Teachers struggle to balance career and childcare after maternity leave

“I’m a 2nd year teacher planning to return to work in January after having Sep-Dec maternity leave. I teach in a big city with a great union. My husband works in IT and is paid well. I am really fortunate. Yet I’m not sure that I want to return in January when my baby is 6 months. My parents plan to help take care of my baby while I work, but not sure if they can do it everyday so we may pay for a day or two of childcare. I teach middle school ESL, and they have given me 2 levels this year versus”

“Im currently on maternity leave, about 2 weeks in. My long term sub for my class is a retired teacher from my school. I started my leave confident that my class was in good hands and she even shadowed me for 2 weeks to make sure she knew all of my rules/procedures. Ive been receiving updates and im not terribly upset but concerned and just wondering if this is normal? My sub changed my class decor, added furniture, changed my reward system for students, bought a class pet, changed class procedur”

“Hello! Being October 1st that means I return to work this month, I’ve always said I would never be a SAHM and I still don’t want to be, I just want more time with my little baby. I work in healthcare so 12 weeks is it and that’s better than some. Nonetheless I have found myself in decision paralysis and my husband is helpful but ultimately supportive of what I want. First option: in home daycare - that is unlicensed. Recommended to me by two coworkers I trust with my life and whom have sent 3 ch”

“I’m a public school teacher who thought 5 months of leave with baby would certainly be enough, but now that she is here it feels like I can’t possibly go back that soon. Husband is on part time work right now so we are on a family plan through my works insurance. I asked about taking a leave of absence for the remainder of the school year and was quoted $3,000 A MONTH FOR CONTINUING OUR HEALTH INSURANCE. I’m sure this goes without saying but we are in the US and I knew health care was shitty but”

“Unlike many women in Germany i am choosing to go back to working part time after four months. My son will be born around November and I will start a new job in march. I like working and after having been at home since may due to a Beschäftigungsverbot (staying home payed because the job I have is a risk for the pregnancy) i noticed I didn’t want to be a SAHM for a year, like the majority of women is choosing to do (at least that’s what it feels like among my friends). My partner is also taking t”

“FTM who works as a high school music teacher with after school and weekend competition duties. During your baby’s first year, about how much time off a month did you take for doctors appointments or just mental health days in general? It feels like I’m taking at least a couple of days off every month which I never did pre-baby so I’m feeling guilty and I’m upset over feeling guilty about it. I have tried scheduling appointments during breaks but the offices aren’t open on Labor Day or Columbus/I”

“Hi! I am trying to get my leave at work extended to Jan 4 and it’s a whole process. However, my child is set to start daycare Nov 16 (my original return to work date). They told me they don’t have any part time to full time spots available when I asked if we could slowly start him in November/December before my tentative new start date. Could I just pay for daycare full time and pick and choose what days he goes? Will we get in trouble for that? Sorry if this is a dumb question. I’m struggling w”

“I'm a second-year Pre-K teacher in CT and my first child is due mid-October. I'll be out on maternity leave until roughly early January. My husband and I have spent a good amount of time looking into childcare options across 3 towns. However, between the childcare options either not being a good fit, not confidently saying they'll have spots for us in January, and us just honestly not wanting to put a maybe 3 month old infant in daycare, we've decided it's better for our fami”

“I have been on maternity leave for 15 weeks and tomorrow I go back to work. Tomorrow will also be my daughter’s first day at daycare. She is enrolled in an in-home care program with 5 other kids (2 four year olds, 1 three year old, 2 one year olds). Please tell me anything, whether it’s an anecdote or advice, to encourage me and to ease my anxious thoughts. submitted by /u/This_Ingenuity_8258 [link] [comments]”

“I’ve been back to work 8 months after maternity. I find myself not as bad being anxious and wanting to get home to her. I hadn’t left her overnight until recently and turned down a weekend away because I didn’t want to leave her again overnight. I feel so guilty. I have enjoyed nights out etc haven’t gone out very often. Is it still normal to feel like this? Also feel like I’m not as good at my job and not on the ball with things as much and just making silly mistakes submitted by /u”

“Anyone out there stay home with their kids while they were young and then go back to work? I am worried that I won’t be able to get a job if I stop working for a couple of years. I currently do PRN but even that is becoming hard because I’m missing out on my kids sporting events and birthday parties submitted by /u/National_Sir4685 [link] [comments]”

