To think it must be impossible to do a degree and have a child?

[ALittleCrisp]

DC would be around 2.5/3 years old when I would start my university degree.

But, due to the nature of the degree, childcare is then made impossible.

I don't have family locally to help out. No chance of moving back nearer to my hometown etc.

So the only thing I could do is rely on a childminder or nursery. But that doesn't work for night shift placements, and it doesn't work practically because the days and times I need the childcare in place would change weekly!

How on earth do people do this with children?

Small children

AIBU to say it's near on impossible without a great support network.

I’m studying radiography which is a full on, full time degree with placements like nursing. I have three kids. It would be impossible for me to do it without my husband, daycare and my parents, who sometimes look after the kids if hubby is way and I have to start early. I’m not sure how I’d do it if I didn’t have support.

I did my midwifery with 3 young children - you need excellent support to be able to do it (that support could only be one person) just purely down to the shifts when you are on placement

I started my midwifery degree when my three were in primary. My partner worked normal type office hours and I had no family close by to help. I only managed it by paying for breakfast and after school club. The hours I paid for in my first term were way in excess of what we needed. After that it did get better in terms of being able to plan time with my mentor and the school care kindly let me pay only for the hours that I needed on the days that they weren't fully booked. This meant that everything got more affordable. I also used my student loan to help pay for the childcare. It was still tricky when it came to school holidays though - and if my shifts were changed at the last minute!

I agree - doing a degree with young children is hard but fine. Doing a healthcare degree is very different. I looked at it when my children were much older and it still wasn't very feasible for our family but the course I was looking at had a lot of commuting involved.

However if it is what you want to do, I think you need to think how you would arrange the external childcare around your husband's ability to be the primary caregiver. His hours are not terribly long - and are regular - could he compress hours - or reduce hours slightly so he could fit with regular childminder or nursery hours? What would he do if he was a single parent?

I don't know about the midwifery apprenticeship but could be a good option. Good luck