Having a baby is one of the big reasons people get interested in jobs like medical transcription, so that they can work at home and still be there for the baby. It’s a nice plan, but first you have to study medical transcription so that you’re ready to work when you find that first job. With a baby around, that’s pretty difficult.

You may think about how much babies sleep when you’re considering medical transcriptionist training, but sleeping isn’t all they do, and they get more demanding than some new parents expect. You have to prepare yourself to deal with the needs of an infant as you study.

As a new mom, you may be recovering from the baby’s birth as well, and that should factor into how you plan on dealing with your studies. You’re probably getting less sleep than usual and are still learning to deal with the routines of your infant. Add in the aches and pains of recovery from childbirth, perhaps the challenges of breastfeeding and so forth, and being serious about studies is not easy.

The first step is to figure out when you can study. Some studies may be possible with your child in your lap if you’re taking an online course. Most moms learn to do quite a bit on the computer with just one hand when their children are young.

Naptimes and after bedtime are other popular times for studying. These will probably also become your work hours in the long run, and you will need to figure out how many hours you should be dedicating to your studies to get through them in a reasonable time without wearing yourself completely out. There are reasons why people tell new moms to sleep when the baby sleeps. But if you need to earn a living from home, you have to make some sacrifices.

The baby’s father, other family members and willing friends are also good resources to help you make time for your studies. You don’t have to be the one who holds the baby all the time, even if you are breastfeeding. Let someone else do the jobs that don’t require your special touch when you need the time to study.

The more you can treat your studies the way you hope to treat your eventual job as a medical transcriptionist, the better. The time you spend on your medical transcription studies is when you are learning not only the skills you’ll need in order to do the job, but the skills you’ll need in order to work at home if that’s your goal. Treat your studies just as seriously as you would a job. You’ll get through them more quickly that way.

That said, it may have to be a very part time job at first. Do work up to the number of hours you expect to need to work, but the initial thing is to get a regular schedule going. If you need some time to work into the full schedule you expect to maintain, do that and don’t feel bad if you can’t do it all at first.

Take a look at Career Step’s online training program. It’s highly flexible and a great way to get prepared for your medical transcription career.