3rd Shift Moms

themarievon · April 2016

Hey all,

I am looking at a new position that the schedule involves 3 12 hour shifts per week and rotates days and night. I am in the veterinary field so I was curious if any other moms out there work similar schedule. Pros/cons? Babysitting options? Experience?? Any thoughts would be much appreciated?

kfry22 · April 2016

I don't have the exact same work schedule as you but similar circumstances. I do milk testing for dairy cows and have crazy hours. Sometimes leaving the house at 2am to head to work. Sometimes getting home at midnight. And then anything in between. Plus I come home smelling like cows and covered in manure.

What we do is coordinate daycare drop offs and pick ups between my husband and I and discuss our schedule on Sundays. My husband is self employed so his schedule has some flexibility. There is a calendar on our fridge with it written down as well. And I communicate all of this to our daycare. She is in an home day care so she is pretty flexible with my son coming and going at different times everyday. I am not sure a regular daycare facility would be understanding about this. Is that an option for you or do you have family that can help out?

The hardest thing for me is switching from working early hours to later hours and making sure i get enough sleep so I sometimes have to sleep during my sons nap time as well. He is on a pretty good schedule and my husband knows the nights I have to go to bed earlier or the nights they will be home alone together. I also breastfeed and try to stick to pumping or nursing every six hours to keep up my supply since I am not always around my son at the same times every day.

Not sure that this helps at all but thought I would comment anyway

VexedMommy · April 2016

I don't have personal experience, but when my 1st was younger her daycare provider (in-home daycare) kept kids for single mothers who worked rotating shifts. The mother would drop their child off before her shift and the child would spend the night and part of the next day (so mom could sleep) with the daycare provider.

kmd91 · April 2016

From the childcare aspect, I have to echo using someone who provides care out of their home. I actually previously had a one year old in my care whose mom worked 14 hour rotating shifts, and I'll be honest, I loved when she worked overnight. The baby slept most of the time, so it was the easiest money. I say that just to let you know there are definitely people that would love to help out a third shift mama.

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