How To Work From Home With A Baby & Make Money

Learn the easy way to work from home with a baby. Now, more than ever, moms around the world are enjoying the convenience of working from home.

While many individuals decide to work-at-home to achieve a better work-life balance. Working at home with a newborn, presents many challenges for both moms and dads.

Looking back, I’m not sure how you would have handled an infant and working at the same time. Its hard I know, but with a work from home plan you can do it. Many people have been doing it.

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So I decided to ask some moms, who have been there and done that, What’s Your Number One Tip for Successfully Working at Home with a Baby? 

How to Work From Home With a Baby

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1. Work When Your Baby Sleeps

How tempting is it to take a quick snooze while your baby is sleeping? If you absolutely need the rest, take it, but this is a prime time during the day to get some work done.

Plus, getting your baby onto a nap schedule is not impossible, so you’ll know exactly when during the day you can sit down and get some work done!

And, this is exactly what I did when my twins were napping consistently. In the beginning I had 2 glorious naps to work. This worked out to around 4-5 hours a day.

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But, my twins soon dropped their second nap and starting to nap once a day. This was extremely difficult for me, but I knew I had to make this work.

Pretty soon my twins were napping up to 3 hours a day. Perfect! I would work three hours during the day and another 2-3 hours when my twins went to bed before 8pm.

2. Make a Schedule On How to Work From Home With a Baby

The first thing you should do when you are working from home with a baby is to create a schedule.

No, your little one isn’t going to adhere to it as closely as you would like, but it will give you a framework to refer to so you can stay productive during the day.

Babies are unpredictable but, for the most part, they tend to follow the same general routine throughout the day.

Look at when your baby wakes up and when he or she goes down for the night and start there. You may want to get up earlier in the morning or stay up in the evening to get some work done.

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Start blocking out your day from the time you wake up until you want to stop. Don’t worry about scheduling yourself down to the minute – just look at the order in which you want to do things and make sure you schedule time for breaks.

Also, look at what I call the “non-negotiables” such as nap times for your baby and mealtimes for yourself. If your little one is on a regular feeding schedule, bonus! Add that in too.

For me, I worked hard at getting my twins to sleep at the same time. Other moms of twins may disagree at this structure, but seriously mama, it helped me regroup and just be me! And, it was during those nap times that I started to work from home.

3. Learn How to Type With One Hand While Working From Home With a Baby

Having your own business and a newborn takes the work and family balance to a whole new level. If you can afford help or can take a leave off from your business, do it!

If not, learn how to run your business with one hand. Remember that your baby will need a lot of time from you, so inform vendors and clients that your response time might take longer than normal.

Also, throw your old schedule out the window and do what you can to work when the baby is sleeping (and of course after you take a nap)! Right Here is how to work Remotely

4. Dad’s Backup Role

A couple should discuss what mom can count on as far as backup support from dad, a plan that is consistent and doable.

Maybe dad can always get home early on Wednesdays so that he can take care of the baby starting at 6 PM, for example, so mom knows that she will always have an evening to catch up.

Being home with a baby never quite goes as one expects.

5. Increase Your Productivity

So it goes without saying that your schedule isn’t going to work perfectly every day.

That’s why it’s important to look at ways that you can increase your productivity when you do sit down to work.

There are a few methods floating around that are super effective, such as the Pomodoro Method, but they’re not going to work when you have to worry about taking care of your baby throughout the day.

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Instead, take advantage of the time you do have by working in short bursts and hustling through your work every opportunity you can.

Not only does this help when working around your baby’s schedule but it’s been proven that switching between tasks can help keep your brain active and focused.

6. Be Open-Minded

It’s hard to predict the level of success you can have working with a newborn because every newborn has a different personality and set of needs.

Some newborns are independent from the start and thrive simply sitting and playing in your presence. Others need constant stimulation or may have health issues that demand your attention.

Depending on the needs of your child, you may only be able to get work done during their naps. Therefore, you need to go into the situation with an open mind!

7. Burn the Midnight Oil If You to Work From Home With a Baby

I did talk about deciding whether you want to get up early or stay up late when it comes to how to work from home with a baby.

The one benefit of staying up late is that, hopefully, everything is done for the day and you can give your work more attention. However, be careful not to stay up too late and burn yourself out.

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I like to use this quiet time in the evenings to finish up whatever I couldn’t get done during the day. It’s not the time to start projects that will take hours to complete.

