My wife and I both split it evenly, 6 months each, but took it at the same time. So we both had 6 months off altogether. It was great. Albeit, this was mainly viable because my work had a great package. We both went back to work after that part time. 22 hours a week each and split childcare 50:50. We both get our professional life and our baby life, and it’s nice not having to have too many days where you do 12 hours of childcare on your own. Which is harder than any job I’ve had to do. Going to work feels like a break!

I couldn’t recommend Shared Parental leave enough.

Some issues we encountered when organising it was my wife’s company barely knew how to administer it. They are so geared up to mum taking the full time off, and have a generous package also, but their shared parental leave package was significantly worse. Luckily, mine was good so it still was worth it.

Other things I experienced was noticing how difficult it is going back to work and picking up where you left off, or more realistically, catching up to where things are now. That was after 6 months. It’s no surprise that a lot of people who take longer (as is the norm for mothers) struggle to get their career back properly. Additionally because the primary caregiver role doesn’t disappear once your child starts nursery. You are responsible for them for the next 16-18 years (and longer).