Nursing students who are also moms of young children

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Sorry if this has already bee covered...

I have a couple years of pre-reqs to worry about before even applying to a nursing program, but I can't help but worry about the schedule. I have 3 children, ages 5, 3, and 1...so by the time I enter a program they'll be approx. 7, 5, and 3. The older 2 will be in school so they can do before and after school care, but I worry about my youngest. I really don't want to put her in daycare full time (nor can we afford daycare..it's so expensive!!!). My husband works full time as well, so I can't count on him to help with child care. No relatives or friends either. :o

My question is, how have you handled childcare while you're a full time nursing student?

I have a 5 year old in half day kindergarten (transportation and child care nightmare!) and a 2 year old at home. I took all my pre-reqs a few at a time over the last few years so all that was left was core nursing classes which takes about 2 1/2 days per week. On those days I pay someone 5$/hr. to be "me". She drives my kindergartener into school, picks her up, and so on. It costs more than daycare, but my kids don't catch daycare illnesses, they go places (we give her our car, our zoo card, our museum pass, or she has groceries and chores for her family to do). I live out in the country and we didn't have family that was healthy or young enough to help out either. I found this person at church by word of mouth. We discussed what I could afford and the extras ahead of time. We discussed the crazies of the schedule and my unavailability. She is me...doctor's apptmts., teacher chats, etc. for 2 1/2 days a week.

Neither of my kids had ever had a babysitter before this ever!!! The key for my husband and I was to treat the sitter as part of the family so that she has a stake in the outcome of her care for our children. Every once in a while I do something special for her out of the blue so she feels appreciated. We invite her to big events...my daughter's x-mas pageant, birthday parties and so on. I take the time, that I don't have to chat with her for a half hour here or there about anything. This has worked for me and I am terribly phobic about giving my children to anyone else. I look at it like I gave my first child five years at home and my second two which is so much more than most kids ever get. And my two year old is still getting me so much more than most kids get even when I'm gone 2 1/2 days a week. I also have always said my kids come first and if my school is so interruptive to their well being, I can always work on that down the road but these years I cannot get back. I want more children and am trying to squeeze in the rest of this college stuff at age 36 so that I can grow my family. It is challenging but it can be done without any detriment to your family. My husband reminds me everyday that he is gone 40-50hrs. a week and the girls are still mesmerized by him and he still is extremely involved in their care...bedtime stories which he makes up about his princesses, bath time, getting dressed. It isn't the amount of time he spends; it's the quality of it.

Lastly, I have a girlfriend who started me off on this journey. She has done what I am doing with a sitter and she has gone so far as to incorporate a mother of small children as her babysitter. She gives them the car, the corificeats and this way a stay at home mom can make money to continue to stay at home but with her children too. Works awesome. Costs her 7$/hr. Sometimes it's at either house. It's like a paid play group and there are gadzooks of stay at home moms looking to make some money and still be able to be with their kids.

Know another three families who use one sitter simultaneously because their kids are similar in age. 2$/kid, one car from one set of parents which rotates weekly, pick a house. Great big play group and cheap. And if you're doing it 2-3 days a weeks, your kids think your a saint. When do we get to go to so and so's house and play with their toys. Not stuck at home, sitter not in a rut, not too many kids, enough to make it cheap.

Sorry so long...I just really struggled with this myself!

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I am in the same situation, three small children (5, 2 and 9 months) and am going back to school (for the 4th time!) It is tough, but what I did was I waited until my babies were around 1 year of age, then I would take my pre-reqs either online or through telecourse at the community college nearby. I did all my pshch, soc, Eng, reading, humanities..ect. that way. Now I am doing taking bio and math at night while my husband is with the kids.

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you can take per reqs online????

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Sociology, english, psych, developmental psych, algebra and many others are online now. Northwest state in Archbold Ohio is now offering "Hybrids" where you can take the lecture section of chemistry on line and you just have to go in once a week for a lab. More expensive though.

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hi,

i m going to nursing college in jan 2007 and i have 4 months old baby. my husband is trying to change his work schedule, i hope it will change and i can go to college without any tension.

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When i entered the program my son was almost 2yrs old. I found a very nice lady who has done daycare in her home for about 13 yrs. i made arrangements with her that i would pay half of the 90.00 a week until I got my difference check each term and then I would pay the balance of what I owed and pay for the rest of the term at that time. It costs me about 1080.00 a term for him to be in daycare 4 days a week. You might see if you can find someone like that. good luck to you.

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Specializes in Neuro.

I have 4 children ages 7-13, but didn't have the daycare issues that you may be facing. I did and am still taking a lot of my classes online and when I first started school, took evening classes so hubby could watch the kids. My kids may not require day care, but still required supervision, so one of us needed to be here with them. I have had great experiences with online classes, and the evening classes, at least for me, were better than the day classes.

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I am the mother of a five year old and a three year old. Both of them are boys. My husband is military and will be going to Iraq soon, so I have never really been able to rely on him for looking after the kids while I'm in school. I am now in my second semester of nursing school and managed to get most of my pre reqs done before I ever stepped first into first semester.

