Our son was born exactly three weeks ago, and I work from home. (I'm assuming you're the dad in this scenario.)
For the initial recovery period I found that being in the same room or nearby out of a desire to be helpful was a bad idea. (I don't want to seem like a jerk here, but I have things that I absolutely have to get done. No paternity leave for me.) Simply because my wife knew I was there, she would ask me to do more and more small things for her, i.e. walk across the room and get that blanket for me. Frequent little distractions are a productivity killer. If I was downstairs with a baby monitor, the requests would be a little less frequent. The optimal solution (if I wanted to actually get anything done) was to work outside the home but within about 10 minutes. This way, if she really needs something, I'm a phone call and a short drive away, but generally she has to remember to ask for things she needs when I'm home and non-essential tasks can wait.
So, I'd recommend finding a place close by where you can work on your own, and take breaks every couple hours to come home and help with anything.
I agree with this. Our daughter is 10 months old now. Originally I had a separate home office, but even that wasn't separate enough for me. I felt compelled to help -- it's tough to be at home, knowing that you can get up and help, and not do it.
Now I have a permanent desk in a coworking space that's five minutes from home, and it's better for everyone.
Congrats! I've been remote for over two years now. I also have a one year old at home and was working from the house when she was born. It was extremely difficult to focus given the inevitable distractions of being first time parents.
I now rent a desk out at an incubator and it's been much nicer. I have a clean separation from work and home and get showered and dressed each and every morning like a normal person! :)
Even though I'm a FT employee right now, I'd probably still try and go this route even if I was freelancing.
For the initial recovery period I found that being in the same room or nearby out of a desire to be helpful was a bad idea. (I don't want to seem like a jerk here, but I have things that I absolutely have to get done. No paternity leave for me.) Simply because my wife knew I was there, she would ask me to do more and more small things for her, i.e. walk across the room and get that blanket for me. Frequent little distractions are a productivity killer. If I was downstairs with a baby monitor, the requests would be a little less frequent. The optimal solution (if I wanted to actually get anything done) was to work outside the home but within about 10 minutes. This way, if she really needs something, I'm a phone call and a short drive away, but generally she has to remember to ask for things she needs when I'm home and non-essential tasks can wait.
So, I'd recommend finding a place close by where you can work on your own, and take breaks every couple hours to come home and help with anything.