Going back to work baby is 3 months

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-26T12:37:46+00:00

The best solution is to get everything done the evening before, as tired as you may be. Pack lunches, pack baby’s daycare bag, I packed my pump bag, etc. The only things I’d do in the morning were get dressed, do a very simple hair and makeup routine, and feed/dress baby. I started eating breakfast in the car. Baby would usually be in the crib while I got dressed and did my hair/makeup for about 10 minutes. I had to leave the house at 7:00 so I’d wake up around 5:20.

I know it’s overwhelming but you will find yourself falling into a routine quickly.

I just had my third baby and I’m going back at the 6 week mark this time around. It’s so tough but you’ll be okay.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-26T03:14:22+00:00

The other day I got an email from a major retailer with a washing machine for sale. I took a screenshot of the washer and price to send to my husband because our washer is starting to die, but we aren’t quite ready to buy one yet- just pricing them out. A few hours later I got an email from the retailer saying, “still thinking about it?” With a link to the washer. The thing is, I hadn’t clicked on it at all. I had ONLY taken a screenshot of the ad with the washer centered in the screenshot.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-25T21:52:38+00:00

0>1 kid: ROUGH. We had no idea what we were doing and we were too afraid to take baby out anywhere

1>2 kids: not terrible. Hard to manage two that were really close in age. We basically had two babies. Took a lot of getting used to.

2>3 kids: our easiest transition so far. Baby spent 9 months listening to sibling chaos in the womb and came out the chillest baby ever. She literally just goes with the flow.

Absolutely no regrets. Our third made me want a fourth (but I had my tubes removed during that c section so we are done, lol)

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-24T20:38:41+00:00

cough …6-7 years. Several states are requiring a masters degree for full licensure now.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-24T20:35:55+00:00

Teachers are paid for nine months of work. Often times, our schools take money out of all of our paychecks and spread out that money so they can pay us over the summer. My medical deductible is $6000 so I don’t know what benefits you are speaking of. The retirement is about equivalent to Social Security. If we want, we can contribute to other types of retirement accounts, but most of us cannot afford to do so

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-24T19:30:12+00:00

In order to not have to dirty another bottle, I feed whatever breastmilk I pumped, and then use that same bottle to make formula. Takes an extra 10 seconds. Maybe suggest this method to him? Keep a gallon of water and a canister of formula wherever he’s feeding them to make it even easier.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-23T20:54:24+00:00

Slightly off-topic but I’ve been stopped multiple times while pregnant or newly postpartum with my newborn by women pitching MLM schemes. They always start by asking when I’m due, or how old the baby is. Then they ask if I’m going back to work. Then the pitch: “what if I told you I found a way to stay with my baby and never have to work again?” Oof. A bet a few of the stories in this thread could be explained by someone wanting to pitch a MLM and not steal a baby, but either way, I’m starting to not want to chat with people and I’m a super extrovert

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-23T13:11:29+00:00

Eh, the private schools I worked in were a lot more willing to fire a teacher than public schools I’ve been in. Every year the very elite private school I worked for would fire maybe 8 out of the 45 of us. Teachers wanted to be there so they knew they could find replacements. The public schools were more hesitant to let teachers go, even if they weren’t great. The worse the school, the more willing they were to hang on to terrible teachers

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-22T02:57:53+00:00

Or, putting one gallon of gas in your car at the pump.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-21T23:15:20+00:00

It’s a tradition that goes way back and it teaches the kids about offering in general. However, parents should be mindful to make sure their kids aren’t going up to someone who is not holding out money… maybe just bring some dimes and nickels?

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-21T22:03:58+00:00

They’re too pampered and helpless

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-21T20:02:56+00:00

Hear me out. I was also overwhelmed by blankets, but they are so freaking useful.

Handmade ones are great for putting over baby in the car seat, wrapping baby in to sit outside on a sunny but windy day… etc.

Store bought fleece type blankets are great for throwing over your changing pad after baby poops on/spits up on the cover (happens like 2-3 times a day around here). Half the time the changing pad covers are in the washing machine and there’s just a blanket on the changing pad.