Since I am not able to work and be in school full time, and my kids are in daycare full time, I took out a student loan. Ya, I know it sounds horrible, but I look at it as an investment in my future and the future of my family. I don't wanna be stuck working my booty off at a minimum wage job. Back breaking labor never sounded too appealing to me.

I hope things work out for you. I had waited for years to be able to go to school. And right when we moved to NC everything kinda clicked into place. I truly hope everything clicks into place for you.;)

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Specializes in Telemetry.

I am a divorced mom of 3... ages 8,7, and 4. I am going into my second semester of an ADN RN program. They are all in daycare- a fantastic one that they love, and I love. I work 2 days a week, Mondays and Fridays. I have evening class on Mondays, (5 pm til 710 pm) and then class most of the day Tuesday, clinicals Wednesdays, and class half the day Thursday. My oldest two are in school, but they still go to daycare before and after school, and my youngest goes full time. Even if I didn't work, I'd probably still have them go full time- more time for me to study and get things done that I need to so I can give them my full attention when they are home. Anyway, I get assistance thru the state- I noticed you were in IL... I am too. The program is called CCR&R- Child Care Resource and Referral. You apply, send them your school schedule, and your household income and depending on that you will get reduced payments. For my family- myself and 3 kids, I can't earn over 35,000 per year. (HA! No problems there while in school) and they don't count student aid. Right now I pay about $500 a month for full time daycare for 3 kids. Its very worth it. Also, for the two nights I have night class til 710 (and then Tuesdays I have to go research, our clinical site this semester is 45 miles away, one way, so I'll be going after I get out at 710) The director (whom I've become friends with) is going to bring them home and sit with them until I get home or my bf gets there... approx 1.5 hrs each night. We agreed on $10 per hour. I'll be getting student aid also, in addition to what I make working.

As far as managing the schedule- I highly recommend full time daycare- before and after school. I absolutely can't get anything done when my kids are home, so I take them to daycare and then go to school before classes and stay after in order to study. And there are always other people from class there studying too, so we get into a big study group- that helps. I typically try to pick them up by 530 daily, (daycare closes at 615) so when I am home I don't do school stuff. Home is home, school work is done at school, and work is done at work. I try to keep things separate. This works pretty well for me. Thats not to say there isn't the occasional time that I do things for school at home, but its rare because I find I'm really not productive with it at home. And there are times on the weekend I go to Barnes and Nobles or Starbucks to study. Mostly I get it all done at school outside of class time.

Wow, this was long winded. Basically get full time daycare, get it subsidized through CCR&R, and get student aid to help pay for things. If the daycare is good your kids will love it- mine do. They beg to go there because there are so many things for them to do, and they have all their friends there.

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I also have concerns about childcare if I get into my school's nursing program (which it looks like my chances are pretty good after completing the Hesi entrance test yesterday and doing well on it). If I start school next fall I will have one child in second grade, one in kindergarten (and my district only has half day kindergarten) and I also have twins that will be 3.5 then. It's going to be a childcare nightmare for me. That is, unless my school continues with a new pilot program that they started a year ago where the students go to lecture Thursday and Friday nights and do clincals on the weekends. I have a girlfriend in the pilot group of students right now and I really hope that they all do well (it's also an accelerated program so it cuts 6 months off the traditional 2 yr program) and it continues for my benefit! I can't imagine what I will do with my kids three days a week. I don't have relatives to watch my kids either and my husband works fulltime and not near the college or my children's school. I figure if I actually get in the program, the childcare thing will somehow work out.

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I am currently in my second semester (of four) of nursing school. I am married with two little girls, one is two and the other is four. My husband and I own our own telecommunications company, it keeps my hubby on the road for weeks at a time. Generally he's gone over 65% of the year and it's just me and the babies. We live near our families, but they are little to no help for me. I have juggled many different ways to do school and deal with babies and it's hard, I will give you that. Luckily I have the world's greatest daycare. My little ones are normally there from 7 until 4. On days that I have clinicals they get there as early as 6. Yes I hate it, because I have been a stay at home mom from the time my first daughter was born, and I feel as though I'm not giving that same attention to the baby. But in a way I want to have my RN and then my Master's while they are young. Then I can be a part of more of their lives when they really are aware.

A good thing I found is CHIP. It's a program for families that are seeking to futher themselves, by working or going to school. It helps by adding money for daycare services. I haven't been able to use it but many of my friends have. Another thing is ladies in your church. There are many woman in the churches where I live that donate their time, since many are retired, to taking care of children for little to nothing, for woman in need.

Good luck, and God Bless

Kim:nurse:

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My school has grants for daycare. I have 3 kids ages 5, 4, and 3 months.

My husband and I made $73,000.00 in 2006 (only saying because the copay is based on income) and we have to pay 30 dollars a week.

Not a bad deal at all.

Check the schools in your area and see if they might happen to have a similar program.

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