I have spoken to expecting parents before and asked them how they will handle work and kids. I’ve been surprised by a few of them who have answered that they plan to watch the baby and work simultaneously.

“Oh, I can work while I watch the baby - especially when he’s napping. I may have to cut my hours back a bit but I can probably get a good chunk of work done each day.” 

This is a more common mistake, perhaps, amongst parents who run their own business or are freelancers and just get paid for the hours they work.

However, if you are thinking along these lines, as soon as your child is born you will discover the mistake you have maken. A new baby is incredibly time consuming. For one thing, after your maternity leave ends, even if you’re lucky enough to have a baby who is already sleeping through the night, did you realize the definition of “sleeping through the night” means 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep? That means all you’re getting is 5 hours uninterrupted sleep (and that assumes you go to bed the second your baby does and don’t use the time to try to do anything else).

Basically, while you have a young baby, you will be spending every moment your baby is sleeping either napping, eating, showering, trying to get caught up on the laundry, cooking, etc. The first few months are gruelling. And when the baby is awake, she wants to be held, held, held! No letting her play on the playmat while you sit and work at your laptop nearby. Yes, as the baby is older you might have enough of a routine that you can work for an hour or two per day during her naps. And maybe even do a little email while she sits and plays with toys (although nothing that requires intense concentration). But as soon as she starts crawling, it’s game over. You will spend all her waking hours chasing her around, and all her sleeping hours picking up the mess.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my kids and caring for them, while exhausting, is definitely a joy. But I don’t get much of anything done on the days daycare is closed - that’s, without doubt, going down as a vacation day for me at work.

Bottom line - do not think that telecommuting can replace childcare. It can make your life easier (the time you would have spent commuting can now be spent with the kids, you’re nearby when your child is sick with a fever, etc), but you need to arrange for a nanny or daycare if you plan to get any significant amount of work done.

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