Child care-what do other nurses do??

StrwbryblndRN · Nov 25, 2007

I work weekends/overnight and my husband works 11-7 weekdays. The only babysitting we need is Friday night when our shifts overlap. It works great. I still send my youngest to daycare to he can socialize with other kids.

I can understand wanting to change jobs till kids are older but I would think waiting till they all go to college unnecessary. How about till the oldest can drive and take on more responsibility with the younger kids.

Just a thought. Good luck with whatever you choose.

crysobrn · Nov 25, 2007

I work part time pretty much for the issue of child care. My dh works 3-12's a week and I work one or two. We self schedule so it works out nicely. Thy only real downer is the pay cut I took. It's been almost 5 yrs since I've worked full time and I miss the money. On the other hand, one of us is with our kids all the time and I don't get burnt out on work!

The nice thing about nursing is you can pretty much request to work whatever works for you. There are several nurses in my dept now that have followed what I do and are budgeted for one 12 hr shift a week... They NEVER used to let anyone do this, but my director said it actually works out nice for her because three of us is a full timer and she doesn't have to pay any of us health care benefits, but I do get a 401k with a match and pto time... Both are nice for a part time person imo.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Nov 26, 2007

Most of the night shift has children of varying ages; we work nights so that our spouses/significant others can take care of the kids when we're at work. They work daytime, we work night.

I needed babysitters pretty regularly when I was in school because of the hours the kids were home but I wasn't; now that I work nights, I haven't needed a babysitter for a work-related situation in over a year.

TazziRN, RN · Nov 26, 2007

We have a great daycare provider. She's willing to keep Monster for as long as necessary each day, and while we have never utilized this, she has kept kids for several days when the parents had to go out of town. I have Hubs and my two older kids available to drop her off/pick her up if I can't, and when I work the weekend my mom keeps her for me.

MNmom3boys · Nov 26, 2007

My DH travels quite a bit also, but my kids probably will on their own overnights when I am working night/evenings. But, it also appears my kids are older than yours (17,14,9), and we have a lot of family w/in minutes of our home and wonderful neighbors in the case of emergency.

RNperdiem, RN · Nov 26, 2007

Rather than quit nursing for the next 14 years, consider going per diem if your husband gets good benefits. You can make your schedule around your family commitments. You might be able to work part shifts(not always possible though). The kids can stay with their Dad on weekends you work, and you can try some nights. When husband is out of town, you don't schedule work for that time.

I work per diem weekends. It only works because my husband is willing to do serious childcare(don't call it babysitting!).

Dixiecup · Nov 27, 2007

I don't know how large of a city you live in, but I called the highschool and they had names of highschool girls who practically made a career out of babysitting. And since they are in school, they are off when your kids are.

I also ran an add in the local paper for a highschool aged babysitter. Of course, I was very particular and requested references. I ended up with a list of about four girls I regularly used. My kids loved it.

You'd be surprised at the amount of highschool girls who don't have a life (that didn't really sound right, but some of them just aren't interested in dating or school functions and like to babysit to earn extra money).

Just an idea, it worked for me.

Otessa, BSN, RN · Nov 29, 2007

My kids are both the same age, so no older one to take care of the younger oneoption....

Otessa, BSN, RN · Nov 29, 2007

Rather than quit nursing for the next 14 years, consider going per diem if your husband gets good benefits. You can make your schedule around your family commitments. You might be able to work part shifts(not always possible though). The kids can stay with their Dad on weekends you work, and you can try some nights. When husband is out of town, you don't schedule work for that time.
I work per diem weekends. It only works because my husband is willing to do serious childcare(don't call it babysitting!).

I don't want to work holidays, nights, or weekends. Been there, done that....My husband works holidays, weekends,etc. He is gone 15-16 days per month-he is a pilot. This makes for an interesting per diem job. I haven't found a per diem job that didn't include rotating D/N shifts, holidays, or weekends

JmarLPN · Nov 29, 2007

I have the same issue with child care. That is why I chose to work Night Shift. My husband works day shift, so when my son and husband are gone, I sleep. Then I am able to pick my son up from school, cook dinner, and just in general be there. I don't pay extra in daycare, and I get a shift differential! When he is off school, I am still home, even though I am sleeping. I never thought I could work Nights, but it is actually working out really nice for the family!