Any Mums out there that work full-time with 3 children??

So, I currently work full-time with two children.  We have a mix of school, nursery, grandparents and the two of us.  It's hard but it works.  We have just found out we are expecting No #3 (completely unplanned) and I am so worried about what this will do to my career and our finances.  I am the main breadwinner (not by a huge amount but still) and there is no way we can afford to have this baby without the both of us working FT.

Does anyone have any advice, is it possible to have 3 kids and work full-time without a nanny, au-pair etc?

Thank you!

Hi Noggin

I have 3 children but I only work 2 days a week. We have no family living near us so it's just me and OH that can deal with any childcare. I will be going back up to 3 days but not until September.

My eldest is in school  (and after-school club) and the other 2 in a private nursery. We could in theory do this every day so I could work full time but I find the kids are so exhausted by Wed (I work on Mon and Tues) - but then they are out of the house from 8am to almost 6pm so they are very long days for little ones.

My other problem with working full time would be fitting in all the household chores but if you are organised, I think you could do it. I have so much laundry to do, that is the biggest chore. When I go up to 3 days I am seriously thinking of having a cleaner - just to come an hour a week to clean the bathrooms (1 bathroom, 1 ensuite and 1 downstairs W/C - the upstairs ones very rarely get cleaned at the moment!) and the kitchen floor.

The other thing to consider is illness - it is very hard for us when the kids can't go to nursery - we either have to take holiday or I sometimes work from home, which then involves working really late in the evening after the kids are in bed.

Interested to see other replies and people's views. Good luck with it, I'm sure with good time management and organisation it can be done!

I'm not a mum of three but I know someone who is childminder to triplets whose parents both work full time. She has them from about 8am to about 6pm but with a childminder you might have that extra flexibility with hours that you don't necessarily get with a nursery. Would only work if you can find someone willing to have all three - has vacanies I mean.

Which part of your current child care arrangements are you worried about?

Hi,

Congratulations!

I have no answers i'm afraid bu I'm in the same position. I am currently expecting our 3rd and still debating whether to go back full time or o take a career break.

At the moment I work 5 days over 4 so that gives me Mondays off and means I only pay for Childcare for 4 (longish) days. My concern is by the time I pay childcare for 3 it really will not be worth me going back to work, but on the other hand I cant afford to be a SAHM. T will be starting school in September but I would still need childcare for before and after school.

I am lucky that my employer is very family friendly and I can take up to 5 years carers leave. I am going to try and see if I can take 1 years mat leave and then 2 years carers break but I still need to work out how I survive for this period, My H keeps telling me we will survive one way or another but I am not as calm as he is. 

Sorry I started waffling on there. No solutions but might be worth looking at what benefits you might be entitled to. Working Tax Credits etc,,, I think you then get help with childcare.  

I currently only have 2 children but am expecting 2 more!

I work full time, H works full time and often leaves very early/gets back late. I don't have any family nearby.

We have an after school nanny who works 3.30-6.30pm. She collects S from school and  also collects J from nursery if I need her to (this is rare).  This works best for us because S's school and J's nursery are quite far apart from each other. So if S went to a childminder after school I would struggle to collect them both in time.

We are lucky because the nanny's other job seems to be quite flexible so she can cover holdiays if we need her to as well.

I don't know how it is going to work when I go back to work after these 2. I would like to have her full time so she can still do pick ups etc. By then J will be in pre-school so it should be easier. I can't imagine why anyone would choose to look after someone elses 4 children though

So sorry to come back so late to this - had internet problems at home :(

There are so many things that I am worried about, most of them financial - generally around keeping a family of 5 on mediocre salaries, but also juggling full time work with the ballet classes, swimming, gym plus finding and paying for care in the school holidays, even having holidays (!) and then practical things like what happens if they are sick, I am sick?  I have to travel with work around 4 times a year for at least a week (international) so how will H cope with doing all the above on his own?

One good thing, is that by the time #3 comes along, #2 will get her pre-school funding so can save some money on nusery fees and if I took the full year off work, she would be in school by the time I went back to work so only still have to pay for one in nursery.  No idea if my folks would be prepared to have 3 the other days and after school though!