nursing school and being a stay at home mom

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I'm just a pre-nursing student right now but I'm thinking ahead of time. Are there any other stay at home moms with small children in nursing school? Do you use a babysitter? How many hours per week? My husband is very supportive about taking the kids evenings/weekends but of course classes and such are during the day.

I am also a SAHM. I have been taking my pre-reqs a little at a time for the past 2 years. Mostly internet, but some at school, with a friend watching my dd. Now this fall, I have to take 10 hours at the college. One of my classes is at night, so my dh can watch all three of them, but my oldest will be in kindergarten, my 2 and 4 yos will be in preschool part time, and I will be using a per hour drop in service for the other random hours. It is ridiculous around here for daycare!! Hopefully I can figure something out in the Spring when I start in the actual nursing program. They are starting a babysitting coop for some students around here to use, which will be nice. But the on campus preschool is only for a couple hours a week for faculty's children and it has a huge waiting list anyway.

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Hi my name is Diana I like so many of you am a stay at home mom. When i started going to school part time i would do night classes that way my husband would be home with my two daughters who at the time were 2 and 6 months. It was very difficult but we did it. It took me three yrs to get done with my prereq's. Since I started i have managed to put my two daughters in daycare part time for their benefit and mine. My sciences were only available during the day so i had no choice. but i am glad i did it too cause my daughters really love school so it gave them more to do. Now my 5 yr old is starting kindergarten in August and my three yr old is still in day care but i have also managed to have another child too. I know i just cant control myself LOL. Shes 10 months and im starting the program in January and my daugters daycare only takes children 2 yrs and over. I cant bare to send my baby girl anywhere else cause i love this daycare so much its a great facility. But i have no other choice to send her somewhere or manage to find someone in my family who will watch her three days a week but like alot of you my family all work too so its like what do i do. I dont know but i am determined to figure something out. She will be 16 months when i start the program in January so she wont be quite 2 yet. Its 6 months away but i know it will come fast so i am in a panic trying to get things straight. I am also going to have to get student loans to help with childcare costs. I will have to put my 5 yr old in before and after school program and my three yr old which will be 4 yrs old then, will have to go full time so just for my two oldest daughters i will be paying 150 dollars a week and thats not including care for my baby girl which will probly be around 140 in itself. Thank god im working at the hospital but only on weekends but i know it will help. I am just so stressed out cant you tell LOL. Ladies it is hard but we have to be willing to make sacrifices to get what we want. Thats what i keep telling myself atleast. I just keep thinking my kids are young and they wont remember these times when i cant spend the time i want to with them. I feel very guilty that i wont be able to take or pick up my daughter from kindergarten. THese are trying times for me but with a little faith and prayer I think things will be ok. Thanks for letting me vent I love this site its always nice to find people who are going through what i am. Its humbling.

Diana

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Hi my name is Diana I like so many of you am a stay at home mom. When i started going to school part time i would do night classes that way my husband would be home with my two daughters who at the time were 2 and 6 months. It was very difficult but we did it. It took me three yrs to get done with my prereq's. Since I started i have managed to put my two daughters in daycare part time for their benefit and mine. My sciences were only available during the day so i had no choice. but i am glad i did it too cause my daughters really love school so it gave them more to do. Now my 5 yr old is starting kindergarten in August and my three yr old is still in day care but i have also managed to have another child too. I know i just cant control myself LOL. Shes 10 months and im starting the program in January and my daugters daycare only takes children 2 yrs and over. I cant bare to send my baby girl anywhere else cause i love this daycare so much its a great facility. But i have no other choice to send her somewhere or manage to find someone in my family who will watch her three days a week but like alot of you my family all work too so its like what do i do. I dont know but i am determined to figure something out. She will be 16 months when i start the program in January so she wont be quite 2 yet. Its 6 months away but i know it will come fast so i am in a panic trying to get things straight. I am also going to have to get student loans to help with childcare costs. I will have to put my 5 yr old in before and after school program and my three yr old which will be 4 yrs old then, will have to go full time so just for my two oldest daughters i will be paying 150 dollars a week and thats not including care for my baby girl which will probly be around 140 in itself. Thank god im working at the hospital but only on weekends but i know it will help. I am just so stressed out cant you tell LOL. Ladies it is hard but we have to be willing to make sacrifices to get what we want. Thats what i keep telling myself atleast. I just keep thinking my kids are young and they wont remember these times when i cant spend the time i want to with them. I feel very guilty that i wont be able to take or pick up my daughter from kindergarten. THese are trying times for me but with a little faith and prayer I think things will be ok. Thanks for letting me vent I love this site its always nice to find people who are going through what i am. Its humbling.

Diana

I just want to tell you to keep the faith. I have two kids ages 4 and 2 1/2, and I also feel guilty for leaving them. But to get over that I think of it as a sacrifice that has to be made FOR them. It is also a accomplishent for me. When I had my first child I was still in high school, and everyone thought I wasn't going to do anything with my life. But I graduated from high school with straight A's, and I'm currently on the dean's list at my college. I've had my problem with child care in the past also, but things seem to always work out in the end. I think it is very important being able to spend time with your kids. Here's one way to look at it, being a nurse you can spend more time with your kids. By being a nurse you can be very flexible in your schedule. When you are stressed, so are your kids. By having a good job it will be less stressful versus working for little money and struggling, and you will be making a difference. There are plenty of times that I feel like giving up due to so many stresses of life. But I look into my babies faces and remind myself that this is something I HAVE to do. I have to set that example that no matter the circumstances, you don't have to be another statistic! When all else fails, I know that I can come to this site and find someone who is going through similar stresses.

