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Have any of you had to do this? Let me start by saying I'm not pregnant YET, but I'm now off birth control so very well could be in the next few months. I was curious as to how you all approached this with your families, like when did you decide to tell them, how many weeks off did you take after the baby arrived and how did they react to the news? Advice would be appreciated!! Thanks!:)
No advice cause I am well past this stage and never had to deal with it..... however just wanted to say congratulations on adding to your family!!!
I am sure there are lots of ladies who have had to navigate maternity leave with their business .... if I had had to deal with this I would be wanting as much leave as possible and would be inclined to hirer someone to come in and 'provide care' to the daycare so that I could maintain my clients and not loose anyone over my mat leave while still getting some 'alone time' with the new babe ... depending on if you are full and how much wage you had to pay there could still be a 'tiny' bit left over for you in 'mat leave pay' as well from the business plus getting all the perks of still writing off the business during that time and so forth.
Hi Lisa! There is another thread on here somewhere where I got lots of great advice! I am 7 months along now so can tell you what I have done. I told my families at 3 months. I sent everyone an email on a Saturday.....partly so they could discuss it before talking to me about it and partly because I'm a big old chicken, haha!! All of my families were great, sad that I was closing but really excited for us! I was prepared to lose everyone straight away but they are all staying to the bitter end! I think the most important thing is to have a very organized plan in place before you tell parents. Outline everything from how long you will have off, emergency plans if things don't go as planned, changes you might have to make in the later months etc. Don't forget to have a plan for all those dr. appointments...will parents have to take their kids home or can someone cover for you? Hopefully when parents see that you have thought everything through and have a solid plan they will be happy for you!
I have never had to do it but most wait till they are 12 weeks and have a plan. From what I have been ready on here is most take just a few weeks off and hubby takes mat leave to help. Do you have a back up care provider for the dr. Appts you will be going to or will parents have to fend for themselves? Will you be using your holiday time as your time off. Keeping in mind the more time you take off the greater chance of losing some or all of your families. Have your plan set before you tell parents so they know what's going on. Good luck
BTW my name is also Lisa and I was coming to ask the same thing!! but you're ahead of the game by a couple of months :laugh: we're starting in the summer. It's just funny...Quote:
Originally Posted by Lisa
I will be 30wks this wk and I told my half my families by the time I was 2mths-bc they knew we were trying are asking if I was yet. The other 2 I waited until 3 mths. The one family had just started with me and I was a little nervous about telling them but mom was super excited.
I sent them all an email announcing it and telling them our plan.
I am using my holidays as my time off, then my husband will use his. And then it will be summer so I will only have 2 of the 4 dck (and my own 21/2yo son) and will have my 14yo sil here to help out. My husband is taking parental leave in sept for the fall.
All my families were very excited and will be returning.
I had my fourth in Sept and worked almost all through the pregnancy. We told everyone at about 8 weeks, since I was already beginning to show (booo! LoL)
I put out a slightly early edition of our monthly newsletter. Before we said anything, though; we made sure that we knew exactly what the plan was. I was due Sept 9th, so my last day was to be the end of August. I took the month of Sept off, and reopened at the beginning of Oct. My husband has very flexible hours, and he was able to be around a lot when I needed him. This was good, because she didn't arrive until the 15th, and therefore I only had a 2 week old, instead of an almost 4 week old (and we all know how much a difference a week or so can make!!).
I was fully prepared to lose some, if not all. A month is a long time to find alternate childcare. I ended up with one family saying yes, then no, then yes, then eventually they bailed on me right before I opened up again.
I warned everyone that things would be different, and on occasion I might answer the door in my pyjamas, haha. That maybe we wouldn't do as many "structured" activities, but that the kids would be getting as much care and attention as they always did.
My husband was here for prenatals, which I always scheduled during naptime. The parents all knew what was happening, and were okay with it. I even put my appts into the monthly newsletter, in case they wanted to do early pick up that day or something.
I'm pretty close with my families, so this may not best the best choice for you. But, when we decide to get pregnant again I plan to just tell them I'm trying.
Sure beats the heck out of fearing to tell them when you are pregnant and seriously emotional. this way it also doesn't come as a complete surprise and when you are preggers you will have a lot more genuine congratulations and a lot less 'oh Sh**!' from the parents