u/findingleprechauns

I have less than 48 hours before our first ever trip with my little one. I’m not a single parent but the circumstances I am in led me to a decision to travel with my baby on my own. The trip would be over 26 hours including the drive up to Dublin and 2 layovers. I would appreciate if there’s any tips that would make our journey easier as I’m really very anxious about this trip on top of feeling devastated that my husband will not be there on our “first flight” and other “firsts.” Thank you.

Many times I’ve encountered women saying they will not go back to work full time after having a baby, and that they will rather look after their own child than pay for full time creche. I am very bad with maths so I don’t really know how to compute things and decide if it’s worth it so I was hoping someone could help me figure it out?

Here’s a few things about my wages:

Currently full time at 37.5hrs (75 hours per fortnight) with a gross pay €2,919.09 with an approx. take home of €1,875. Payroll department said if I go part time to 33 hours (66 hours per fortnight), then my gross pay would be €2,568.80 with an approx. take home of €1,719.

Creche full time is €320/week less 45hr NCS subsidy is €223.70, vs 4-day care at €280/wk less 36-hr subsidy at €202.96.

Monthly spending is €3,200 including savings of €750.

Am I missing something here, what else should I be looking at? I would really appreciate if someone could advise, the thought of leaving my baby in creche 5 days a week is already giving me anxiety on top of the thought of going back to work. Thanks in advance.

EDIT to include that it is a double income household. My husband works 39hr week and has been given no option to go part time. He also works shift on a 3-cycle and is off every weekend. I am the higher earner but we have always halved the spending. The €3200 spending above is my own spending which includes €1500 that I have to put into our joint account monthly. My husband also puts in the same amount each month. We will also divide the creche fees between the two of us.