Daycare and Nursing

[JasmDasm]

Future RN student (start Jan 2014) with an important question:

Where do your babies go when you're doing your clinicals / shift?

I have a toddler who will be 2 by the time I start and I really have no idea where I'm going to put her. Clinicals start at 7am ( which means I'm parking the car by 6:30) and most daycares here in NY open at that time. Hubby works nights and is dead to the world at that time, my nearby siblings work and leave early. One grandmother has sleep problems and can't watch the kids early while the other is wishy washy at best and not very dependable.

Btw, I am the only one with a car. So I was just wondering what kind of arrangement do you have for your kiddos? Any advice? Please let me know!

[BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN]

Hire someone to come to your home and babysit, at least until your spouse can get up and take over.

[Katie71275]

In your situation I might make an arrangement for a sitter to come to my home or look for a private in home sitter where you can drop off early. As for me, my husband had to be at work at 8 so clinical days, he would drop our daughter at daycare...our daycare opens 700-530. Our older 3 would get on the school bus at 630am.

[GCmomRN]

We have an au pair who lives with us. For us it ends up being less expensive then daycare or other options for 2 kids, plus with our crazy hours it's been priceless for the flexibility alone. If you have an extra room in your house it's worth looking into!

[Aspirational Beauty, CNA, LPN]

Thanks for the advice. There are a few in home childcare places close to where I live. I've interviewed them all and the one that I absolutely love opens at 7.

Plus, we are trying to survive on Hubby's income alone, so money is tight. And he feels that I should cover everything else (cooking, cleaning, kids, sitter) since he is the only one who works. Bleh, I just wish my family was more reliable.

You should talk to hubby to get him to at least drop off lil one. When the program starts in January my mom will drop lil one off for me on clinical days. Also try Virginia Marx. They are on campus, open early and have a sliding fee scale. Also go to Social Services and see if you can get assistance with child care costs. This is what I did. I don't know where you are located exactly because my daughter's day care is great but they open at earliest seven i think.

[jbudrick, MSN]

I went through the same daycare dilemma when I was in nursing school. My husband travelled so he was not home much to take care of our daughter. No daycare in my area was open until 7a, and my clinical started at 7a. I asked a girl who worked at the daycare to come to my house on her way to work at the daycare for $10 per morning. It was was a win-win situation. The real trick will be to get a job after you graduate. I had some great offers I had to turn down because of daycare issues. Finally, I went into home care which was great. My daughter is 20 and in nursing school. I am an LPN Instructor at a technical school. It all works out somehow.

Best wishes.

[publichealthgir]

JasmDasm, I'm curious to know how your situation turned out? I'm contemplating going back to school for nursing and I have a 2 year old son. My husband also works a funky schedule usually 9am-10pm and I have no family nearby to help babysit.