Work Schedule, What Would You Do?

personally, i would do the 8 hour days, 5 days a week. you'll still be away from your son the same amount of time, but each night you would have more time to spend with him since you won't be off so late. plus, getting home earlier, you have time for dinner, play time, bath time and all the other tasks. as your son gets older and developes a routine, it will be a struggle to spend enough time with him before bed. yeah, it would be nice to have a thursday off, but every other night, you'll have less time with him.
what is good about having the one day off per week, though, is that you'll rarely if ever have to schedule time off work for appointments, but that's the only benefit i see.
good luck. i hope this helps. i suppose it's more of a personal preference, but maybe i gave you some things to think about - neither makes you a better or worse mom, you'll just have to decide what you think works best for you and your baby and family.

I know you mentioned two options, but have you thought about working a 9-hour day? I worked 9 hours every day and then every other week I'd have a day off. I picked my day as a Friday and it was nice to have a longer weekend. I could take my son to daycare for part of the day and get some stuff done at home as well, or just have a day to myself sometimes. I worked 7-5 (looks like you get 1/2 hour lunches, so it would probably be 730am-5pm or 8-5:30 for you) and I loved being able to have that day every so often. That way you're putting in 80 (81 if you calculate correctly) hours over a 2 week period. If your job may be flexible enough for that it may work well for you.

I would personally choose the 4 10 hours. I work 4 days a week and have off on Fridays and I LOVE it!! I couldn't imagine going back to 5 days! It's really nice to have that extra day off! Also it gives my babysitters (grandma and mom) a day off and they like it too!! PLUS you have a WHOLE day to plan things like doc appointments since it's hard if you work 5 days.

My husband works 3 10 hours days and it's awful on his work days. He gets home at 6:20 and has time for dinner and a shower before he's too tired to do much else. Our little girl goes to bed about 8:30, so he barely sees her on the days he works. It is nice to have extra time with him on his off days though. He actually got a second job because he couldn't take being off work 4 days in a row! :) Would you only be working every other week? If so, that's a bonus! This is a really hard decision and I wouldn't like to be in your shoes! Can you go back to work on the 10 hr shift as a trial? See if it works for you? Or are you locked into a shift once you start? Good Luck!

I went back to work part time after 4 weeks and worked from home for another 6 weeks and then went back to work 4 days a week. I work 9-10 hours per day and then have every tuesday off to spend with my daughter. I love the time that I have with her on Tuesday and can work with her as she is now eight months.

I would definately recommend the 4 days.

Personally, I would choose the regular five day work week simply because babies need routines. So by doing the consistent five days a week and not rotating your weeks and hours your baby will have a set schedule. Good luck deciding.

keep on the same schedule everyday,

Hi M.. I actually had a 5 day/wk schedule after my first son was born and went back when he was 6 wks old (that is just too early to get ANY sleep, no matter the schedule!) The 5 days a week was tough and I felt so pulled away from him, missing 5 out of 7 days. With my youngest son, I went back when he was 9 weeks old, and worked 4 ten hour days each week. I still nursed him, and kept my supply up by pumping at work three times/day instead of two (as I did with my first son and my 5 day work week). I loved having the extra full day with my children! I would HIGHLY recommend doing it, and I even felt more productive at work because I looked forward to the extra full day at home, but kept my head down, focused and working, for the full ten hour days. I am back to a 5 day schedule now that my sons are older, but I definitely still miss those extra days at home. I hope you have an option to try the four day week, so if you do feel too exhausted, you can switch to five days. Good luck!

Working until 6:30 would be difficult as your child grows and you are cooking dinner for him. You're going to want to eat dinner with him at the table as a family every night you possibly can, and not getting home until almost 7 is going to make that hard on you to feel motivated to cook balanced meals. I would definitely go for the working until 5 deal. You could get home, and have a dinner ready by 6-6:30. You can't just look at what's best for you NOW. You have to look at what will work best for you down the road. Right now, your baby isn't going to remember you being there or not, and doesn't require much work from you for dinner. But, in a year, he is going to be eating the same thing you are.

I work 10 hour days and I have every other monday off. I push it a lot with dropping off and picking up. If your day care is flexible with you when you are running late or traffic is crazy then go ahead. However if they are not then stick to the normal work week. THe upside to having a day off is being able to run errands, clean, and maybe relax for a second. Babies are resilliant and if you set a good routine with him, he will eventually work with you.

I also agree with Donita about the day off being great....Especially for appointments!

Hi M.,
If I were to go back to work I would probably choose to work 5 days a week so that I wouldn't be too exhausted from the 10 hour days if working 4 days/week. The consistent schedule may be nice too.

Take care,
M. C.

8:30-5. You won't be good for anything after working ten hours. You will want to sleep 12 hours on your Thursday off! (Is childcare a consideration here, too?) Good luck.