Working Moms
Who works night shift?
I'm a nurse and I work 12 hour night shifts. I'm due in May and we're trying to figure out what I'm gonna do about work. If I go to days, I will loose $620 per month with my shift differential. There is a hospital about an hour and fifteen minutes away that pays the same on day shift as what I get on night shift, but I'm hoping something else works out.
So I guess what I'm asking is if you are working night shifts with a LO, how is that working for your family?
PS...Dh works a mixture of days/evenings, so child care could get crazy, but his mom has already assumed that role, and we would just pay her about half of what we would pay for day care. TIA
I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 1Samuel 1:27
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Re: Who works night shift?
I have been doing straight night shift since 2006 when we had DS #2. My DH works only days Mon-Fri, so I work every weekend (Fri/Sat 7pm-7am), and if he gets out of school late, we meet somewhere halfway and exchange kids/cars. Is that fun? Nope. But it has happened, and we just deal with it.
As far as childcare and scheduling goes, night shift looks great "on paper". Living it is a different story. I am exhausted by Sunday nights, DH is cranky because he's had the kids all weekend, and everyone is a mess by bedtime. That is the downside, for sure. But the upside is that DH is home with them while I am at work and vice versa. We pay for one day of daycare per week for one child, which is another bonus. You have to have someone to watch your baby after working all night; I tried to do the night shift then be home with the kids the next day, and I was falling asleep making lunch and barely made it to their naptime without totally losing it most days....
GL with your decision, it can be done, it just depends on how flexible your mom will be with daycare and your DH when he is home alone with your LO!
I was on the night shift, just recently came off.
My DH worked really late as well, anytime from midnight till 4am.
Sooooooo, we had a babysitter come to our house and "watch" our DD as she sleeped. We paid her $10/hour and she really worked out great. We needed her anywhere from 2-4 times per week.
I work part time nights 7p-7a.
There have been bumps along the way, but overall It has been working well for us. The hardest thing was DH getting used to being alone with the baby all night. It was a steep learning curve but he is super daddy now
My mom watches DS while I sleep during the day. I usually sleep at her house from 11-4 before my first shift. Go home have dinner at 5, get ready and leave at 6:30. Then DH takes DS back to my moms in the morning before work and I head there to sleep for the day.
DS will go to daycare in January because my mom is leaving for a few months. It will be a hard transition, but nights is so worth it. I would never give up the pace and the shift differential. Plus its nice knowing that DS will always have someone home when he gets home from school someday. That is really important to me.
Good luck! It can definitely work.