How to Balance Work with a New Baby
When you are a new mom, you may desperately want to spend every moment with your little one. The first few months of motherhood are vital to a lifetime of love and affection. However, there will always come a time when you have to forfeit being there for your child every second of the day for heading back to work to earn money. Here are some of the ways that you can make balancing your work with family life feel effortless at all times.
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· Take an Online Qualification
Maternity leave can lead to a dip in women’s confidence in their return to work due to the extended amount of time that you have been away from the workplace. However, if you want to boost your self-esteem and live the life that you want to live, the best option that you can take is to complete an online qualification. The digital nature of these qualifications means that they are simple to perform at home, with assessments and coursework being submitted over the internet. Not only can they keep you occupied while the baby is sleeping, but they can also ensure that you are able to boost your career when you do decide to return to work, making both your family life and work a priority. For nurses, for example, by taking Baylor University’s DNP Executive Leadership program, it can leave you raring to go when you are ready to end your maternity leave by providing you with the highest level of nursing. Your expanded knowledge will ensure that you come back and work your way up the ladder quickly, so even if with time off, you haven’t lost out on your career prospects.
· Look After Your Health
Balancing your work with your new baby can feel like a circus act, and it can be easy to let one of the balls that you are juggling fall. For many new parents, that ball is their health, and many moms stop being so concerned with staying healthy when they start back at work. However, looking after your health is vital for both being able to create the best work possible and to be able to look after your baby well. Therefore, you should consider your health every single day of the year, whether that is eating well, performing exercises such as Pilates, or even simply boosting your mental health and esteem through establishing a great beauty routine.
· Stay Flexible
When you are looking for new job opportunities, flexibility is the key. Flexible working hours will allow you to be there for all of your child’s firsts, whether that is their first step or first word, and will also ensure that you can accommodate for emergencies. In order to do this, you should look at careers which you can work on around the needs of your child, or those that can allow you to work from home. You might also consider looking for freelance jobs that can allow you to take on only the work that you can manage. Freelance jobs aren’t just restricted to office-based jobs. For nurses, this might mean heading off to patients’ homes to provide health care, whereas, for chefs, this might mean taking up catering jobs for weddings or parties.
· Maintain a Routine
One of the aspects of your life that will most change when you have a baby is your routine. However much you may feel like scrapping your routine in the chaos of working and motherhood, it is important that you are able to maintain a routine as much as possible. Not only will this help you to get to work on time, but it will also enable you to make sure that you have ample time to spend with your loved ones. For instance, you should only work for certain hours a day, and avoid doing over-time that could eat into the precious hours that you are spending with your family.
· Arrange Childcare
You cannot be with your child 24 hours a day, and there may come a time when you are unable to look after them due to work commitments. Therefore, before you take the step of returning to work, you should look at arranging childcare for your baby. For instance, you might consider employing a babysitter who can look after your baby at home or consider speaking to some of the best childcare facilities in your area. You should also work with your partner if you are parenting together, splitting childcare between the two of you, and ensuring that you are both making work sacrifices in order to care for your new child. Additionally, some workplaces even offer creches that may be able to support you while your child is still young, with many jobs such as those at university allowing you to take your child to work through the childcare facilities.
· Take Time Off
The effort of balancing your child with work can take its toll on you and your mental health. Therefore, it is important that you are able to work on taking time off when you need it. This will allow you to recharge and ensure that you are able to perform your duties and care for your child at your full potential. You should also make sure that you take advantage of any holiday pay that you are eligible for, which can allow you to spend time with your family without worrying about where your next pay-check is coming from.
· Consider Your Child’s Needs
Although you might have always been focused on your career, when you have a child, it is important to consider their needs when you are making any major decisions. For instance, you should consider the need to breastfeed your child throughout the day when they are still young, as well as your ability to give them emotional support and to be there for them as they grow older. This may prevent you from taking on larger roles at work or from traveling for your career.
· Speak to Your Manager
The best step that you can take before returning to work is to speak to your manager. Your manager will be able to arrange a compromise with you in terms of your working hours, and may even allow you to ease back to work gently. By doing this, you will be able to cope with the sudden change to the life that you have got used to and return to normality.
