Has anyone gone to school with a new baby?

Nurses General Nursing

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I have a 7 month old. I work full time and I am taking pre-reqs starting in the summer for nursing school.

Has anyone worked full time and taken classes with a baby?

Also, has anyone gone through nursing school with a toddler?

Any advice?

:uhoh3:

I started nursing school when my son was 5 months old. It is a challenge because I breastfeed, he doesn't sleep through the night and he's crawling and getting into everything. But I've made up my mind that I am going to get through this. I also have a great support system, which is very helpful! If you think you can do it, than you can! Good luck!

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Hi Alliestar, this is my first post.

I have a 21 month old and I am doing my pre-reqs as well. It's rough sometimes but you will get through it. Good Luck.

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You can do it. You'll need to get a good grasp on time management, mulitasking and organizational skills.

I am back in school for my RN to BSN with two semesters left to go. I have a 4 1/2 boy, 3 yo girl, and 19 month old boy. And a military husband who is gone frequently doing Search and Rescue in the Berring Sea - so it's not like he can come right home if one of the kids are sick and I need him.

My classes are on-line, but even if they were brick and mortar, I would still have the same pattern. I get up an hour before the kids to shower and plan my day, study for a bit. I study during their naptime for 1 hour, then I use the rest of the time they are sleeping to prep for dinner. After they go to bed, the books come out again and I am studying.

When I first started the program, my littlest was still breastfeeding full time and I would sit nursing him during my mandatory on-line chat sessions, it kept him quiet and I was able to concentrate.

Now I use all sorts of great study tips. I usually make a few notecards of the biggie things to remember - I carry those with me for looking at in the car waiting outside the preschool (my 4 year old goes to 1/2 day preschool 3 days a week), or I tape them to the back of the jogging stroller and memorize things as I am jogging with the two little ones in the stroller. I tape things to my bathroom mirror and to the window in the kitchen over the sink. LOL..I know I sound like a dork...my husband is in constant study mode as well for his job - needs to know how the weather will impact a flight, land charts, etc. So we are not a big TV family, in the evenings we are usually studying on the couch.

That being said, I am in more of a paper writing area with school right now, but I am working on my organizational skills for the Masters program I am applying to.

The most important thing I have found with small kids and mommy being in school is to take time to enjoy the kids, too. I sit with them for every meal and every snack at the table. While I may catch a study minute here or there, I am stictly all theirs from dinner time until bedtime. I also do library story time and a mom/tot fitness class with them every week. They are only little once.

I am considering hiring a 'mother's helper' for the summer to come over 2 hours a day 2 days a week. She's a teenager (15 years old) that has taken the Red Cross babysitter class, lives next door. I'd love for her to play with the kids outback or do a craft with them or something to keep them from being underfoot while I tidy the house, run to the grocery store, dentist appointment, etc. That might be a great option for you when you are studying. It sure beats watching a Baby Einstien for the 50th time this week!! ;)

Good luck!! It can be done...I promise.

Mary

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Mary,

Thank you for the tips. I will definitely use them.

allie

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Cajun Moma you are a freak of Nature~! Moms like u make me look bad and laazzzy. My youngest will be 3 in 2 weeks and I'm worried about taking 2 classes. I feel so guilty thinking about the time away from my 4 kids. I am on my own to pay for daycare and figure this thing out is overwhelming.

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I have a 7 month old. I work full time and I am taking pre-reqs starting in the summer for nursing school.

Has anyone worked full time and taken classes with a baby?

Also, has anyone gone through nursing school with a toddler?

Any advice?

:uhoh3:

when i went back to school...my kids were 14, 13, 4, and 6 months old. the thing i do is...put the kids to bed by 8:30 and study from 8:30 till 12 or 1 (depending on what I have to do). while the big kids are at school...i do things before the youngest wakes uo, while she is napping, and then after 8:30. on weekends...when i need dad is in charge and he picks up my slack when i need to study or do homework. it is hard at times..but i keep focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. i know when i am done everything will be so worth it.

goodluck to you!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

My 6 kids were 10,8,7,5, 2 years, and 3 months old when I started and I managed good grades. It very doable. I had the culture shock and stress everyone has, but I think my multiple duties and full life helped me. As they say, sometimes the busier you are the more you get done.

We did hire a babysitter to work full-time days, and I basically lived in the library during working hours and tried to finish my studying during babysitter time. It was cheaper than finding other childcare for both the little ones and more flexible. Other than that I would read at night, pick patients after dinner, and write them up until the wee hours. After the first semester the demands on my time went way down.

If you can arrange childcare that works around you, I wouldn't worry too much. Nursing school is stressful and there's lots of reading, but if you put it off now, who knows what your situation will be later. That 7 month old will be going on 3 by the time you graduate, and will need all kinds of stuff that your nursing salary can buy.

PS-breastfeeding is a great (although temporary) stress reliever for mom! If you are BFing, don't quit! It will build in relaxation time for you.

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Specializes in Brain injury,vent,peds ,geriatrics,home.

I went to nursing school full time when all my four kids were under the age of ten.My husband was very supportive.where theres a will theres a way.

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Do not listen to ANYONE saying you can't or you shouldn't....:nono: . Who are they to decide for you???? I have words of encouragement to give you an example.....I don't have a baby.....well yes & no.....I have a 17 year old who is in many ways like a baby...she is severly medically involved......on a vent, has seizures is a quadraplegic and can change health status to very ill & be shipped out by ambulance at any given time without so much as a warning.....and yes I did nursing school with a child like this and as a single parent also.......with no help with the exception of nurses coming into my home to care for her.....and they weren't always the most reliable people either , and I even had 12 hour clinical days on one rotation.....so if I can do it with that situation anyone who has the desire to succeed can do it. Do not let anyone tell you that you can't.....trust me....if I listened to people who said such things (and they have) then I wouldn't have gotten where I am today.........you CAN do it! P.s. It took me 7 years to get a 2 year degree...with taking 1 or 2 pre reqs then onto other classes 1 or 2 at a time....the only ones I did full time were my actual nursing courses because that was not part time.......so.....yes you can!!!;) Good Luck!!

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Specializes in Home Health.

Yes, it can be done. When I started school my girls were 6 and 3. Now we have three kids, they are 9, 6, and my son is 3. I had my son and did all online classes the semester after he was born (still doing prereqs at that time). I have worked 20 hours a week and done full time school for the last two years, and will be graduating in two weeks! Good luck to you. It is hard but it is a great feeling to know you accomplished it once you are done.

P.S. I did a lot of my studying and reading at night after everybody went to bed.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i have a 7 month old. i work full time and i am taking pre-reqs starting in the summer for nursing school.

has anyone worked full time and taken classes with a baby?

also, has anyone gone through nursing school with a toddler?

any advice?

:uhoh3:

i'd suggest leaving them home when you go to class. kids can be pretty disruptive.

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I did it too, full time worked aft., with a 3 month old and two year old. My Husband was not working d/t illness and I had a teen age stepdaughtrer who was an absolute treasure, as well as her friends who would pitch in when my hubby was hospitalized or after he died when I was in the middle of school.

Really, you just have to be very organized.

Good luck to you, as you can see , many of us have done it therefore, you can too!!!:)

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