12hr shifts & Babysitters

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Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.

Just curious how all you working moms deal with finding childcare to cover your long hours as a nurse.

My husband and I are talking about perhaps trying to get pregnant when I am done with orientation. He works 12hr shifts at night (for the moment) and I work 12hr shifts during the day. :uhoh3: Not the most pleasant of circumstances, but its what we have to deal with until an opening comes up on days at his job.

Aside from that issue in itself, I am wondering how we we handle childcare. My mother would certainly be willing to help but is not so ...reliable...wouldn't want to give up every other weekend, would cancel on me at last minute, etc. I am wondering how others handle their childcare needs?

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Specializes in ED.

Not sure how I'd do it with a newborn. I am going to be done w/school when my youngest is in 1st grade. I will probably still need some childcare depeding on how long my shifts are when I get a job. I plan to hire someone to come here I guess. I am hoping my husband can be around most of the time (he travels). I would say that with a newborn you would probably want to work it out that you and your husband work opposite days so that you don't have to pay for childcare. And most daycares close at 5-6 pm so it wouldn't work for a 12 hr shift. Can you each work 4-5 days a week and alternate days????

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

With a newborn, it will be tough. I really never wanted anyone but my dh or me to care for our baby, so I worked around his schedule. I stayed home with her for 5 months and exclusively breastfed her about 14 months. I just pumped at work when I was away and dh fed her then. I had to work nightshifts and weekends, but it worked cause either my dh or myself were with our kids 24/7.

To this day, we have been fortunate in that my working perdiem has allowed me to work around him all these years. I would really consider it carefully, using daycare for a newborn baby. They are sicker more often and this is a time when they need their mom a lot.

That said, another solution would be to try to find someone who would care for the child in your home. That would be a good solution, if you can swing it. This is what my sister does for her two young kids, and it works great.

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Specializes in ER/ ICU.

I am a FT RN and have a 5 year old. When she was an infant I could not stand the idea of her being @ Daycare so I worked nights and my mom, who also worked FT as an RN, watched her @ nite. When I got off, I picked her up and we went home. Now that she is older, she goes to preschool/ daycare. It;s not bad. It gives her, an only child, exposure to other children and she is also in a learning environment. I do know alot of RN's who utilized daycare for their infant and it went fine.

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Specializes in geriatric, hospice, med/surg.

I feel for your needs! I, too, had it rough as far as child care when I graduated. Worked third shift for about a year. Shared custody of my two little girls with their husband for a while when I had to work alternating first and third shifts. Live out in the boonies so not many sitters or day care centers out this way at the time. They've since sprung up all over the place because the area has such an awesome school system that now, everyone and their brother is moving this way and houses are sprouting up right and left. Not so out in the boondocks anymore! LOL

I can so remember the frustration of scooping the little ones up to get them to that one day care center that opened up right at 6:30 a.m. not a minute sooner that allowed me to frantically rush them in half asleep, and that allowed me to hightail it into town to barely make it in time for report at 6:45 a.m....always a few minutes late...not to be helped.

Good luck. Maybe you should wait a bit if you can to allow time to look into all alternatives for day care. It is a very important issue, after all.

You can add to your nest after you've made sure you've looked into private care versus day care centers, etc. Some even stay up and running 24/7 I've noticed lately.

Take care of yourself. Good luck with the family. Enjoy the days of being a mommy, too....they dash by faster than any theoritical conclusions scientifically concocted by mankind in the way of time measure!

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I work full time and went back to work when my baby was 8 weeks old. I've been lucky in that the three daycares she's been to in her life, were all willing to keep her until 8 pm if necessary, when I got home. At that time my husband worked all hours at his job and the pickup times varied. Now he's always off by afternoon, so I drop her off at 6:15 and he picks her up by 5 or 6. My mom keeps her all weekend on my weekends on, and she'll pitch in when Baby is sick but not sick enough for me to stay home with her. MIL also helps out. In a pinch, if my mom were sick, our current daycare provider is willing to help on the weekends too. I also have two older kids who are more than willing to watch her if they're not working or in school.

What can I say........I'm extremely lucky!

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Specializes in ER, PACU, ICU, Women's Health.

Wow, my first post on this forum! I just wanted to say how awesome itis to have a place where there are people that understand. I see your husband by your screen name, and am as well. I went back to work exactly 6 weeks after I delivered my daughter and had a husband who was in command of a company who had the potential to deploy in 36 hours or less. Before I delivered, I found a certified child care provider through the state and found one who was willing to do nights, weekends, and holidays all at a very reasonable rate. Her husband was military and on a special operations flight crew so she certainly understand the wacky schedules. While it started off as purely business, I reached the point where we were close enough that she took my daughter to church with her if I had to work weekends and hubby was in the field, took her to her parent's farm on weekends and provided such excellent care I have never had my daughter in a place that comes close since.

After we received orders to move, she was so generous that she picked my Boo up from the house in the morning while the packers were there.(Hubby had already gone to our next assignment leaving me with a 7 month old, a full time nursing position and preparing the house to be rented)To this day, we have been in contact(Boo is 6 now)and she said if we ever return to the area she always has a place for her. Just do some research, interview potential provider, and realize that the best places fill up quick.

Barb:yeah:

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.

I have a 9 month old - I couldn't speak of what the daycare situation is in your area - it varies with geographical region- but where I live it is difficult to find placement for children under 2 y.o. d\t the fact that facilities can only take a very limited number of infants.

I worked in a daycare during college and cant say I have a very high opinion of putting small babies in them. If you find a good one, you are lucky - but i can say they are not all safe, they have staffing problems (not enough, undertrained) ect., contrary to what they want you to believe.

I am working on a psych unit-not in the ICU like I would like to be, but I get very 'family friendly' flexible hours - so I can work around my DH schedule and that is the most important thing to me right now.

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Specializes in Neuro/Med-Surg/Oncology.

Is it possible for you to get a job that's weekend option in you area? That's what I'm planning on doing when this baby's born. Dh works from 05:00 to 14:00 M-F. (If he gets out on time, that is.) Working during the week won't be an option. My hospital is starting a weekend program. I can work 2 12's anytime from 11:00 F to 07:00 Su. My plan is to work mostly 19:00-07:30 Friday and Saturday nights. Dh will be home. I'm sure the schedule nazi's will whine that I'm working a "set schedule" and that "it's not fair". Oh well. :rolleyes: I already told my manager that they were going to have a problem with my schedule, but it was just going to have to be too bad. I'd like to see them try and find a sitter @ 04:00 that doesn't charge more per hour than I make.

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Specializes in NICU.

I work 12 hour day shifts 3 days a week. I have a three year old and a 7.5 month old. Fortunately, DH's job is fairly flexible (though he always says he sacrificed his career for me, dork!)

Fortunately, we have both sets of grandparents around, both of whom are retired. So we've developed a very complicated network of childcare that involves DH, me, my parents, his parents, daycare and pre-school, oh, and alot of driving! We put DD#1 in daycare 2 days a week when she turned 2 (I was pg with #2) She needs the stim, so it's worked well.

At the moment, I'm waiting to get a per diem position because I'm getting burnt out. I'll do it as long as i have to but I'm freakin' exhausted and my house looks like a tutu filled tornado hit it.

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