If you’re not a morning person, this may be an ideal way for you to stay on top of your work.

8. Work While You Feed Your Baby

If you can manage some one-handed tasks during the day, try to get them done while your baby is eating.

This can be during breastfeeding, bottle feeding, or even while you’re pumping!

These could be simple tasks such as replying to emails making a phone call. Use this opportunity to start crossing things off your to-do list.

However, don’t stress out about getting things done while your little one is eating.

If you can’t manage to work on tasks while doing so, use this opportunity to take a break for yourself. You need to take breathers during the day anyway.

9. Learn To Separate

Trying to be an active parent and focused businessperson all in the same minute can make you crazy. Learn to concentrate on one and then the other.

Learn to switch gears quickly, and intentionally. Sometimes your baby will interrupt your focused work. Just step away and return to it when you have taken care of the baby.

Trying to do two things at once well can lead you to do them both poorly. Enjoy your baby, look at them, love them. Put them down to play or sleep and then work hard and focus.

10. Learn To Work in 5-Minute Increments

Gone are the days of plunking down at the computer for hours of concentration. With a newborn, you must learn to work in pockets of time, being able to stop quickly and re-engage even faster.

The solution may be as simple as jotting a reminder to yourself before getting up from the computer or as detailed as rearranging your work schedule to align with baby’s rhythm.

Catching up on emails while:

• Baby plays,
• Conference calls during naps,
• Intense work later at night when the baby is down for the night.

11. Hire Help / Babysitter To Work From Home With little a Baby

Just because you’re working at home doesn’t mean you should expect to write, make calls, file, and email, all while nursing, burping, or rocking a newborn to sleep. My best advice is: hire a babysitter.

Schedule a few hours a day for a sitter to literally take the baby off your hands. Even in a small house or apartment, try to work in a different room, or send the baby out for long walks with the sitter.

Then put your nose to the grindstone. It will make a world of difference.  I know one of the major benefits of working from home is not having to pay for childcare.

However, there may be days where you really need to sit down and focus for extended periods of time. On these days, consider hiring a babysitter!

You can have someone come to your home or drop your little one off with someone else for the day. This can be a professional babysitter, a friend, or a family member.

This doesn’t have to be a regular thing but you will definitely appreciate the days when you can sit down and focus solely on your work.

12. Tips for Work-At-Home Moms With Newborns

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• Get a hands free device for your phone. It is easiest to make and take calls when walking around the house and bouncing the baby to sleep.
• Be open and honest about the fact that you just had a baby (to clients, vendors, and coworkers). People tend to be understanding and supportive.
• Don’t count on your memory! Keep a to-do or follow-up list for every task that comes up. You will often be interrupted during tasks and may not remember what you were doing when you are free again.

13. Let Newborn Dictate Your Work Schedule

Tip for working at home with a newborn is to work when they are sleeping.

Newborns need your full attention when they are awake, and they sleep plenty of hours in the day for you to wait until they sleep.

Learn this quick when continuing to work-from-home when your baby is born. Is only a newborn once, and missing anything with your baby isn’t worth trying to work while baby is awake.

The baby needs you when awake, and you want to cherish that time with your newborn.

14. Mute Button : How to Work From Home With a Baby

Who has ever worked at home with two newborns.

My Advice:

Be sure to have a smartphone you can do most of your work from when you can’t be at your computer.

Be sure your phone has an easy access mute button and use it often, learn to type while breastfeeding.

Set up your laptop in your lap in a recliner and prop baby next to you or on your chest. When he’s not sitting with you, get a great baby swing!

Also, be flexible and don’t expect things to go perfectly – in a few years, it will get easier.

15. Get Dressed in The Morning

This is just an overall great tip for anyone that works from home because it helps you get into a work-focused mindset.

The idea of working from home in your jammies sounds amazing but when it comes to how to work from home with a baby, it’s all about getting your head into the game.

So take some time during your morning routine to put on some clothes before you start your workday.

And it doesn’t have to be work clothes either! I work best in yoga pants and a hoodie!

16. Avoid Distractions While You Are Working

Trust me, there will be moments throughout your day where you will get to sit down and get some work done.

Just don’t waste those precious moments with distractions!

A quick peek on Facebook can turn into minutes of scrolling and a phone call from your friend can become a long conversation.

