what's the best part-time work schedule?

[nmpjcp2015]

After I give birth, I'm going to be working 20 hours a week instead of 40 for about 7.5 months. My boss said I can pick any schedule I want, but I'm at a loss for what to choose.

I know I'll want one day off during the week, but other than that I'm not sure how to structure my time.

I've come up with Monday off and 5 hours a day the other days.

I will be breastfeeding and pumping and childcare won't be a problem because the baby will be with my husband or my MIL.

Any advice? Should I do a longer day and have a short day? 5 hours all 4 days? This is my first baby, so I have no idea, but I have to turn in some type of schedule template soon. Also, any advice on how this will work with breastfeeding? Is pumping for one long day a good idea?

Thanks in advance xoxo

 

[Cattia]

I have worked 4 days a week since my oldest was born 5 years ago. Last year I decided to work two half days to accommodate more school drop offs. To be honest, half days were not great. I felt as though I was rushing my time at work and then rushing to get back to the kids, then I felt as though I only had a few hours with them. I personally feel that fewer longer days is better as it means that you are either at work or at home for that whole day. I also pumped with both my older two when I went back to work. I pumped twice a day. I'm a teacher so it meant giving up every break and half my lunch each day which was a pain. In terms of my supply though, it was fine.

 

[nmpjcp2015]

Thank you. I hadn't thought of it that way. Really helpful advice.

Also, did you just pump and keep it in a cooler or was there a fridge? We have a fridge here, but it freezes everything. I don't want to ruin my milk.

 

[Cattia]

We have a couple of fridges so I kept it in there in storage bags, but I think a cooler would be OK. If you're planning to freeze it when you get home you could keep it in the fridge that freezes, transport it home in a cool bag and then freeze it. Or if you kept it in the fridge door rather than at the back would it be not so icy?

 

[MrsT&Ben]

I don't bf but I do work part time!
I work 2 & 1/2 days a week. I get 2 full days with my baby girl and get to pick my son up from school. She also has to go to nursery so this way she only has to go 1 morning and 1 afternoon a week. I couldn't stand her being there any more than that

 

[nmpjcp2015]

That's a good idea. I'll try keeping it in the door. I do plan on freezing it at home for my husband and MIL when they have the baby.

I have my own office at my job, so I can just shut the door and pump whenever I want. I just want to make sure I don't spoil the milk. Thanks so much for the advice.

 

[Cattia]

If you have your own office the other thing you could do is buy a little mini fridge, if you have space. They are not too expensive and that way you could be sure that it was being kept at the right temperature. Like this sort of thing:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Litre-...932?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item540591669c

I know this is a UK site but I'm sure you would find something similar over there.

 

[Larkspur]

I would do two eight-hour days and a four-hour day. Minimizes the cost of childcare days and less running around for you.

 

[Tattoo]

I used to keep my expressed milk in a cooler bag with an ice pack.

 

[MindUtopia]

I went back to work part-time after my maternity leave, probably about as much as you to start and then worked up to nearly full-time again. Personally, I've found that working full days is best. I like having a whole day to devote to work because I feel like I need that to get everything done. And then I like having whole days off because it means I have time to do everything that needs to be done at home, like doing the food shopping while squeezing in going to the park or meeting up with a friend, etc. I just like my time really separate, work on work days, fun on days off. We live about 30 minutes from anything, so it helps to not have to rush on my days off because I know I have all day. For awhile I did a day off midweek (either Wednesday or Thursday) and worked the other days. That was nice as it meant I got a full day with my daughter midweek when I was missing spending time with her. There are pros to that. The downside is that it meant we didn't have as much flexibility on the weekends. If we wanted to go away, we had to leave Friday after work or Saturday morning and come back on Sunday. Now I have Fridays as my day off (or you could do Monday as you planned). It means we can take off for a weekend away on a Friday morning if we want and beat the traffic and just be more relaxed. My husband is self-employed (as am I actually), so he can take off as well for those weekends we want to do something. I think I prefer that now, but it might have been harder when my daughter was younger (she's 2 now) to be away from her 4 full days in a row.

 

[lau86]

I've worked part time since my first son. Personally I try to do longer days rather than many half days. No one I know enjoys doing half days as they always seem to stay in work longer than what they should. I do 3 full days which at the moment looks like 8.30-6pm.

 

[JessyG]

I do 4 8:30-3:30 which was a compromise for me as I really wanted three full days 9-5. Its nice in that I am home for tea and bath/bed every night but if I could go back I would have pushed for the longer days less days thing.

If I were you I would do 2x8 and 1x4.

 

[nmpjcp2015]

I was approved for 2x8 and 1x4. Thanks for the advice!