night shift dilemma

Laboratorian · Jul 17, 2011

Nothing you can do other than find a daycare/babysitter in your price range.

Have you priced home daycares or an au pair?

jmtndl · Jul 17, 2011

Part of your responsibility as a night shift worker is to get enough sleep.You are endangering your patients coming to work groggy and sleep-deprived. If you cannot arrange to get enough sleep consider changing shifts. It is a tough position to be in. Good luck!.

Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN · Jul 17, 2011

Part of your responsibility as a night shift worker is to get enough sleep.You are endangering your patients coming to work groggy and sleep-deprived. If you cannot arrange to get enough sleep consider changing shifts. It is a tough position to be in. Good luck!.

Either that or find a sitter to watch your daughter between 12pm and 7-8pm so you can sleep.

biker nurse · Jul 17, 2011

WOW, My first question is why aren't you hitting the bed as soon as you get home? hubby should up taking care of baby already and letting you get some sleep. Has he tryed to put baby in for Nap before he leaves? If that doesn't work, Have you thought of a mother's helper? a jr or highschool kid to come over and stay with the baby while you get some rest? You are at a breaking point! Something needs to change before someone gets hurt.

mediatix8 · Jul 17, 2011

Put your baby to bed at 8pm and take a nap before going into work. Then she'll wake up early and let your husband wake up and feed her and make her breakfast. He can do his morning routine and take care of the baby while you go to bed right away after work. Then you husband could put her down for an earlier nap too like perhaps at 12:00 so you can sleep longer.

Student2014 · Jul 17, 2011

I work night shift also. I had since my 3 children were babies. Sleep when you get home until your husband leaves for work. Sleep during the child's nap. Work very hard to get a sleep schedule set up. If your little one went to bed at 8 you could sleep a couple hours before you went in. This is what I did. You will get enough sleep to do your job well and be there for your child. But you will have to be careful with your weight. Sleeping in small bursts like that does make you have a very slow metabolism and gain weight.

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Jul 17, 2011

I have to agree...you need to hit the bed when you get home and sleep until DH leaves. My DH and I had a simialr situtation, I worked 3a-11a and he worked 3p-11p. I would sleep when I got home, baby would go down for a nap before he left at 2p and I would get up at 4pm with the baby, then go back to sleep from 10p-2am. That was on a good night lol

But seriously, if you can't get in any sleep, you are going to make a mistake at work or get into an accident on the way home. You need to talk to him about this, and if it doesn't work out , you may have to get a sitter for at least a few hours in the afternoon!

kenyacka · Jul 17, 2011

Wow... your husband really needs to be helping you more. Why can't he feed the baby, etc in the morning so you can go straight to sleep? And also.. he wakes you up at 12 to "get ready for work"???? He can't get ready while watching the baby? It sounds like your sleep is bottom of the priority list and it should be closer to the top. If you can't get him to help more, I don't know how you could do this without either changing your schedule or getting a sitter of some kind. It's not safe to you, your child, or your patients to go with this little sleep.

ski313 · Jul 17, 2011

sounds like your husband gets a full nights sleep. He is off at 9:30. Daughter sleep at 10:30pm but you let him have the "resting room" until 10:30am til you rest. He should be able to care for his child in the morning when you rest.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2011

yep, what she said. it's not "babysitting" if it's your own baby, you can tell him that for me. that's called "parenting." i'll bet you're able to get dressed for work without someone taking care of your child; he can too. if he can't, he can learn by doing.

nurses tend to take care of everyone else but themselves. your husband, consciously or not, is taking unfair advantage of that (and you can feel free to tell him we said so:redbeathe). your sleep makes it possible for you to work to earn money for your family; sleep deprivation will make it impossible for you to work safely and will put your job at risk. as a couple you need to put your sleep higher up in the hierarchy of "gotta do it."

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 17, 2011

your husband has it made, doesn't he?

go to bed when you get home -- your husband should already be up and out of the bathroom and bedroom by then. he can make his own breakfast and if you cannot eat something at work, get an egg mcmuffin from the drive through on your way home for yourself. have him remove his work clothes from the bedroom when he gets up so he doesn't have to wake you up to get ready for work. baby goes down for a nap when he leaves for work, and maybe you can sleep a little longer. the ideal thing, though, would be to hire a babysitter (maybe a college kid or a retired person from your church) to watch the child from 1pm when your husband goes to work until 4 or so when you wake up refreshed from 8 hours of sleep.