Okay, so, my daughter is almost a year old. I want to start attending births in time, but as you all know, considering the unpredictable nature of birth, I cannot see myself being apart from my daughter for upwards of 8, 12, 18, even 24 hours at a time anywhere in the near future. She's nursing and we're pretty attached at the moment.

I just want to ask any doulas who have babies/young children, when did you feel that you were able to get back into doula-ing? How old were your babies?

thanks!

I will be doing one client a month while my baby is young and maybe I'll taper that down to a couple months a year until she's 4 then upping it. I figure with all the breastmilk in storage in my freezer grandma can feed her while I'm on duty.

I started doulaing when #2 was 6 months, took 6 months maternity leave for #3 and went back when she was 4 months. I don't recommend that lol

I had my third child in november and by Jan was back doula-ing. Tough but worth it.

My third child is 20 months and I just attended my first birth 2 weeks ago. He's still nursing and he's extremely attached to me and I was away for 35 hours. It was really rough for him (and my husband), especially at night. But we all survived. My husband actually brought him at the birthing center after 24 hours for a quick nursing session, what a relief!
So far I'll try to attend 1 birth/month and gradually increase in the future.

I started back when my twins were 9mo and still nursing, and they (and I ) were not ready. I am back in at 18 mo- they have weaned and are sleeping all night. My mom is the cp, so that is so helpful. Its working out much better this time around.
Good luck!

I have 6 kids, and my oldest is only 5, while my youngest is 5 mos! -no twins. I gave myself a 6 month maternity leave, and I am now back in the business! Things are kinda slow over here for now, though, so it makes it a little easier. Just make sure you have a lot of breastmilk in your freezer, and you may have to take a few "pumping breaks" instead of "arm rest breaks" during a long labor.