Back to work after parental leave checklist
Most of the actual work happens the week before, not the first morning — a settled childcare routine and a plan agreed with your employer make the return itself easier.
18 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Childcare start date confirmed, with settling-in sessions done beforehandA few short sessions in the fortnight before, not a first full day on the first day back.
- Childcare bag packed and labelled
- Spare clothes and nappies
- Comfort item from home
- Feeding instructions and any milk, written down
- Emergency contacts and any allergy or medical information given in writing
- A trial run of the actual morning, a week beforeGet up, get dressed, get out the door at the real time — it's always tighter than it looked on paper.
- Milk plan sorted with whoever's doing childcareExpressed milk, formula, or timed around when you're home — agreed and written down rather than assumed.
- Pumping breaks and a private space arranged with your employer, if breastfeedingAsk before the first day back, not on it — most workplaces have to provide reasonable time and somewhere private.
- Handover with your manager on hours, workload and a phased return, if there is one
- Backup childcare plan for a sick day, on either side
- Drop-off and pick-up split agreed with whoever else is doing it
- Work clothes tried on again, and anything replaced that no longer fits
- A good, short goodbye routine practised in advanceThe same few seconds every day, rather than lingering — it's easier on both of you once it's a habit.
- Pump parts, bottles and washing kit set up at home for the evening routine
- Freezer meals stocked for the first week backThe last thing anyone wants to plan on the first exhausting evening.
- Diary cleared of anything non-essential for the first fortnight
- Feelings about going back given somewhere to goRelief, guilt and grief can all turn up in the same week, sometimes the same morning. None of them are the wrong reaction.
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- When should settling-in sessions happen?
- In the week or two before the actual start date, building up from an hour to a full day if possible — not for the first time on the morning you're due back.
- What can I ask my employer for if I'm still breastfeeding or expressing?
- Reasonable breaks and somewhere private to pump, sorted out before the first day back rather than improvised in a stairwell.
- Is it normal to feel bad about going back?
- Very. Relief, guilt and grief about the change all turn up, often in the same week — none of them mean the decision or the childcare is wrong.