Since I've discovered another little one is on the way (I'm gonna be 40 in November you guys) I'd really like to figure out how to stay at home with my babies for a while. I only stayed home with dd for 6 weeks and it nearly broke my heart. I pay between $400 and $500 a month for daycare now, that would double with 2 kids under age 2.

Unfortunately I'm the main bread winner in the family. Dh loves his work and that matters more to us than the amount of the paycheck. (I love my work too, I'm just lucky enough to get a decent paycheck)

Now don't make faces at me when I tell you this, but $800/month for daycare would be only slightly over 1/3 of my net pay. But we really can't afford our child care bill to double. If I can figure out how to bring in $1000 to $1500/month, I can stay home with no changes in lifestyle. (We'd all like to do that wouldn't we) We're going to need a bigger house, we squeezed dd in but there is no room for another, and a bigger vehicle, a family of 5 won't fit in a 4 seatbelt Blazer.

I have skills though.... I'm thinking about doing coding (medicare billing) or maybe signing a weekend contract with a local hospital. I have to practice nursing so many hours in a 3 year period to maintain my license. I'd love to be able to make my crafts.....

You are all probably as dumbfounded as I am and thinking "If you figure out how to make that kind of money from home, we need to know about it!" Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I have until spring to figure this out.

My neighbor does medical transcription from her home- she goes and picks up tapes, then drops them off next morning. I think she has 3 offices which have several doctors in their group. She is making no less than 30,000 a year. She can work when she wants during the day or night, just as long as it's done by the next morning when she does her delivery/pickup. You mentioned the medical billing, so I thought this might be right up your alley. Good luck and go for it!

I babysit for a nurse and she works one day a week and then every other weekend her husband stays with the kids on the weekends she works so she is only paying for childcare for one day a week

babysitting is a great way to stay home and make money too. that is if you can deal with extra children. crafts would be a blast you could do that too and sell on line. I don't know. good luck though

Babysitting is definately NOT an option. I love my own kids, but taking care of other's is not something I can do. An occasional neice or nephew is sometimes too much. Thanks for the ideas!

Well the only thing that comes to my mind is you and your dh working split shifts..so that he works while you watch the kids..then you work while he watches the kids..and hopefully your days off could be the same days?

Karen what about renting a room to a student? You can share via a schedule, cooking facilities, or set up hot plate, microwave etc for her.

If you have a sep. bathroom, and bedroom and rec room, can you convert it to a mini suite for a student?

I'm a former RN and I know what you mean about keeping up so many hours. Where I live, it worked out to 2 12 hour shifts a month.

Can you work nights, once every 2 weeks so you can work a night shift then kind of doze around the house all day the next day, looking after the little one (but not going onto a shift the next night) and napping when he/she does.

OR arrange for 2 shifts a month back to back and arrange ONE day of daycare for your sleep day?

The rest of the month, you are free to do what you want. You can take a breast pump to work with you and pump and discard if you have to. (some of the areas I've worked in there is no way I'd plan on refridgerating lunch let alone milk for my baby in)

For a couple of night feedings that you would be working, maybe homestored milk would do?