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I have two kids and I just finished up my first year. I really gave up on the idea of being a SAHM. Nursing school was nearly a full-time job. My oldest son was in kindergarden and my youngest (2 yo) in daycare. On the upside they weren't in school/daycare as long as they would have been if I'd had a full-time job. They were both in about 35 hours a week and then there were holidlays and breaks when they were out. I'll have them this summer, for instance.

I thought I would feel terrible, but my youngest son actually liked the day-care center and then the montessori school that he attended. They were both really great places. And my older son made a great adjustment to school. I think it is important to stay at home with kids, especially those less than 3 yo, so I did feel some guilt. On the other hand, I never really enjoyed being a SAHM, so nursing school was lots more interesting and fun. It was a stressful year, but we all survived and I'm hoping this second year will be easier for everyone.

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i just wanna thank you for your encouragement its nice to have people support you. Im normally not so down on myself today was just one of those days where everything was running through my head. Im sure youve had em. Thank you for your words it was a help its so nice to know people are going through the same as me and feeling the same as me. Thank you again.

Diana

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I'm just a pre-nursing student right now but I'm thinking ahead of time. Are there any other stay at home moms with small children in nursing school? Do you use a babysitter? How many hours per week? My husband is very supportive about taking the kids evenings/weekends but of course classes and such are during the day.

i am a single mom of 2 girls, 5 years old and a 2 year old. i guess i'm lucky i'm in the philippines, a maid only costs $50 to have a month... free board and food... the downside $50 here in the philippines is hard to earn too. but there are still lots of options. i don't have relatives here, but maybe you do around you, or younger brothers or sister... so maybe ask your parents or his parents if they can help take care of your kids. if not, it would be best to put your kid in a daycare than getting a baby sitter, coz your kid will learn more in a daycare. you're not so sure about baby sitters anymore so make sure they have references and that you know them well. anyone can do what they want if they really put their mind to it. goodluck.

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Specializes in OB, lactation.

I spent tons of student loan money on a sitter friend for the odd hours and for full-time daycare even though we only used it part-time, to cover the varied schedule of my program!

Also I attended part-time, taking 3 years instead of 2 for my program. Almost all of my prereqs I did online.

My husband does shift work and is available sometimes to help too. No family to help.

It's hard!! I graduated in April & I couldn't have gotten through without them, especially my sitter friend who took my kids overnight, at 4:00 in the morning, sick, etc., and instuctors who understood when the kids had hand,foot, and mouth, roseola, etc.

I start work next week and it really won't be much easier schedule-wise but at least money will flow in instead of out, right?

Good luck to you!

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I'm hoping to start prereqs this Fall but haven't nailed down which community college I'll be attending. One is literally a mile from my house and offers most of the prereq's at night; the others are available online. But my dh isn't always so reliable when it comes to committing to watch the kids. My other option is Rio Salado which is all online....but much tougher courses from what I gather.

I figure it'll take me a year and a half minimum to get all my prereqs done and then maybe I'd spend another semester on the wait list to get into the nursing program. By then, three out of the four kids should be in school.....though one only 1/2 day kindy so I'll have to figure out something there. Who knows though if they won't be offerring full day kindy by then. Youngest kiddo would have to go to daycare. No biggie I suppose. Dh's work schedule is flexible; he'd just have to step up to the plate and "cover" any school breaks or illnesses, etc. the kids'd have.

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My mom got her nursing degree when she had a 16 year old, a 6 year old and a new baby at home. She also was undergoing radiation for the second time due to Cervical Cancer. So, it's very hard I would assume but certainly possible. And yes, she got us babysitters.

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Specializes in Medical, Paeds, Ob gyn, NICU.

I am a single mum with four kids, 14, 11, 4 and 2. The two eldest are both in school and the two youngest go to daycare 5 days a week. The little ones love their daycare and playing with all of the kids. I found that i just could not study with the little ones around. The nursing stuff is so full on that i needed every ounce of concentration just to try and understand what on earth they were talking about:lol2:

From when the kids come home from school/daycare until they go to bed i am solely theirs, the books just have to wait till the kids are in bed, same on the weekend, means that i go to bed very late at night, but the kids still get their mummy. I think that that is more important. ;)

My next worry is my clinicals next semester. Over here we go on clinicals in two week blocks instead of once or twice a week like it sounds like you Americans do (I prefer the way you guys do). I have to go away for my next lot of clinicals as i stayed local last time and you can't do that again. My problem is my mum is going to look after my kids, along with the help of a friend. But....my eldest is a teenage nightmare (girl), and my mum said yesterday that she would not look after her, so i have no idea what to do as there is noone else that can watch her. But I spose i'll cross that bridge when i come to it. Just more stress and more mummy guilt, I am VERY good at mummy guilt

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Add me to the list. I am a SAHM to 3 kiddos. Ages 5, 3, and 1. I am supposed to get the official word next week if I am gonna get to start the nursing program this fall. If I do I will be in school 4 days a week. The one thing that will make it slightly easier is that the oldest wills start Kindergarten and the 3 year old will being doing preschool 5 half days a week. I am praying that I do get again. I would rather do this now then later.

Good luck ladies :) I hope I get to start this fall..if not I know it will be next fall :)

Lisa~ hoping to graduate in 2008

Sara(5)

Justin(3)

Eric(1)

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