“I’m a family medicine physician and first-time mom to a 3 month old baby girl, and I’m looking for advice from other female physicians about returning to work after maternity leave. I’ve been in outpatient primary care for 4 years at the same job since completing residency. Overall, it’s a pretty good primary care job: I have 40- and 20-minute slots and see around 15 patients/day, have a panel of 1,800, and we have good inbox coverage and PTO (an “inboxologist” covers my inbox while I’m away, so”

“I had my daughter at the beginning of June, and I’ve had all summer off with her since I’m a teacher. When I return to work next week, she will be 16 weeks old. This will be my first time back in the classroom in two years since I had a leadership role before. Before that I had 4 years of teaching experience. I know I will have to get back into the rhythm of things and I do remember how demanding teaching is so I anticipate being exhausted when I return home. What are some easy meals that you ha”

“I have less than 5wks left of mat leave. My son will be five months on Saturday. When I was pregnant I thought ‘of course I’ll want to work, I’ll want my own time & money’ & lalala. Now the time is almost here & I don’t want to go. I’m so nervous to leave my son with someone else/new environment. Hoping to have some grandma help a couple days a week but can’t rely on this yet. Either way we need my income too. How did yall deal? 😭🥺 submitted by /u/Emergency_Extent9685 [”

“I’m in Canada in my early 30s. I have two kids and quit my remote high paying job when I was pregnant with my second. I love being a stay at home and my husband makes enough that we’re financially comfortable. We’re thinking of a third kid but I’m worried about the long gap on my resume. It’s already been 3 years since I’ve quit. I’d love to have a third kid so bad but would hate to not be able to use my skills and education once the kids are older. I’m a CPA and have several years experience in”

“My boss left right before I went out on my 20 week leave and another of my co-workers left mid-leave. We were a really solid team making a lot of positive change in the org and I had a good relationship with everyone and was viewed as a high performer. They’ve brought on several people since then in new and expanded roles and I guess feels like I got left behind as my new boss who I didn’t know built his team. My job also got re-leveled and my co-workers got $20k bumps to bring them up to where”

“I go back to work in Sept after 18 months of mat leave and I have all the feelings. we aren’t doing daycare for now , husband is wfh and my mom lives with us so she will be our childcare, my job is in office. I am spiralling, how will we adjust in the morning? , is my mom going to be ok with her, is she going to have a hard time napping when I’m not around! . I know there will be an adjustment period but the thought of it is scaring me. I don’t want to be a SAHM , I had 2 working parents all my”

“I’ve been a SAHM for 3 years this coming October. I originally planned to stay home until my child started Pre-K next year. I’ve started casually looking at jobs and considering my options. It’s not exactly hard to get a bedside position in my area, but I have zero desire to return, especially considering the time I’ve been away. Thinking about it gives me overwhelming dread and anxiety. For context, I’m 40. I started working at the bedside as a CNA when I was 18. I was an LVN for 7 years and an”

“Hi! I am currently 6 weeks post partum. My company gives me 16 weeks paid maternity leave, with an option to take an additional 10 weeks unpaid (total of 26 weeks/roughly 6 months). I originally told my team I would come back in November (about 18 weeks after giving birth). However, with the holidays and just my general anxiety I am considering telling my team I want to come back in the new year. Should I do it? I don’t want to burn any bridges since I told them I would come back in November. Th”

“Hi! I am currently 6 weeks post partum. My company gives me 16 weeks paid maternity leave, with an option to take an additional 10 weeks unpaid (total of 26 weeks/roughly 6 months). I originally told my team I would come back in November (about 18 weeks after giving birth). However, with the holidays and just my general anxiety I am considering telling my team I want to come back in the new year. Should I do it? I don’t want to burn any bridges since I told them I would come back in November. Th”

“hey, I need some advice about going back to work and breaatfeeding. so my baby will be 11.5 months when I go back to work part time in 2 weeks. my work is in the evenings from 5-10pm 3 days a week. my husband will be taking care of baby and putting him to bed those nights. I'm just trying to figure out if I need to express milk in preparation for going back to work so husband can feed him breatmilk before bed and how much I should express? and does baby even necessarily need to be bottle fed”

“I'm back at work with a 14 month month old. I avoided it as long as possible by taking 12 months maternity and the rest as annual leave. My daughter starts nursery at the beginning of next month and my husband is looking after her until then as he is on leave himself. 2 weeks back at work and I've caught up with all my emails, admin and mandatory training like health and safety. The first week he told me that he wasn't sure what I'd be doing during week 2 and then halfway through”

“I found out I was pregnant this summer and after the joy wore off the “holy crap how am I going to do this,” sunk in. Here’s the main concern: last year I did all four NBCT components and, naturally, burned through a ton of my leave (I’m carrying over three days 😬). My due date is March, which means tons of unpaid leave (my state does not offer paid maternity leave), but it also means tons of appointments before I even deliver. I’m trying to schedule appointments after work, but it’s been reall”

