[redhairboy]

Hello,
I am new here and I am wondering if there are others who are working overnights and have children. I have 8mo old and have been working 12 hour nights for 2 months. It is so hard because I don't get enough sleep. Anyone have any advice or experience with this?

[class 5]

welcome to all nurses, I worked the 12 hr night shift for 4 years and my best advice to you is to make sure you get your rest. It is very difficult when you have young children and you work nights. When possible and you are home, sleep when the baby sleeps.. at 8 months the baby is awake longer and teething can be rough..lol been there...If you can develop a support system it's a plus..family or close friends that you trust that can help out .. it takes a while for your body to adjust to nights.. at first trust me you will be tired all of the time, I would be so tired sometimes I would wake up and forget what day it was... after 6-9 months it was a lil better..another thing make sure you try and eat either before you go to sleep for the day or when you wake up, I lost weight on nights I would miss meals at times because i was too tired to cook.... at work try to take your break when possible.. if the night is crazy at some point take a min even if it's a snack and a bottle of water it helps..good luck

[TiredofLTC]

I work nights and have two small children, 5 and 9, and it is hard. I'm tired and cranky and don't have much time with them. It does get better tho. I've been working nights for 10 months now. I just make sure I get as much sleep as possible.

[tepbsmith]

my daughter is fixing to be 3, i'm in school part time, i work FT and have been on nights for a whole year now.

i.am.so.done.

first off- it is truly wonderful to have a more laid back environment w/o the nurse mgr or DON breathing down your neck

but i literally cannot survive on 5hrs of sleep. but it is so hard to get the sleep you need when you have to take care of a kid or go to class, your insane mgrs expect you at staff meetings in the middle of your sleepy time...

things that need to be getting done at my house aren't because i'm ASLEEP and as hard as it is to motivarer yourself to do something when you're tired after a long day, trying getting motivated for anything when you are in bed.

i will say i had a schedule where i was on a week/off a week and that was pretty manageable. my new schedule is decidely not "life-friendly."

[Aprilhere]

I don't understand why everyone equates nights with no sleep. If you worked days...you would surely put your child in daycare right? You get a differencial I'm sure for working nights...so you're making more money than you would if you worked days. Put your child in daycare and SLEEP! I've always done it. Instead of setting my alarm to wake up and go to work....I set it to wake up and pick my kids up from daycare. It's just a way of life. You can't go without sleep. I'ts truly a necessity. Make it a priority.

[tepbsmith]

well, its true you can put your kid in school and sleep

but

i get off at 6, she gets up at 8, her school is out of town so we leave around 930, i get home at 10, go to bed and sleep til 3 or 4. but on weekends the only child care option i have is dora the explorer, LOL

in theory i thought it would be easier. but it isn't. i think it depends on the situation of that individual, tbh.

my first job was at a hospital about 40 miles away... that drive home was tough after a long shift

now i work at a LTC facility 6 minutes from my house but there is no differential of any kind

(needless to say i'm reworking my resume)

[JBudd]

Is there anyone else that uses that school that you could carpool with? They drop off and you pick up? Frankly, I'm way too tired to stay awake and drive people places a couple hours after my shift. And I've done nights for the last 20+ years.

[tepbsmith]

Originally Posted by JBudd

Is there anyone else that uses that school that you could carpool with? They drop off and you pick up? Frankly, I'm way too tired to stay awake and drive people places a couple hours after my shift. And I've done nights for the last 20+ years.

my mom started doing a lot of it once she went back to work because its closer to her job than my house. the daycare is 17miles away...so there aren't many in my town that send their kids there

after 18mos of that commute, she is starting at a new school around the corner next month (and its cheaper! and private! whoo-hoo!)