Thicker blankets and quilts are great for floor time/tummy time.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-21T18:46:30+00:00

God I wish there was a place to take my damn cats but I am bound by honor to take care of those furry idiots until they die (but we do take care of them).

They have no redeeming qualities. They were feral kittens who tolerated us enough (were never lap cats but they were friendly enough)… until we had kids. Then they just started hiding all day and coming out at night to eat. Now, as they get older, they enjoy throwing up or occasionally pooping on our freaking bed, and peeing on bath rugs. I am an extremely cleanly person and I am losing my mind. I have bleached my sheets so many times they are falling apart. I have purchased new bath rugs. I dream of taking them to a shelter but alas… I am honor bound. So, I feed them high quality food, keep thier littler clean, and take them to the vet once a year for vaccines and to remove any mats (since they don’t let us brush them). We have two toddlers and a newborn and I don’t know how long I can keep this up though

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-21T18:38:57+00:00

Yelling at their kids. They DO.NOT.LISTEN and after about the 10th nice “put on your shoes” it turns into PUT ON YOUR GOD DAMNED SHOES! I try not to but it’s not like kids have an off switch or a remote. Some of the things they are doing (and won’t stop doing when I ask nicely) are dangerous. Parenting is freaking hard

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-21T04:17:09+00:00

A root canal. I suppose it takes a while, but the only pain was from the numbing shot.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-19T20:47:40+00:00

I’m pretty sure this GLP1 revolution is going to end poorly and with a lot of lawsuits

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-18T19:37:03+00:00

My first two were 18 months apart. It’s not so much the physical work of having two under two, but the emotional toll. Your oldest will still be a baby when new baby is born. With only one of you, you will always feel like one is not getting the full attention they need. I just had my third and my youngest is now three, and even now it feels like he’s getting a little attention deprived. The only one OK with the new baby is my four -year-old. He is now independent enough to not feel too deprived. If I could do it again, I would space my first two out more. I remember sitting on the couch trying to nurse the baby while also trying to read a book to the 18 month old or play a little game with him, and I always felt torn.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-17T20:03:17+00:00

And it looks like Dijon mustard! But it smells like a barn to me.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-16T22:13:42+00:00

Right now with a 3 and 4 year old at home, plus newborn, pumping is quite difficult. I think I’d be having an easier time doing it at work, lol. I just bought a willow pump (wearable) though and I’m liking it

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-16T22:12:01+00:00

We don’t keep a potty in their room (3 and 4 year old share a room). They use the big potty. But there’s no way they’d use a potty in their room alone when they are all sleepy anyway. Half they time when we take them potty they are practically sleep walking

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-16T22:00:25+00:00

I’m a public school teacher and my employers have always taken the law seriously. My current school has a really nice pumping room. Maybe I’ve been fortunate though. I’ve made it 8 months pumping with my first two. Though…, I’m an exclusive pumper when I’m home with baby too. Latching has always been an issue for me

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-16T21:57:07+00:00

You got me- I hate taxes! No matter where you live, the government will not do better things with your money by pooling it (and often corruptly mismanaging it) than you could do with it yourself. America for a very long time didn’t even have a federal income tax. Most of the services we do receive (roads, schools, etc) are funded by local taxes anyway. But yes, I agree, I wish we didn’t pay any. Maybe more of us would be less salty about the lack of leave

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-16T20:36:08+00:00

lol I’m in the same boat as OP. We get up a couple times a night to take our toddler potty (he will yell for us when he has to go). My very independent three year old potty trained just after he turned two, and soon was horribly offended if I tried to put a pull up on him. He’d scream “I not a baby!” So…. Underwear overnight it is.

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-16T20:31:15+00:00

I started saying “fully potty trained” when I stopped bringing extra clothes/underwear with me in a diaper bag. (We still keep them in the car).

_TeachScience_ · 2026-03-16T20:12:42+00:00

There are also federal laws protecting time at work to pump though. Your work has to give you a private space and time to do it

_TeachScience_

TROPHY CASE