“I went back to work after 13 weeks of maternity leave ... and it has been the worst. I never wanted kids, this pregnancy was unplanned (my husband and I are both in our 40s and were shocked). I always planned on returning to work. I've been shocked by how upset I have been to leave my little one. 2 weeks at home with her and we both decided we could not imagine dropping her off at daycare as originally planned. We hired in-home help, even though it'll eat up much of my salary. Even just”

“Recently went back to work after staying home for 13 months (very privileged and grateful!). LO is at home with her father for a few months before gradually starting daycare (they will be visiting and getting to know the place before being there alone). Anyway..I feel like I've gotten so much less time with her, and the shift was so huge and sudden. To me it just feels empty and sad, and the worst part is I fear it will do irreversible damage to the mother-daughter bond. I fear dad will repl”

“I am on maternity leave until Sept when my husband and I will go back to work at the same time. I’m worried about the transition because we are already burnt out with a toddler and a newborn. Husband splits half of household and childcare minus breastfeeding. He splits night shifts with me and gives the newborn bottles. Crunch time right now is bedtime and early in the morning. The baby has about 10-45 min of fussy crying (witching hour) and the toddler gets extra clingy at night. In the morning”

“Hi I need suggestions on how I can extend my maternity leave. I am a 6th month postpartum and my leaves are getting over this month. Every now and then I feel I need more time with baby and joining does not seem a good choice right now The problem is my base location was Mumbai while I was pregnant so technically I am still based at Mumbai , but I want to restart working in banglore as my husband resides and I can't go back to the previous role as that was based at the Mumbai office only . S”

“As the title says, I'm trying to figure out if it's worth returning to work after my little one arrives, or if I should stay home. I'm an Early Childhood teacher with a master's degree, and before becoming a teacher I had a whole corporate career as well. However, we're now expecting our baby in October and daycare is $1000/mo for part-time care. If my husband (a chef) is approved to have stable weekdays off, we can make that work. However, he wants to look for a better (i.e.”

“I’m on mat leave with my first. I am in Canada and am taking a little over a year. Working is very important to me and we have a reputable daycare lined up for when my son is just over a year old. We would like to have one more child. If we’re able to control the timing, the age gap will be 2-3 years. I/my husband would take one more year off in total with this second hypothetical child. I told a family member that I would keep the oldest in daycare while on a second mat leave for a multitude of”

“I will make this short and sweet. I go back next week after being on maternity leave and I am DREADING it. I hate where I'm at (middle school) and I tried so hard to get a position elsewhere and nothing panned out. I also feel so guilty having to go back to work and feel like a bad mom for having to have MIL watch my son while me and my husband work. What can help me with coming to terms with it? Quitting to be a SAMH isn't an option for me. submitted by /u/schnugglenschtuff”

“I’m going to be going on maternity leave in March-June of this school year. We can use our sick days for maternity leave - which would bring my paid time to about mid May. The problem is, I’m not sure I’m going to renew my contract for next year due to childcare costs. In mid April, when we need to renew our contracts for the following year, if I don‘t - what would happen with my sick days and health insurance? I know this is likely dependent on the state/district but I cannot ask my school. I’m”

“My baby is 6 months old. I'm a teacher, and I already went back to work back at the beginning of April after maternity leave, but I've been off for the summer. And now it's ending. I go back tomorrow for professional development, and I feel so panicked. I felt like this when my maternity leave ended too, but I just kept telling myself to push through April and May and then I'd have the whole summer with her. I hoped that going back in August wouldn't be as hard, but it is. I”

“I have a 5-month-old baby and I’m still on maternity leave (I’ll be returning to work in about a month). Honestly, I already know I want a second child. As an only child myself, I’d love for my kids to grow up close in age. My concern is that having another baby relatively soon would mean going through pregnancy and maternity leave again not long after returning to work. I’m worried that this could slow down my career progression or make employers less likely to consider me for promotions, high-”

“My maternity leave is coming to an end in September and I’m really anxious about this new chapter as a first time mom returning to work. I had a conversation with a career mentor recently and she said the next five years will be “career making” for me, and asked me what kind of lifestyle I want for myself in 5, 10, 15 years. I want to be client-facing and financially independent, but I also want to prioritize my kids and my own health and wellness. The problem is the way she asked me made it see”

