Going back to work - Routines

Hi All,

I am going back to work in 5 weeks time and am curious to know what everyone elses morning and evenings routines are.

DS will be 8.5 months when I go back to work and he'll be taken care of by my MIL who lives less than 5 minutes drive from us. DH leaves for work at 7.30 (although that'll probably change) and I'll be commuting (taking the 'loser cruiser') which takes about 45 minutes all up.

Any suggestions/hints/tips and how you did/do it would be very helpful.

Not sure if I will be much help but here goes....

When I first started going back to work, I set my alarm 30mins before DS was due to get up, I would shower and get ready, then get him up. I found this easier than him getting up, me trying to have a shower, him crying coz he's hungry, or wet etc. I would wash my hair the night before or get up earlier again to do before DS woke up.

Maybe have a trial run on times as well.

I also spoke to my boss and asked that I need to try to get into a rountine etc so please be patient with me in case I'm late in the first few weeks. I never was but it made me feel better that atleast I communicated this with him prior to coming back.

Get things ready the night before, ie bottles, clothes, nappies ready etc.

One thing that always sucked and still does, DS has a poo around the time we leave so it can make me leave a bit late. I now check 5mins before leaving instead of as we are going out the door. Still get caught out sometimes.

Good luck with going back to work

Hi, I went back to work when my bubs was 6 months old she is 15 months old now. I get up and get her a jar of watties cereal and rice bubbles, hubby appears after this and does the toast and gets her dressed and I duck off to the shower, he leaves for work and she runs around for about 10 minutes before I get us in the car for the 20 sec drive down the road, I spend about 10/15 minutes with her in the mornings at DC before leaving.

After work I'm the one who normally picks up bubs while DH gets home and gets her dinner ready for when we come in. If its one of his late nights we get an extra meal ready for her the night before. She plays for about 40 minutes after her dinner then we have a shower and she has another yoghurt at 7.30pm and then a play until 8.30pm bedtime.

To help things run as smoothly as they can I make sure if they use the clothes out of her bag I replace them when I get home otherwise her bag stays in the car.

I iron her clothes normally once a week and leave on a chair/table in dining room - so I can just grab something easily.

Get nappies out the night before if I need them for DC and put in the car.

And I ask DH for help if I need it.

It can be crazy and hectic but we do get there!   Good luck.

I went back to work 30 hours a week when Gabrielle was just on 5 months old. Mostly I find the routine is the same as it would be if I was at home, just very condensed and alot earlier! I try and get our breakfasts ready the night before, plus Gabrielle's daycare bag and bottles. Our morning routine is:
5.50am - I wake up, have a shower and get the breakfast from where I have hidden it from the cats I get the bags organised etc
6.15am - wake Gabrielle, dress and change her
6.30am - breakfast for us both, followed immediately by her bottle, teeth cleaning, dishwasher loading etc, open garage, pack bags in the car etc (can't hold two bags plus a very heavy Gabrielle!)
7.20am - leave for daycare and work

Evenings is a bit of a rush somedays coz she is generally tired on daycare days. Generally:

5pm - walk in the door, go straight to getting washing off the line and folded, unpack bags and repack (esp fresh spare clothes for daycare), put washing on, getting Gabrielle's dinner organised, start the adult's dinner (I'm a single mum but live with my parents who work funny hours)
5.30pm - feed Gabrielle
5.50pm ish - bath, jammies, playtime
6.20pm - bottle, teeth, story
6.45pm - bed
7pm - hopefully mum or dad will have arrived home and started cooking but if not I cook my dinner and sit down to eat. I try and hang washing on my clothes airer inside at night (unless Mum or Dad is home in the morning to hang it outside), and pack the bags and make lunches etc for the next day.

Good luck! I think the key is to try and do everything possible to make it easier for yourself. I work best when I organise things the night before coz sometimes that means I get 10 minutes of playtime in the morning with Gabrielle before we have to leave. I'd rather get up early and spend the time with her than have that extra few minutes of sleep. She also gets a hot meal at daycare for lunch every day so I don't have to feel too guilty if I only give her finger food for dinner some days.