Avoid the temptation of picking up your phone while you are working. Keep it nearby but turn off your notifications and place it out of hand’s reach.

Another distraction you should try to avoid is the want of tidying up and doing chores. One of the pitfalls of working from home, especially with a baby, is you are constantly aware of what needs to be done.

17. Plan Your Meals: Learn How to Manage Work From Home With Baby

Speaking of taking care of yourself, you also have to make sure you are properly nourished. Your baby’s menu is simple but you have to make sure you are eating as well.

Trust me, I know what it’s like to sit down at my computer and plug away at work only to realize at the end of the day I hadn’t eaten a thing!

Take some time on the weekends or in the evenings to plan out your meals. You can even use meal planning apps too! Make extra food at dinnertime so you can quickly reheat leftovers for lunch.

Try to focus on healthy meals made with fresh ingredients which will not only benefit your physical health but give you more energy and clarity throughout the day.

18. Don’t Nap When The Baby Nap

Don’t nap when your baby naps. Try to take advantage of those times to do as much work as possible.

That is my time to read or do some work that requires my undivided attention. As your baby takes a few 2-hour naps, it allows you to accomplish quite a bit.

19. Work While You Feed Your Baby

If you can manage some one-handed tasks during the day, try to get them done while your baby is eating.

This can be during breastfeeding, bottle feeding, or even while you’re pumping!

These could be simple tasks such as replying to emails making a phone call. Use this opportunity to start crossing things off your to-do list.

However, don’t stress out about getting things done while your little one is eating.

If you can’t manage to work on tasks while doing so, use this opportunity to take a break for yourself. You need to take breathers during the day anyway.

20. Prepare to be Flexible When You Work from Home with a Baby

As I mentioned before, babies are notoriously unpredictable and they do not understand the importance of sticking to a schedule.

This is why you need to accept that your day is not going to go as planned! So it’s important to prioritize your to-do list and focus first on the things that need to be done.

That way, if your day goes off the rails, you’ve at least worked on or completed the important things first.

Between nap refusals, cluster-feeding, and diaper blowouts, there are going to be days where your schedule goes straight out the window.

Take a deep breath and pay attention to your priorities. This happened a lot with my schedule with twins.

There were many days my twins didn’t nap for three hours and only napped for 45 minutes! Other times, my twins wanted to be outside all day! While that was awesome, I had to let go of finding time to work from home.

21. Get Baby on a Nap Schedule

Writing for several blogs and working on product development presents a huge challenge for you while your have a newborn.

It seemed to me that you could not really catch up on my work. It starts to get better when you realizes that if you could schedule her naps and schedule your work within her naps. Your efficiency improvs greatly.

22. Invest in Time-Saving Baby Gear: How to Work From Home Jobs With a Baby

My absolute top tip, both for you and your baby, is to invest in a good sling or carrier. I have a soft cloth wrap that my 8-week old loves. He sleeps on me in the afternoons when I get a few hours of work done.

I get to keep my business going, and he gets to have a nice warm sleep cuddled up on my chest.

23. Use a Baby Carrier and/or Bassinet

There aren’t many babies out there that are perfectly content to be left alone during their waking hours and your job may not accommodate one-handedness!

This is where a baby carrier and bassinet come in handy.

When you’re wearing your baby, they feel snug and secure and are more likely to stay settled down during the day. This also frees up both of your hands!

You should also consider putting a bassinet in your workspace. These small beds are portable, comfortable, and allow your little one to rest knowing that you are nearby.

It can also help during nap times where you can be quick to soothe your waking baby before their sleep is complete.

24. Be Adaptable: Is It Possible To Work From Home With A Newborn?

Did you leave your 9-to-5 to work 9-to-5? Work around the schedule you have set for your newborn (or the one they have set for you).

If you have the benefit of making your own work schedule, realize that you do have the power to adjust it as needed.

That’s a perk of working from home. Why fluster yourself by trying to force a proverbial 9-to-5 when you don’t have to?

You really can make the best gains during your newborn’s downtime when you just roll with it and stay flexible.

You Got This, Baby Mama!

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Working from home with a baby is probably a dream come true that can quickly turn into a nightmare as you try to navigate your new routine with your newborn.

But don’t lose hope! There are moms all over the world getting it done and you can too! Now I want to know: How do you work from home with a baby?

Do you have any tips to share? Drop them in the comments below and don’t forget to pin! Find out More