“I’m currently 2.5 weeks into my 16-week, fully paid maternity leave. My current role is 5 days a week in the office with a 30–45 minute commute and very little WFH flexibility. I was already feeling burnt out before having my son, but now that he’s here, the thought of going back to the office full-time in November is absolutely crushing me. I started applying to hybrid roles and now have three promising opportunities. My top choice is moving quickly (I only have 1–2 interview rounds left) and w”

“I came back from maternity leave about a month ago. It’s been tough, but I wanted to go back. I’m a contractor, so the more I work, the more I make. My husband’s income covers the bills, everything I make goes toward entertainment, vacations, clothing, etc. There are not many daycare options where I live, so I thought I would go back only part time. The problem is that work is actually very busy for me right now, and it’s very hard for me to say no to jobs because it’s extra income. My MIL watch”

“I had my first baby back in July 2025. I started at a new work place (acute/critical care hospital, employed as a med/surg float) in November 2024. For context I work in Ontario, Canada as an RN (BScN). I was (I guess you can say) scouted for an ED/ICU position - the ED/ICU float manager reached out and asked if I would be interested in this position after floating to both units and (I’m assuming) doing quite well. I have zero experience (other than consolidating [2022] in ED at a different hosp”

“I have been lucky enough to have been home with my twins for 8 months now. The timing worked out where I didn’t have to return for the rest of the 25-26 school year once they were born. Monday will be my first day back to work and today the anxiety has hit me hard. I’m so nervous to only see them for a few minutes in the morning, then get home to pretty much do their bedtime routine and put them to sleep. I feel like I’m going to miss everything. I am fortunate that my mom will be watching the b”

“So, my husband changed jobs 3 months before our son was born. His previous job was terrible and we don’t regret the change, but it did mean that he was not able to take advantage of California’s 3 months bonding leave afforded to partners (CFRA/PFL). The new job did thankfully allow him to take what amounted to almost a month of unpaid leave after my son’s birth so that I had assistance while I was recovering from childbirth. Now, according to CFRA, it can be taken at any point between birth/pla”

“I am due back to work in 3 weeks time after what will be about 10/11 months maternity leave. (Very lucky to have all that time, I know!) My dad died in a very traumatic way the same week my baby was born, so my mat leave has been both full of grief and full of wonder from my baby. I am scared to go back to work, it feels like a old version of me and I am scared to leave my baby at nursery for a couple days a week. I am scared to try work from home with him for one day too... Any tips/advice/happ”

“I just had my first baby 3 weeks ago. I adore her even though she’s truly a sack of potatoes at this point. But I can’t help but yearn to go back to work. I’ve been unemployed since the start of my second trimester (rough pregnancy). Before that, I was a teacher for about 10 years. I LOVE teaching. It’s not for everyone and there’s definitely a reason why so many quit, but it’s definitely the career for me. I’ve been missing the classroom ever since I left last year. Now that the start of the ne”

“Vent/ advice: I had my LO end of April with my maternity leave ending in June. I am a teacher, so it lined up perfectly with the end of the year and I got to spend the summer with baby boy too. I return to work first week of September. Prior, I never thought I wanted to be SAHM, but now that he’s here that’s changed. (We are fortunate that my husbands schedule as a first responder allows him to watch baby a few days a week and when he’s at work, my mom or MIL will watch… while I’m thankful we ha”

“2 days before my delivery. But after that, I availed 3 months of paid maternity leave.”

“I started my leave at 36 weeks, and went back to school about a week after my baby's first birthday”

“FTM here with an amazing 7month old. I am loving spending the whole summer with him and playing SAHM😂 However I go back to work August 17 and I am dreading it! I did have to return from mat leave for April and May so this is not my first time back at work since having the baby. However, during his naps and sometimes wake windows I cook, clean, do laundry, etc. I am worried how will I get this stuff done when I am at work 8:30-3:30 then solo parenting 4x a week (husband works until 7 4x a week 2”

“I am a FTM and just gave birth end of April. As a teacher, my maternity leave lined up with the end of the school year, so I get to stay home with baby boy from April- August. I go back to work the first week of September. I’m really battling a lot of emotions. I never thought I wanted to be SAHM. I LOVE my career. But after being home with him for this long, it’s making it harder to want to go back. Unfortunately, it’s just not realistic or possible for me to be SAHM at this time. I am very for”

“So I have been working at my dream job for over 2 years now and I returned from my first maternity leave about 4 months ago. Long story short, I did not want to go back to working full time leading up to the end of mat leave but financially I had no choice. This has been a pretty jarring change because I worked so hard to get this job, the organization has a great mission, and I love the people I work with. I also have a great set-up in that I can work from home most of the time. That being said”