When did you go back to work?

I went back to work full-time when Zoe was 3 months old. Finances would have allowed me to stay home with her but I went back by choice, my career is important to me too. I could never be a SAHM, I'm a psychologist and I love my job.

This time around I will be going back to work 4 days a week when Alex is 3 months old also.

We don't put them in daycare though, MIL looks after them while DH and I are at work. It gives me peace of mind at least, that they are with someone I trust.

I'm taking 12 months off, with a view to not return to that work. If i don' t return, which I probably wont i'll be looking for somethign more creative or a complete career change.

3months paid leave my employer, the new maternity leave for 3 months and 6 months unpaid which we have saved up for.

i started back this year in April. I trained to become a kids swim teacher and in July started a permanent shift once a week for 2.5hrs, i stopped work back in october 2006 so had almost 5 years off :o

Well my daughter is now 1 month old. Finances mean that I am desperate to find some part-time work but there doesn't seem to be anything appropriate in the local area (as I am a single mum with no family living locally I need a job which doesn't involve weekend or evening work as I will need to put her into childcare).
I was forced to leave work when I was only 6 months pregnant as I was assaulted at work. I was working as a sub-contractor and my employer decided they couldn't guarrantee my safety so as a result they told me I could no longer continue in the job. This meant that I had to live off my savings and credit card as I was unable to get another job when I was so obviously pregnant. As a result of that I have no savings left and have maxed out my credit card hence the reason I need to find work alot earlier then I had hoped.

Lori
DD1 - 14yrs, DD2 - 1 month.

I am just now returning to work. My youngest is only 15 months. For me its been a family decision. DH has stopped working 80 hours a week and we are sharing the care of the kids and the working hours. I will be doing mostly nights and weekends and he is only working 38 hours a week. There may be aday or two a week that the kids are in day care, but other than that we are just balancing things so the kids actually get to know their dad a bit more too :)

After DD1 I returned to work 5 days per fortnight after 12 months.
DD2 is now 14 months old and I haven't returned.

In an ideal world, I would be able to find CHALLENGING professional part-time work but my experience after DD1 shows that this is very tricky. I was working for a large organisation but was effectively working two levels below my original position and was bored and frustrated even though they had to pay me at my old level.

To avoid that happening again, we rejigged our lives and moved to the country so that we could be mortgage-free and I wouldn't have to do a job I hated. It doesn't help that I wanted to change career anyhow so even if the perfect job with the perfect hours came up, I wouldn't be tempted. However, I DO need to do something other than look after DDs especially as DP often works weekends too, so next year I'm planning to put both DDs in childcare for two days a week, do my Masters with a view to changing career when I get back into the workforce.

With DS, I had a small inheritance that meant I could stay out of work for bout 8 months - I went back to work 3 days a week when he was 6 and a half months cause I was missing adult company and thought the extra cash would be good.

With this one, planning on leaving at 35 wks (12 to go!!) and coming back as soon as PPL/BB is finished.

It's necessity this time. I would love to stay home longer but there's no way to afford it unless I won the lotto and we all know the chances of that right?!?


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Agape - your mil is incredible. She is sacrificing a lot to raise your children. Wow, just... Wow.

We've been living on dreams for the last 4 years. I worked for a few months in child care and couldn't bring myself to put our kids in child care until they are 3. When I was pregnant I worked part time because I had left a very high stress job and couldn't really get something else going while I was pregnant. Now I have no job to return to and will probably need to be retrained for a new career once my babies are in school. So we're looking at living on dreams for quite a while, then maybe I'll become a doctor and start earning some real money for a change. Pretty sick of being poverty stricken, but I'm very aware things could be worse.


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Jude 07/10/2008 | Lilac 16/06/2011

I'll be taking my PPL this time around 36 weeks. Using that have bubs bond and go back instead of 3 days per week ill be cutting down to 2 days a week.

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I took 10 weeks off with DS (1 week before, 9 weeks after) and will get 12 weeks with Ziggy.

As I will probably be having a c-section this time around, we will decide much closer to the time when I will start my mat leave.

If I and Ziggy are doing well, it would be good to work right up to the date, so I have as much time as possible to bond and establish breastfeeding etc - but of course it will very much depend on how well we are beforehand, and what is best for Ziggy and me.

I haven't gone back to work but I did have to do a nine week work placement for my degree. I planned to do it part time when my first was one but once we got there he was WAY too young in my eyes. So I put it off a year and did it two days a week when he turned two. I was pregnant with #2 then and now I have no plans to work till he's at least three.

I went back to work at 6 months. Partly money reasons, and partly because I felt like I was going crazy at home just doing baby things (I don't really have any friends with babies at the time, although there are some around now.....). My maternity leave could have been stretched out a bit longer, but we chose to take it at a higher rate of pay over a shorter period of time. TBH, at the moment I'm kind of wishing I didn't have to go back. I mean, I know that for us we need the money to get by (the effect of having an expensive house in a desirable suburb I suppose, but we wanted to get the house before having kids as we figured it would be harder once they were born ITMS?). I sometimes wish we had more financial freedom though. I'm actually wondering if we should move before having #2 so that I can stay home with them both for longer....

With DS1 I had a total of 9months off work. I started maternity leave 3 weeks before I was due (and went into labour on my due date!).

I am extremely lucky as my employer offers 6months maternity leave at F/T pay or your current working conditions. I had also saved up 3 months recreation leave so was paid at a F/T rate for the entire 9 months which is really fortunate as DH and I cannot survive without me receiving an income due to our mortgage costs and general living expenses.

I returned to my old job at 4 days p/week instead of the 5 days p/wk I was planning as I realised it would just be too much and I needed a day to be able to take DS to the doctors/ specialists if needed let alone feeling guilty that 5 days in childcare would be just too much for him.

This time round, I am taking 50weeks maternity leave (9 months was not long enough) and again will be paid (at 4 days p/wk as this is what I am currently working) for the entire time thanks to Employer paid maternity leave (6 months), 18 wks Paid Parental Leave (PPL) and 6 weeks recreation leave. I am starting maternity leave 4 weeks before I am due this time. I am hoping to return to work for 3 days p/week (will most probably be moved departments for this), however, it will depend on finances at the time. I really want to only work 3 days p/week (I wish I didn't have to work at all!) as I feel 4 is already hard let alone having another child in day-care as I found it difficult to manage when DS1 was ill and could not attend.

12 months both times

12 months off here :)

8 months with dd1

17 months with dd2. Had to had 3 extensions on my mat leave as dd2 was mega clingy and refused anything but breastmilk until 14 months.