Speaking of in-home childcare

i thought about being a home based childcarer for ages i was worried about what the kids would be like and if i could handle the stress and i had no qualifations either but when i finally got up the corrage to give them a call it was nothing like i thought the kids have always been great and i love being their for my own kids as well and have now been doing it for over 3 years now. and i look afther 4 kids. two 2 year olds a 3 year old and a 4 year old. doing it private through your boss sounds great you wont have to do all the paper work that come with going through a child care service.

i did this with my best friend and kind of grew from there. she went back to work part time when her baby was about 3 months old (Kobe is 3 weeks older) to be honest it was great, i was able to stay home with my baby and she knew that hers was safe and being well cared for. both our children are now 3yrs old and i have been doing it for various days a week the whole time. I now also pick up my neice from kindy every day and look after her till my sister finishes work and i also look after other friends children. Im known as the local preschool to my friends! I love it, as the kids get older its easier as they play together so I really just supervise and play teacher which is fun like we go for walks and collect leaves etc...
when they were little I invested in a double stroller off trade me even though I only had one baby of my own but it was the best thing ever because it meant i could still get out and about. I didnt think it was that much harder doing things for an extra baby, dont get me wrong if it was full time like having twins 24/7 it would be different but when you know its only for a few hours a day and you can give them back its not so bad. It just means a bit of extra organising, and sometimes the babies do have to cry a bit and wait for feeding but its not hurting them.
So after my big long ramble my opinion is to give it a go if it works out.

Yeah definitely agree with Katherine (and you).

I know before I had Alyssa I had all sorts of plans relating to what I would do with work once she came along etc etc, and even though everyone told me how hard it is having a baby I figured yeah it would be difficult, but surely I could sort something out...

As much as I thought I knew, obviously the reality of having your own baby is still harder than you imagine. Not only that but once you get into the swing of things you may want the time to enjoy your bubba alone? I'm sure it's different if the other child was your own, but I reckon it would be very difficult.

I would give it a go. Definitely have your 3mos leave before going ahead with two kids... that gives you some time to get acquainted with your little one and learn the mothering ropes. How is the little boy, is he fairly well disciplined, can he be taught to be gentle around the baby, does he still sleep during the day (that's a biggie)?

The other thing is hours. Will you have the boy from 8am to 5pm, or from 9am to 3pm? The most unsettled time for a 3mo baby is the 4pm-10pm mark (not all stay up that late, but s/he will likely be unsettled at some point during that time). And you will probably need a break by the end of the day too.

What about pencil booking a one-month trial when your baby is 3 months old? Confirm you're still ok with it when your bubba is 2 months old, and at the 4mo mark you can decide whether it's working for you or not.