child care w/ crazy hours?

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For those of you with young children, what do you do for child care when your spouse isn't able to watch them? My husband's schedule is totally unpredictable and when I start working, my oldest will be in 1st grade, and my youngest will be in a part time preschool. Pretty much all the hospitals in the area work 7-7 shifts (which is where I'll probably start out in). I am still going through the prerequisit classes but am thinking into the future here, wondering if I need to rethink some things. How do you balance child care with such crazy hours?

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Work weekends.

Yeah, Yeah, I know--no weekends off...but everyone and I was glad to have done it...no childcare issues..then I switched to nights for 5 years...and eventually to days...

Everything has a time and place and sacrifices are worth it.....

Hubby and kids did okey-dokey...

P.S. I did have a live-in nanny help for a when they were young...she was a GREAT help when my hubby had to go out of town.....

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I am in nursing school now, but we have a lady who watches my 2 year old. She is great because she is very flexible and when he starts school she will be willing to pick him or take him. My classes sometimes don't end until 8:30pm so I have to pick him up late and he's usually there almost 12 hours. (only 2-3 days a week, but still!) We asked around and found her, she is a friend of a friend. Ask around or check craigslist, you may find somebody who just wants to watch one kid or have a little extra money so they will be flexible. Or a nanny is great. I do plan on trying to work nights when I start working though also, but we'll see how that goes.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

I've worked weekends since my son was a baby for that very reason. :) It pretty much guarantees you won't have much of a social life but we never do anything on the weekend that we couldn't do the rest of the week anyway.

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If I were you I would start looking for child care providers with flexible availability now. And look for more than one or two, so that you have backup. Child care is almost impossible to find at the last minute when you really need it.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.

My kids are 23, 17 & 15 now, but I remember those days. I worked a lot of crummy shifts and a LOT of weekends in order to accomodate DHs schedule. He made about 3 times what I made and carried the benefits, so if any accomodation had to be made, I had to make it. The one great thing was that DH didn't travel. If he had, I would have had to quit. We have no family in the area, and no one who feels comfortable with DS15. He has severe global developmental disabilities and finding childcare for him is almost impossible. It was just easier for me to find short shifts, night shifts, and non-clinical jobs so one of us could be at home with him at all times.

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Specializes in Surgery, ER.

I agree with the previous posts... having a nanny is a lifesaver. And before you think that is out of your price range (which is what I used to think), you should look into it.

We have a liveout nanny who comes into our home on set hours, and the cost is about the same as a daycare would be. There are so many benefits.. the kids get to stay in their own home, rather than be shipped off to a sitter, you have stable, consistant care, etc... Here are a couple of sites that can help you find someone:

enannysource.com

care.com

sittercity.com

I personally prefer enannysource.com and have used it to find our last 2 nannies (one graduated college, and I had to find a replacement) ... but wanted to give you a coupe options.

Good Luck!

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Wow....thanks! DH is a homicide detective, and when he gets called to a scene, he could be gone for 20+hours! I might not even know until he's 5 or more hours over his shift end time. He also works weekends and holidays as well. He makes more than me and carries the benefits, and I'm hoping after 2 or 3 years to either work part time or just on call, mainly so I can be at home more. I can't really see having my kids out of thier own house that many hours, even 2 or 3 days a week so I think the nanny might be best, but some weeks I might not need one, some for 3 days, and others woiuld be very last minute. Any ideas on how to handle that??

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I chose to work in the OR for this reason. My daughter was 7 months when I went back to work. I work 9am-11pm Tuesday/wed/thursday. I get every Friday sat sun monday off. I take my daughter to daycare from 815am-6pm then a sitter gets her for the evening. I know at least in my area there are before & after school care so I'll utilize that when the time comes. I thought the long days would be horrible but it's worked out perfectly. The 3 days fly by. I do have to take night call 1-2 times a month and 48 hr weekend call 4 times a year but it gives me all holidays with my daughter and extra long weekends for mini getaways. I see her every morning and we have breakfast together. You'll figure out what's best for you when the time comes.

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I am very blessed in the fact that I work 2nd shift right now, so I'm able to stay home while my husband is at work, and vice versa. On days when he isn't able to be home in time, my mom comes over to watch our daughter. I am going to be starting 12 hour nights soon, so my mom will come over to watch her when I sleep.

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For those of you with young children, what do you do for child care when your spouse isn't able to watch them? My husband's schedule is totally unpredictable and when I start working, my oldest will be in 1st grade, and my youngest will be in a part time preschool. Pretty much all the hospitals in the area work 7-7 shifts (which is where I'll probably start out in). I am still going through the prerequisit classes but am thinking into the future here, wondering if I need to rethink some things. How do you balance child care with such crazy hours?

Depends upon after school programs, summer camps, school hours, babysitters, etc. It just usually seems to work out. I am a pretty black and white "anal" type of personality when it comes to planning things out in advance but I have found that with kids and child care, you just have to wing it, alot. So have the daycare, neighborhood babysitters, summer camps, schools, and after school programs all on your phone.....Then you just plan accordingly, as much as you can. Our 3 kids were adopted and we had no experience in being parents, OR in dealing with conflicting schedules, etc but it all works out in the end!

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For those of you with young children, what do you do for child care when your spouse isn't able to watch them? My husband's schedule is totally unpredictable and when I start working, my oldest will be in 1st grade, and my youngest will be in a part time preschool. Pretty much all the hospitals in the area work 7-7 shifts (which is where I'll probably start out in). I am still going through the prerequisit classes but am thinking into the future here, wondering if I need to rethink some things. How do you balance child care with such crazy hours?

One more thing....Craigslist for finding sitters and then a background check are invaluable!

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