By Staff Contributor

Spending time with your child is a very exhilarating experience, especially after an exhausting day at work. But your work doesn't end there. When you get home, you still need to make time to take care of your baby, make sure he is fully fed, clean and ready for bed. You also have to spend quality time with him since he is still experiencing new things. You need to be there as much as you can, to teach your child, to encourage and reassure him at all times. Creating a balance between your baby and work can be tedious and tiring. It demands your full attention, just like your work. It can easily take its toll on you.

To avoid an emotional and physical breakdown, here are some helpful tips on how to balance your time between your child and your work.

  1. Over the weekend, learn to plan the things you're going to do on the following week. You can start by listing dental and medical appointments, creating menus for the week, jot down the grocery list and some other stuff you need to do.
  2. Since you already made a menu for the week, it would greatly save you some time when you marinate and cook the food in advance. Just store them in the freezer. Cook simple yet healthy meals. This way, you can just unfreeze the food when dinner time comes.
  3. Routine is important. Apply a daily schedule for your baby. Eventually, he will get used to it. When you say dinner is at seven, your child should start eating by that time. If you say sleeping time is at nine, then your baby should be fed and clean before nine. This will help you manage your time and schedule as well.
  4. It is easier to get the job done in frequent intervals and in small quantities. For example, you can start by doing one load of laundry every night. This will make your work lighter. You can also prepare the clothes that your baby's going to use for tomorrow in advance.
  5. Share the load. You cannot do everything so talk to your spouse and divide the responsibilities that need to be done on a daily basis.
  6. If you are on an hourly-rate, you can extend your working hours in one day so you can work fewer days in a week. For instance, instead of working 8 hours daily, make it ten hours per day. And then take the Friday off and spend the long weekend with your child.
  7. You can incorporate teaching while eating dinner with your kid. You can start teaching the kind of utensil your child is using or anything about food. You can also ask about your toddler's day.
  8. Make it a habit to cuddle and tuck your baby nicely and warmly every night. You can read a storybook to put your child to sleep. This way, it will show that you are still there despite of your busy schedule.
  9. It is important to treat yourself with a luxurious bath or a quiet time alone. Either it is after your toddler sleeps or in the morning before everyone wakes up. Always remember yourself. This will give you the strength to go on with your very busy and tiring day.

Balancing your life between work and your baby requires patience, determination, discipline and most of all, love. It is extremely vital that you do not forget that. There would be times that you might go insane but it is a challenge that is worth the effort.