What to do? Childcare and taking on more clients.

[AbornDoula]

I have been having a conversation with my DH about expanding my business to accepting up to 3 clients per month. So far I have only been doing 1-2 per month. I feel like I am ready to expand, however my husband is worried that our family will never see me.
I was wondering how all of the SAHM's,homeschooling moms, and mother's of toddlers work out the arrangements for the family when you aren't available.
My husband can and does leave work early when I need him to, and will work from home if I am at a labor during the day or overnight. But he feels like if I take on more clients, then he will use all of his annual leave for my births.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I'd appreciate it!

[Stacie]

I rely on my husband very little because, although he has a job, he is in school full-time, and that is what he cannot miss.

I have a back-up doula not only for clients, but she is my first line of defense if I need a baby-sitter, kid-picker-upper, etc. I also have many options as far as who can get my kids or watch my kids, and when. You need a long list of people you trust and your children are comfortable with, and then they have to be willing to help you out either for pay, trade, or free.

[MyDoulaStacia]

I am of no help either. We talked my parents into living with us so we have 24/7 babysitters.

[motherstouchdoula]

What I do is I have teenagers so if I get stuck one of the older ones can skip school to watch the little ones. Now I know that doesn't work for ya if you don't have teenagers in the house, I also have a woman who baby sits for me if I get stuck..I pay her $75.00 no matter how long I am going. This works good because, one birth I may only be gone a few hrs (my last birth was less than 4 hrs) then the next may be 24 hrs long. so a flat fee works for us.

[MindOverLaborDoulas]

For me.. it's my friend up the street (well we've been friends she just moved over here), my 65-yo neighbor, and in-laws in that order! I'm really lucky b/c we live in a small town and I could call up anyone and they would watch them.
Good luck Tara and I hope that someone else can respond better!

[MindOverLaborDoulas]

hehe.. I forgot that I had started this reply before I got Mallory Sara in bed and then cooked dh's supper!

[syncreo]

Hi,
I feel for you - this is a tough situation and the reality is that if you take on more births you will see your family less but less doesn't mean not enough. Only you guys can decide that.

I rely on my dh who's schedule is very flexible, my mom and sister and two great neighbours. The juggling act of finding the childcare at a moment's notice though is enough to have brought me down from 2 births a month to 1. My kids are very young and they find it very hard being shuffled around and having mom gone for sometimes more than a day if it is a very long birth. I have taken on postpartum work and teaching to be better able to schedule my time away.

Good luck!
Cheers, Shawna

[tlcdoula]

When I first started it was a difficult situation because I ran a daycare from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. and my dh worked third shift. What we ended up doing was that if I had to leave he would do daycare and if he had to leave for work while I was gone my mother would come to help out. Dh would then skip his breaks and lunch and leave work early. It was hard - no doubt about it, but we had to make it through.

Now life is so much easier because I have a grown daughter (well not grown in my eyes, but grown in the eyes of the law LOL - 18 yrs old) and other teenagers so if I have to leave I just do. The older children will pick up the slack and once they go back to school all of them will be in school this year. The older kids come home from school earlier than the little ones so that won't be an issue and dh will still be on 3rd shift (unless I win that battle) and so he will be here during the day.

[Kim Trower]

yes, a long list of those that can help. It is not even the births that caused the problem with us it was the prenatals, I was doing them to fit the needs of my clients. Now I pick one day and they have to fit within that day..so it is not all week long me having to go somewhere, it's just one day. This helps my kids too as they are young and they were really starting to get upset with me being gone all the time so this way they know, every Thursday I'm gone and then births happen when they happen. I do about 3 a month sometimes up to 5 if some go early/late.

[everydaymiracles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kim Trower yes, a long list of those that can help. It is not even the births that caused the problem with us it was the prenatals, I was doing them to fit the needs of my clients. Now I pick one day and they have to fit within that day..so it is not all week long me having to go somewhere, it's just one day. This helps my kids too as they are young and they were really starting to get upset with me being gone all the time so this way they know, every Thursday I'm gone and then births happen when they happen. I do about 3 a month sometimes up to 5 if some go early/late.

Kim that is a great idea! There are some weeks that I am out at prelim. interviews or prenatals 3 nights in a row! I have occaisionally taught a prenatal class and had an interview on the way home on a Saturday and that has worked well too. Less coming and going for shorter periods of time every other day. R

[heathenmamaof5]

For me it has been a struggle. I tried doula-ing 6 years ago and my kids were just too young. My dh is a long haul truck driver so I can't count on him being available for daycare. I decided to wait awhile and just started taking clients again this past Sept.

Now what we do is my 15 yo daughter is on call to watch the little ones. I send Charlie elsewhere because all that Kelsey and Charlie do is fight. My parents pick up the slack for getting kids to and from school. So far this has worked out well.

I'm taking 2 or 3 births a month. I like to keep due dates at least 2 weeks apart but will take on an extra birth if it is a freind or relative of a past client. I also will take a freind or family member even if the dates overlap.

I also schedule all my pre-natals and post partums during the day while my kids are at school. I also try to do 2 or 3 appt's on the same day. I'm no longer doing evening appts as it's too hard on my kids. I do my long pre-natal (birth plan/coping skills) on Sunday's. This is a good day for my family and most dad's are home and available that day.

Hope this helps.

[Matrescence]

I would have loved to do 2 a month! I try very hard to have my dh home when I'm away at a birth so we worked it out that I could take 1 client every other month and safely bet on him not having to miss much work (since often times they fall on days when he's not working anyway)... but.... we didn't plan on the waves of births, so I'll have a few months with no clients then bam a client due every 3-4 weeks for several months in a row. That's part of the reasoning behind my deciding to stop taking birth clients for awhile, it just got crazy busy.

I wonder if you guys could work out an arrangement where you blocked off certain months for no clients, like Nov-Dec Jun-Jul, maybe then it wouldn't be an issue of you being away from family as much? As far as childcare if you can find homeschooling mommas in your area you may be able to work something out with them.

[heathenmamaof5]

I'm blocking out Dec 15th to Jan 30th each year. With Christmas, which is a HUGE deal in my family. Well my dad IS Santa Claus! And with the three little ones b-days it was just too hard this past year. So I decided to block out these dates so my family has Mom during those 6 weeks to make their holiday and birthdays special.

My bottom line is that my kids come first. I know that they will grow up and be off to their own lifes soon enough, I want to make memories for them to cherish and pass down to their children. KWIM?

[Kalamazoo Doula]

Man, I just wish I COULD fill each month with 2-3 clients! That would help a lot! I just suggest having a large support group that can help with the kids when a birth comes up. Always have a plan A, B and sometimes a plan C! Good luck!