Night shifters-when do you eat?

[cassie77775]

I've been on night shift about 3 weeks and love it! But I am having some trouble getting down a good meal time plan on the days I work and my off days! No matter what, I'm eating dinner at 5pm so I can have dinner with my kids. I'm eating my lunch around midnight(I'm hungry then), a fruit and yogurt snack around 2/3. I get home and go straight to bed most days but other days I get home at 730 and am starving. Same thing when I wake up at 230/3pm, I'm ready to eat but it's so close to dinner that I'm just waiting. What do others do? Should I be bringing both lunch, snacks, and breakfast to work so I can get home and go right to bed? It's not a matter of time as I usually have the time to take 3 breaks(1 30 min and 2 15 min). Just a matter of fitting it in the lunch box :)

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

When I worked nights, I ate dinner around 10P-12A, a snack around 2-3A and breakfast at 6A. If I didn't sleep all the way until 5P, I ate lunch when I woke up.

[Blue Roses]

I worked 12 hour night shifts for a year and I usually had a granola bar or something around midnight and then took my lunch at 3:00am because that's when things were quieter. Usually though I was starving to matter what I did when I got off work in the morning.

[cassie77775]

Thanks! I'm thinking I'm going to start having a smoothie once I wake up, then dinner at home with kids. I need to be better about packing more protein snacks that will stick.

[ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN]

my schedule is so messed up, still working on it! but, on my days off I usually wake up around 1430/1500 and have a cup of coffee, sometimes a bagel or yogurt. around 5 or 6 i sometimes have a lunch type meal, a sandwich/some leftovers from the fridge/sometimes ill order pizza or wings. around 2300 I make dinner! sometimes i will have a snack around 0100/0200.

when I work I wake up around 1500 and have some coffee, take a shower, maybe eat something small like a sandwich, some fruit, etc. Get to work at 1845, have a snack (fruit, hummus, granola bars) around midnight while i chart, take my lunch break around 0200-0230. I usually just go right to bed when i get home without eating.

[doho_rn, ADN, RN]

On nights that I work I take my breakfast to work and get there just a few minutes early and eat at 6pm (gives me time to get into my locker and look over my assignment while I am eating my sandwich or whatever I brought). Then at some point through-out the night normally around 12:30 or 1 is when I will have my lunch. I sometimes grab dinner in the cafe in the morning when I am headed out the door

[cassie77775]

I think my main issue is I have 3 kids and a husband that need to eat actual dinner so my first meal is dinner and I work backwards until we have breakfast at 7am before bed :)

[Katie71275]

I usually eat breakfast around 4-5p when I wake up. Head to work about 545, and start at 7p. Ill eat a snack around 8p, lunch around midnight, another sack around 2a, and another snack/breakfast around 6a. I try to bring 2 yogurts, an apple, and a banana for snacks. Sometimes pretzels or 100 cal bars. Lunch, I like the Healthy Choice Café Steamers or Ill bring leftovers.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

I eat at around 1700-1800. Have a little snack at around 2100-2200. Lunch is around 0100-0200. I'll usually have another snack before going home and I will eat a light breakfast before going to bed. Works for me and I have had no issues with weight gain. I also exercise regularly (oftentimes in the morning when I get off!) and try to watch what I eat.

[pinkiepieRN]

I usually have a snack and start grazing when I wake up at 2 or 3p. I have a late dinner with DH between 9 and 10p. I just settled down to eat my packed lunch at work now and that's about normal for me. Sometimes I'll stay up a bit late and make breakfast with DH between 8 and 10a. I've also been known to stay up until 3 or 4pm, in which case I eat my normal night meal, lunch around 12N and dinner right before I go to work.