swing, or rocker which helps them play and develop their motor skills. See what type of activities engage your child better and help them learn as well. Plan certain playful activities for their awake hours in such a way that they mostly don’t demand your attention through the sessions.
Beware not to perpetually engage the baby in tiring activities or compromising on the time that your baby essentially requires with you. Moreover, you must attend to your baby at regular intervals just to ensure that they are safe. You may also ask other adults in the house to keep an eye on the baby’s movement without leaving them unattended for a long period of time.
5. Be Flexible with Work Hours
Don’t wear yourself out in the process. A sustainable schedule and well-managed work hours are critical to your health and well-being. One thing that the global Pandemic has highly alarmed us about is the importance of maintaining good hygiene and health conditions. The more you crush yourself over perfecting everything and seamlessly managing job and parenting responsibilities, the more impractical it shall get, stealing your sanity.
Therefore, have a flexible schedule and distribute the work hours no matter how odd they might appear. For example, you may pick an hour from the afternoon, two from the late evening, and three from the early morning to meet your international clients or get the most creative work done. Make sure you do justice to what you do regardless of when you do it. The lack of flexible working hours can make you prone to excessive mental burnout. Take a break, nap with your baby, get your coffee breaks, watch your favorite movies or series and enjoy the moment
6. Hire a Babysitter
There should be no hesitation in hiring help to attend to your baby while you are busy with your schedule. What you must avoid at any cost is getting over-consumed by the work so much that you barely realize that your baby has grown past his/ her formative years. As you fall into a situation when you can’t work at some off hours, having a babysitter will assist you in focusing on your work without interruption. The better and sooner you get done with the work for the day, you can get back to your child with some quality time to spend and bond with each other.
It is likely that a newborn shall sleep most of the hours in a day but as they grow, they require less sleep and more playing hours. Forcing the baby into sleeping when they must be playing or learning about the environment, they are in may backfire. Rather than letting the matter get stained between the baby and the parent.
Don’t force yourself to bear a pang of guilt for not managing everything like a robot. We are humans and that is okay if you don’t perfectly sweep every work off seamlessly. Choosing to put your professional foot forward while caring for a newborn is no less than a challenge but definitely worth it if you have the heart to manage them. Also, keep the sensitivity for your own self alive to make anything work for you. Therefore, customize your plan regardless of the frequency of fluctuations while you work from home with a newborn baby.
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Source: http://hrnews.co.uk/how-to-manage-a-newborn-while-working-from-home/
