By the time your baby reaches six months old you’re probably in a very good rhythm and you’re not expecting things to change much right?
WRONG!!!
But that is when yet another change occurs that you have to be prepared for. And the changes will be coming fast and furious with each passing month.
Gone are the days when six month old babies just lie in their crib. Babies today are far more advanced, and they develop even faster if they have older siblings.
So here’s my advice if you’re a mom working from home and building your business.
You have to accept a few things as truths.
You are probably like I was, not having the resources to hire a dedicated baby sitter so that you can have “work hours”.
You probably don’t have a housekeeper or maid to do all the cleaning and cooking, and you probably don’t have a driver to pick up the older kids.
Here’s the deal with being a mom building a business from the “comfort” of your home – it isn’t a walk in the park, but to those that accomplish it with limited resources, I tip my hat to them.
You have to accept that you will never have a regular 8 hour day.
You Will probably create an 8 hour day using the snippets of time you find each day but you’re not going to be like other working professionals.
You have to manage your time, your home and your children as if they are also apart of your business. (That’s why I have a DMO designed specifically for mothers)
That is what I’ve realized works very well for me.
And for my single moms out there you have an even greater challenge.
Now just imagine you went to bed at 1 am because you were finally able to get some quiet time in.
Getting Work Done at Night When Baby is Sleeping
When your baby turns six months this is the beginning of baby sleeping through the night so you’re trying to use their sleep time to get work done.
Some tips to make sure that it happens. (especially for the moms who are now starting to ween the baby off breastfeeding)
If your baby has started to eat solids, for example cereal, fruit or vegetables; make sure the heaviest item is feed in the evening as “supper” or as close to supper as possible. Even if they nurse one last time at night around 8 pm they will be down for the night.
So that gives you 9 hours in the night to decided what you’re going to do.
If you’re building your business full-time from home and you don’t have a JOB to be at first thing in the morning I recommend twice a week doing an all nighter!
You remember those from your college days right.
They were easy once you had enough food and good company.
But as the work-from-home mom all you have is coffee and a quiet house.
Now depending on the age of your older children (if you have older children) you may have to figure out how to manage your time around them. But realistically anyone over 5 years old you can give instructions and manage around.
The BABY on the other hand needs you.
Now if you’re doing an all nighter you have to remember one thing and one thing only! (And you probably didn’t pay attention to this advice when the baby was born, but you will HAVE to follow it now)
Sleep when the baby sleeps. [Tweet “Sleep when the baby sleeps.”]
What I’ve found is that even though I was awake all night, if I got a one to two hour nap during the day, I had enough to take me through until about 9pm the following night.
Getting Work Done During the Day when Baby Wants to Play
Now at 6 months old your baby is either sleeping less (meaning you’re getting 3 naps instead of 4) or 2 instead of 3. OR they’re not sleeping as long during the day. It’s normal – they have more waking hours!
They know you’re around and they want to play with you! Also they want to be awake when the older siblings get home from school because somehow they know they are more “fun” than mommy!
More waking hours means you need “help”
And I don’t mean a baby sitter. I mean activity type toys.
When my first daughter was 6 months old we got her an exorciser. It wasn’t a walker so she was stationary but she had things to occupy her time.
Our second daughter loves it and could spend almost 45 minutes in it without making a peep!
Other options are bouncers, when their back and legs get tired.
But the simplest solution I found was putting the TV on the music channel, getting a large piece of foam and putting a comforter down on it.
Place the baby on their back in the center of the make shift mat and surround with age appropriate toys!
VIOLA! You just created a play pen for next to nothing and they will stay there for an hour!
So with these simple tools you just created almost 2 hours of work time while your baby is awake!
So imagine how much more you can get done when they are sleeping.
Now the question is what type of work can you do when baby is awake.
Now marketing is a HUGE part of your business.
I never recommend doing any development type work when the children are around especially the baby, but you can write emails, create social posts, create images, find quotes, update your finances, research competitors.
These are just a few of the things that I do during the day when baby is awake.
Sometimes you may be lucky and you’re able to write out a first draft of a blog post.
But basically the way you do business and the way you “create” your new work environment will change.
Every baby is different, some never stay anywhere except in mommy’s arms. Solution get a harness or mobi wrap!
I’ve done work for many clients sitting at my home office desk with my baby strapped to my chest.
Some days may be hot, other days cold and your baby is going to have different needs every day.
The morale of the story is that when you’re building a business from home as a wife and mother, you’re going to have to find balance when you don’t have the resources to put systems in place.
The Marketing Mom
