Hi - am just pondering (a year in advance) how people with constantly changing working hours manage childcare?
Our situation - baby No. 1 due imminently. I am a medical student - will be off all this coming academic year, but going back next September to do clinical years which will see us through next 3 years. As far as I can tell (uni not overly helpful/ willing to commit to telling me) that should be Monday-Friday, normal-ish hours, but it will mostly be a long commute - 1-1.5 hours either side, probably means leaving 7am, getting back around 6.30 each night.
DP works in the emergency services on a ridiculous and baffling shift pattern - so some weeks (like this one) would be able to look after DC for two full days, and do drop-off the other three. Other weeks he could do no full days but most mornings til 11.30ish. Other weeks no days other than drop-offs. He's likely to be unreliable for pick-ups though as often unavoidably has to work late. Grandparents live nearby and are willing to manage pick-ups/drop-offs and a little bit of crossover time, but not full days except in emergencies/ occasionally to go out or something for a treat.
Money will be very tight, so I'm trying to work out if there's a way of organising childcare that's flexible enough that we're not paying for days when DP will be home and could look after him? DP is willing (and should be allowed) to 'fix' one day a week, or two alternating days, as days off, so we could at least guarantee one day childcare-free, but that would mean hardly any weekend days off, which would be a shame in terms of getting family time, and also actually slightly unhelpful from the point of view of his specific job. And the rest of the shift pattern would still be loopy.
Neither of us really have any friends with kids yet, and family's job situations are totally different, so finding what people 'normally' do is a bit tricky. I mean, surely childminders need to know when they are having children, and can't deal with the 'err well we only need you for three half days this week, but four full days next week' type thing? Makes income unreliable etc? Ditto nurseries presumably need to organise for known numbers.
Are we just going to have to bite the bullet and try to pay for ft childcare even though we won't need it about a third of the time?
Sorry this is really long (and really early) - just finding myself oddly pregnantly obsessing about this and interested if anyone has found a solution. Also obsessing tearfully about not wanting him to have to go into childcare at all, but such is life...
It's all going to get even more complicated when I start working shifts too, but at least by then he should be at school. Just in time to contemplate DC2 