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Mom nurses?

tyannejtyannej member
in October 2017 Moms
hey everyone, I was wanting some input from some of you that may of went through nursing school with kids. I have options and I would like your opinion. The program I would be going into would by the LVN program at my local junior college. I have the option of starting in January, when baby is 3 months old, or waiting and staring in September, when baby is almost a year old, or waiting until she is in preschool. The program is exactly 3 semesters long, and it is Monday-Friday 8-2 (clinicals included). I am determined to finish my nursing degree, ultimately with my RN. What is your advice? 
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Re: Mom nurses?

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    stefanirn06stefanirn06 member
    I didn't go through nursing school with children (but I am a nurse), but my sister did. I believe my niece was just a few weeks old when she started, since she turned 2 a couple months after my sister graduated. Our program is quite stressful. She didn't have the most supportive boyfriend, but our family stepped in and helped her a lot. I would say if you can swing daycare or have someone who can watch your LO, do it when LO is a couple months old. Or wait til preschool age. Right around 1 babies go through separation anxiety so having to leave LO every day will be  hard adjustment for a while for the baby. If you start sooner rather than later the baby won't know anything different and hopefully will be used to your busy schedule. My sister just did homework when my niece was sleeping. She survived and is now less than a year away from being a NP. Good luck with whatever you decide to do! 
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    tyannejtyannej member
    @stefanirn06 thank you so much for the input! It's nice to know that it is possible. I was also thinking about starting sooner rather than later but I'm wanting to breastfeed for the first 6 months and I don't know how possible that would be going to school all day like I would be. If I did go back she would be staying with family members which is why I was thinking of waiting so when family did keep her food and eating wouldn't be an issues like it would be for a breast fed 3 month old. 
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    beautyundefinedbeautyundefined member
    I did! I'm currently in nursing school due to graduate on my due date! When I started nursing school my son was 4 months old. It's hard but its definitely doable!
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    ctnurse-2ctnurse-2 member
    edited September 2017
    I did with my 1st son. Who is now 15 almost 16. It was rough juggling. He was a toddler. If you have solid help it is doable. If not it will make it much harder. I would say do it when they are smaller, it will be difficult to pump because of the time but it will depend on your program. The most important thing will be YOU being able to focus on being present at school and in clinical and NOT having to micromanage for some minor chaos  back at home.  If you will be able to count on someone I say do it. Nursing school is ALWAYS a challenge and you need to be able to push thru....but if you have a chaotic S.O. or lack of plan/supoort/reliable childcare then it will set you up to fail. 

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    tyannejtyannej member
    Thank you @ctnurse-2, I have a very supportive husband and family members that will help me with my little one while I'm at school. My program is 8-2 M-F, so it's very full time. I'm just torn between starting when she's 3 months old or waiting until she's 9 months, in which I would be done breast feeding her and she would be on baby food and my supply through a bottle; which I think makes it easier on the family members that will be keeping her while I'm at school. 
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    jessieR358jessieR358 member
    Lurker from September 17. I think either way you do it will be hard and take a lot of time and dedication. I'm an NP, but finished before kids. At 3 months it's hard bc she may not be sleeping and you'll be a zombie trying to study and juggle everything. At 9 months she may be sleeping more which may make for more predictable study times. Good luck! 
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    ac1259ac1259 member
    So I'd probably wait until she's 9 months but that's just me. I finished my BSN before I had kids and I'm in a NP program now. I'm going part time for the fall and might be restarting clinicals in the spring to try and keep up with my graduating class but I'm kinda waiting to see how things go. I went back to work with my 2nd DD when she was 9 months old and it was a lot easier than when I went back with my first one at 12 weeks. 




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    tyannejtyannej member
    @ac1259 thank you! I'm starting to lean mlee
    towards waiting until she's 9 months. Just so I know I won't have the detachment issues from her being so young and like @jessieR358 said, she may not be sleeping and that will be the only time I get to study. 
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    maverickmommamaverickmomma member
    As others have said, and as you are already leaning toward, I would personally wait until 9 months. I didn't go through nursing school with children but I have a sister who did. 3 months is doable, but you will need a lot of support from family and your SO to get up with your baby most of the time during the night so you're not a zombie before class and basically taking coffee through an IV drip.
    You will also need to talk to your instructor about pumping if you're going to be breastfeeding. My sister's instructor let her pump in class, so long as her pump wasn't noisy and she covered up. So some instructors are reasonable. Others will give you an excuse to leave class to go pump. And others may not be as understanding. 

    There are just way more benefits to waiting until 9 months to a year as opposed to just 3 months, which may drain you. It's certainly doable, but as I mentioned, you will want a really sturdy support system.
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    mwill291mwill291 member
    I started slowly working on prereqs when my son was 6 months, and that wasnt so bad since i could just study when he went to bed and he was sleeping through the night. By the time I actually started the BSN program, he was already in elementary school since I did the prereqs only 1 or 2 classes at a time. He just had a lot of times when mommy wasn't able to stop and entertain him, which was okay with him since he's always very independent and self sufficient but I do think the success will depend on the child's personality and the help you have. It's definitely a lot of work but it sounds like you have help and are aware of what commitments you'll have, so I do think its doable. If your options are when baby is 3 mo or 9, I would lean towards recommending 9 mo.
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