To become a paramedic with young child

[Jen345]

I have always wanted to be a paramedic, however the shift work puts me off as I always felt it would be too difficult with family life.

DH is a policeman and works 4 on 4 off, so he their is the potential of us both having to work Christmas (if I were a paramedic) which feels so wrong on DD.

Do you think it would be too unstable for a child with 2 parents working shirts?

Yes. At least while they are this young. What other childcare do you have?

Yes, it doesn't sound as though it could work whilst the kids are so young. Maybe when their older?

Lots of parents are shift workers. My mum was a nurse and dad a policeman. Over Xmas if it was their turn to work they used to request the night shift so would be home to see us open prezzies then go to bed while we played and got up for Xmas dinner at tea time. I don't remember it being an issue until we were older and couldn't have friends round if someone was on nights! They didn't have family in the area so used to do opposite shifts. I suspect it impacted them more than me or my sister as it was rare we were looked after by anyone that I remember it was usually mum or dad but rarely both.

Go for it if you want it. It'll be a few yrs off before you qualify anyway so your DC will be that little bit older anyway!

Do you have childcare in case you’re both working night?

How old is the child? It takes three years to qualify (although, I imagine there are quite a few practice placements) but if your daughter is, say, 10, then I don't see why not. She'd be over Christmas fuss by the time you are qualified.

Go for it! You'll have alot of training to do so your child will be older. It's your life too.

Paramedic is a tricky one as they often don't finish on time. You only get out when the job is done and so need to have quite robust childcare.
Working opposite shifts might not work.