Hi hun, I have been working for myself for about eight years and I found that it took me a couple of years to be secure and then DD came along! I took a while to get back rolling, but for the last few years it's been a good income.

However, I'm a consultant and I have the luxury of being able to pick my hours and fit work around a schedule that works for both DD and I. I work part time and only take on as many clients as I can fit into my life. DP is also self-employed, but his is a 9-5 business and it would have been much harder if he was the primary carer. He has had times where he takes her to his office and he has an area at the back, drawing things for her and so on.

Things that I found invaluable were sharing/swapping care with friends who had children the same age, so I could spend some time focusing on work alone (from when DD was seven months) and once I was rolling along, a nanny who came to our home two days a week and could not only take care of DD but also some of the chores (until DD was old enough to do at least two days of preschool). It was expensive, but worth it to keep me working. I still do swapping of care with friends in the school holidays.