How to Work at Home with a Baby

You work out of your home office and you have a baby that sits up well and is almost crawling. How do keep your baby occupied while still getting your work done? The key is variety and not minding while your baby completely destroys your office. Realize that even if you have a great box of toys on the ground, your baby would rather empty out your trash can. As long as you keep small items out of reach and keep the baby away from the electrical outlets, you can enjoy having this junior co-worker on the floor along with you. It won't be long until she's crawling away and off to college. Here are some tips for maintaining your sanity while quenching your baby's curiosity throughout the day.

Instructions

1. Work your day around your baby's schedule. A home office is ideal for this. Plan to work a few hours in the morning before your baby will need a nap. Take time to put the baby down for her nap and work through her nap. Give her lunch and work while she plays on the floor until her afternoon nap. Try and get out for a walk either before or after afternoon nap, to give you both some fresh air. Work during her afternoon nap and then quit for the day and make dinner. Plan little breaks in the playtime/worktime period for diaper changing, kissing, and loving.

2. Have an area near your desk that is baby proofed. Lay down a blanket if you'd like. Have a box of toys on the blanket for your baby to look through. Of course the baby would rather play with office equipment. Boxes of pens make a great toy for a baby to open and take out one by one. Old curling phone cords are fun for baby to stretch and pretty durable to chew. A trashcan full of scrap paper will keep a baby busy unloading for up to a half an hour.

3. Hang some sparkly play necklaces from your file cabinet handles. The baby will love to reach out and play with these. Practicing pulling, chewing, shaking and making noise. Also have a pile of children's books on the floor for the baby to "read."

4. When your baby practices talking, talk right back to her. Both of you will enjoy your nonsense conversations. Touch, tickle, pick up, sing to, love your baby every minute free that you have between phone calls or typing.

5. Make sure there's room for your baby to test out her new movement skills of getting on her hands and knees and rocking, or pulling up on stuff. If she starts getting bored of her toys or what she's doing, either take a break and go for a walk, or bring in some new toys (cold teething rings or a cracker to gum happily) to give her a refreshing change. Hanging up a Johnny Jump Up in the doorway will give her exercise and a fun place to move while staying safely contained and interacting with you.