Any mothers in nursing school with preschool-age children?

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Just wondering how well you cope with it. I have one elementary-age child, but my other child will be in preschool this fall in the a.m. 3 days/week. Outside of that, he will be home with me during the day. I'd love to hear from other mothers who have younger children and how you manage nursing school while taking care of them. It would be encouraging to read that it's do-able!

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I have no kids and its works out fantastic! Not so much for the half divorcee moms, etc. though....seems like it can be problematic

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Specializes in Professional Development Specialist.

I had 3 kids under the age of 5 in nursing school. One was born between semesters and I went back to school when he was 3 days old. It was HARD. For the baby we had lots of family come to stay and help, since he couldn't go to daycare until he was 6 weeks old. They spent a lot of time in daycare, or watching tv while I studied. It was very hard (did I mention that already?) but it went fast and was worth it. My husband is a very involved dad and extremely supportive, I don't think it would have been possible otherwise.

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I have no kids and its works out fantastic! Not so much for the half divorcee moms, etc. though....seems like it can be problematic

what a helpful post :rolleyes:

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I have two kids. One 5 and one 2. Right now, my son goes to my moms during the day and my daughter goes to daycare part time (the other days she goes to my moms too). So I'm lucky I have family help for me to go to school and study during the week. I also have a husband who helps out as much as he can, but he works a lot too. My mom also helps me watch them so I can study on the weekends that my husband has to work. I think it would be kind of hard without some help or some type of child care to watch them when you need to study. But I'm sure people do it all the time. You'd probably just have to start a routine where you study at night after they go to bed and get a baby sitter maybe for some of the weekend times that you need to study. You'll find a way. There's always a way if you try hard enough. Even when you are with them during the day, you could try to integrate your studying while being with them...make flash cards and read them aloud. Creativity is key I think. You can do this! It might not be easy, but it will be worth it. That's what I keep telling myself!

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Just to add some more info...in my program, it's the students that have kids/families that seem to be doing better in school and make better grades. The younger, more traditional college age students with no kids, living at home with their parents, are actually struggling more. Granted not all of them are struggling and some of them are very dedicated. But in my opinion for the most part, they are less mature about their studies and are still going out and partying with friends rather than studying like they should be. The students with more responsibilites aren't doing that and their grades show it.

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Thank you, kayty2339! My children are 6 and 2 right now. We do not have any family in the area to help watch my 2-year-old. I do have a wonderful husband who is very supportive and hands-on with the kids, so that is a huge plus in itself. My husband is ready and willing to take care of our kids when he's not at work. I am somewhat concerned about the inability to study as much as a I could be during the week while my preschooler is with me. I'd love to do daycare for my two year old, but it just isn't in our budget. Thanks again for your feedback.

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Just to add some more info...in my program, it's the students that have kids/families that seem to be doing better in school and make better grades. The younger, more traditional college age students with no kids, living at home with their parents, are actually struggling more. Granted not all of them are struggling and some of them are very dedicated. But in my opinion for the most part, they are less mature about their studies and are still going out and partying with friends rather than studying like they should be. The students with more responsibilites aren't doing that and their grades show it.

This made me feel even better! Thanks again!

Oh, and with brushing up on A & P, what areas would you recommend I focus on reviewing for the first semester (perhaps even the first year) of nursing school?

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Thanks, JenniferSews, for your input. I'm beginning to wish there was a way we could afford daycare for our younger son! Kudos to you for all of your hard work in getting through school, especially with a newborn. That's amazing and you should be proud. I hope there are others out there like me who aren't using daycare but still keeping their head above water! It would be nice to hear those stories as well!

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Specializes in Clinical Partner and CNA.

I'm not sure how much help I can be, since I havent started the nursing program yet (I start Aug 30th) but my boys are 5, starting kindergarten, and my youngest will turn 2 in September. My 5 year old was in prek last year during pre-reqs and I think I had a harder time adjusting to him going then he did. I felt so guilty at first, but then saw how much he loved it. So, I'm not so worried about him. I've been a stay at home mom since he was 15 months old and all of my youngest son's life. He's the one I'm worried about. Just this morning he flipped out when I put him in the nursery at church. Yikes!! He will be starting daycare full time before school starts. I did see a suggestion on here about taking their kids to Mcdonalds and studying while they play, I thought theres no way I could concentrate. But I tried it the other day and it worked wonderfully :) Good Luck, I'm excited to see what everyone has to say about this.

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I have two kids. They are 5 and 4 years of age. It's hard. The hardest part is the studying. I go to school online right now, through my local cc, until I get canned from work (this July). Starting the fall they will both be in school during the morning hours in which i will be attending classes. I try to do my "school stuff" when they are asleep. I find this helps. And if it is one of those days where they have childsomnia then I give them a sheet a paper and we do "homework" together. It teaches the importance of college and keeps them ahead of the game...

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Brushing up on AandP could help, but in fundamentals, I don't know how much it will help (depends on your school curriculum). It wasn't until 2nd semester for me that we have started really getting into the body organs and diseases in depth. Getting used to the nclex style tests is the hardest part I think. You could get a good test taking review book. I liked fundamentals of success. It has some good info on taking the nclex style tests and also will help you out 1st semester a lot because it has tons of practice questions for each section you will go over in fundamentals. Practicing questions on the topic you are going over in class before your test is a great way to help improve your scores. I can read and read info, but it isn't until I start practicing nclex questions that I start really understanding the information. Even when you get them wrong, you are learning because the rationales for the answers will teach you too. "Test Success-test taking techniques for beginning nursing students" is a good book to go over before school starts. Teaches you how to break down the questions and answers and tips on what to look for and how to select the best answer out of 4 correct answers.

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