Work At Home With Baby....advice?
Business By sleepy20520 Updated 17 Jul 2013 , 2:51am by kaylawaylalayla
So I have had my own at home cake business for about 3 years now and its doing pretty well. Actually making more money then I ever did with any other job Ive had! So I am due to have a baby in about a month and I was just wondering how anyone else balances their work from home and their baby. This is my first child so I dont know exactly what to expect. I do know it will be hard and babys require alot of attention.... and every baby is different. But Im just lookng for some advice and tips???
I might be getting a baby sitter 1-2 days a week for part of the day but not 100% sure. I know we cant afford a full time 40 hour a week babysitter, nor do I need one. Some weeks I only work 10-15 hours some weeks i work a full 40+ depending on the cakes/orders....
So ya....anyone do this or have any advice?
Thanks!
Try to do a lot of your work when the baby naps. Newborns nap a lot. I've done a lot of cake work late at night. When your baby is small, they can be in a bouncer chair. You can talk and sing to your baby while you work, and then cuddle when you have a chance. Congrats and good luck!
AI know I wouldn't commit to any cake orders unless you can have someone watch yhe baby completely at first. I would have all these grand plans for the day before my husband left for work and then by time he got home absolutely nothing would be done, my pony tail had fallen half way out and the hot pocket that I had made for breakfast woild still be I the microwave and he would get home at 11 at night. then there are some women who can still deep clean their house everyday make gourmet meals read encyclopedias, and weave hand made artisan rugs all with a full face of fresh make up and heels and still attend to babys every need. So my advice is not to commit to any cake order s at first( unless you need the money) and give yourself time to figure out how you'll handle it all.
AWe suspended our business a month before our daughter was born until she was 2 months old, and for a while we relied heavily on our employee to make the cakes. If you are running the business yourself I recommend keeping the business closed for at least the first 3-6 months and see how things go from there.
Congratulations sleep (which is what you'll be for a while!) If you don't need the business income, then you can certainly close up shop for a few months. But if you rely on your business income, think twice before closing for any length of time. Once customers hear that you have suspended your operation, you will lose some of them to other businesses. It's better to cut back and take a minimal number of orders. Then your customers know you are still around. And for your sake, you may enjoy doing a few orders if you can work around your new baby. Having an occasional babysitter can be a nice compromise.
AMy son just turned 2 in March. I highly recommend the Book by The Baby Whisperer. She has so many wonderful tips for knowing & understanding your baby.
The first year, I did all cake work during nap time. Now, he takes one 1 1/2 hour nap. I do delicate work either then or when my husband is home. He can entertain himself for a good bit while I crilb coat cakes and such.
It's possible. You just have to juggle a bit.
I always slept when the baby was sleeping because it was attached to me ;-) I don't know how anything got done at all, except for panic being a great motivator. I would take at least a 4 week break after, 6 weeks if you need a caesarian birth. Then just take a couple very small orders or 1 good sized order a week until you see what you're capable of, or what your baby lets you do. I sewed for hours and made cakes when my 9 year old daughter was a baby, she was just so happy. But after I had my 4 year old son, I didn't get anything done because he wanted me 24 hours a day. When he wasn't demanding me, I was exhausted.
ADo you have any existing orders between now and your due date? If so you should have a backup plan with other reputable bakers in your area to take over your orders in case the baby arrives early.
I think you also need to be prepared to ask yourself: which is more important to you - the business or the baby? It sounds trite, but you could drop the business, and still have the chance to build it up again later; you can't do that with a baby. The old adage goes, "who says on their deathbed, "I wish I'd spent more time at work"?". A bit morbid, perhaps, but you need to work out your priorities now so that you can be clear when the time (and the baby) comes.
thanks for the advice everyone. alot of it is very helpful... and im glad to hear its possible - soemtimes hard, but possible. I should have said before, our plan as of now is i have one wedding cake this saturday and one birthday cake next week (both know the situation in case i have to cancel). after those orders we are closed till Oct 1, so we are going to be closed for about 2 months. I would love to be closed longer (who wants to work anyways!) but we have to have the money as this pays our bills and we only have so much in savings to live off of in the meantime. On a normal basis, we do around 2-4 weddings a week and sometimes a few more orders as well...birthdays, cake pops, etc.
As of right now, we have only taken 1 wedding cake a week max for the month we come back to work... and we figured for other orders we will just play it by ear and see what happens.
The business is 90% me, my husband helps me when he can, he half works from home and half travels for work so when he's here he will of course help, but when he's gone , well needless to say its all me lol.
I know I wouldn't commit to any cake orders unless you can have someone watch yhe baby completely at first. I would have all these grand plans for the day before my husband left for work and then by time he got home absolutely nothing would be done, my pony tail had fallen half way out and the hot pocket that I had made for breakfast woild still be I the microwave and he would get home at 11 at night. then there are some women who can still deep clean their house everyday make gourmet meals read encyclopedias, and weave hand made artisan rugs all with a full face of fresh make up and heels and still attend to babys every need.
So my advice is not to commit to any cake order s at first( unless you need the money) and give yourself time to figure out how you'll handle it all.
thanks for the advice everyone. alot of it is very helpful... and im glad to hear its possible - soemtimes hard, but possible. I should have said before, our plan as of now is i have one wedding cake this saturday and one birthday cake next week (both know the situation in case i have to cancel). after those orders we are closed till Oct 1, so we are going to be closed for about 2 months. I would love to be closed longer (who wants to work anyways!) but we have to have the money as this pays our bills and we only have so much in savings to live off of in the meantime. On a normal basis, we do around 2-4 weddings a week and sometimes a few more orders as well...birthdays, cake pops, etc.
As of right now, we have only taken 1 wedding cake a week max for the month we come back to work... and we figured for other orders we will just play it by ear and see what happens.
The business is 90% me, my husband helps me when he can, he half works from home and half travels for work so when he's here he will of course help, but when he's gone , well needless to say its all me lol.
A lot will depend on your baby. Some people have babies who love to be cooed at while they lay in whatever it is that babies lay in nowadays. Other babies are driven to walk at 7 months and will be constantly challenging you by getting into everything and climbing where you thought it not possible. Obviously you baby proof, but this baby is going to need lots of things to do. And that's a big factor in why some mommies haven't eaten breakfast by 3 pm and others have weaved a couple rugs with enough time left to make beef wellington for dinner.
A
Original message sent by kaylawaylalayla
I know I wouldn't commit to any cake orders unless you can have someone watch yhe baby completely at first. I would have all these grand plans for the day before my husband left for work and then by time he got home absolutely nothing would be done, my pony tail had fallen half way out and the hot pocket that I had made for breakfast woild still be I the microwave and he would get home at 11 at night. then there are some women who can still deep clean their house everyday make gourmet meals read encyclopedias, and weave hand made artisan rugs all with a full face of fresh make up and heels and still attend to babys every need. So my advice is not to commit to any cake order s at first( unless you need the money) and give yourself time to figure out how you'll handle it all.
This is a myth obviously started by Barbie dolls and the Stepford Wives!
AExactly how sweet. Babies personaloties are so different and so are the mommies
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