Working shifts??

[fluffymummykins]

I am due to start another job soon but it will involve leaving home before my children wake up and returning at 5pm because of the commute. This will mean I see my two young children for 1.5 hours a night. My eldest starts school in September and I'm worried I won't have time to help her with her school work. I'm not keen on the job but I'm good at it and its a fantastic wage.

I've today been offered another job but its less money and shift work. I'll be doing nights, weekends, 12 hour days, Early's and lates. It means I'll be able to take them to school and childcare more regularly, but won't be able to pout them to bed every night like I do now. I'll have more days off with them but it will be irregular.

I have never done shift work and now as a mum I am wondering what to do. I prefer the second job but I worry about the impact of working shifts upon my young children (both under 4). I was wondering if there were any mums out there who work shifts who could advise me as to what its like? I need to make a decision pretty quickly! Thanks!

Hi, my husband works shifts. My work is quite flexible so between us it feels like we both get to enjoy different parts of the day/parts of our routine with our LO. I can't comment as a mum working shifts but I can see the benefits of it with my husband and feel it has a lot of positives. Go with your instincts! Good luck!

I've been working shifts since eldest was 3, now 14. She seems to have survived and so have I. I'm not there everyday but working 30 hrs on long days means being at work 2 days one week, 3 the next, so lots of days at home too.
I've missed lots of school events because they fall on days I'm working and I can't swap and lots of other events I've been able to go to without taking leave.
It depends on your role of course but mine is front line HCP so my shifts have included Christmas etc, would that be a problem? And although I have colleagues who say they finish a nightshift then go home to the kids personally I've always had them go to childcare. It can be hard having nights over a weekend when they're actually at home. The other thing to consider is that your childcare provider is OK with shift work so different hours every week. Childminders have been OK in my experience but again I have colleagues who've had problems.
Personally I can't imagine doing 9-5 but it helps that I love my

Whilst pregnant I worked in a 9-5 job but I left there before returning from maternity as the hours meant that through Mon-Fri I would hardly see my DS and I didn't want that.

I returned to work when DS was 10 months old and I'd changed to a job where I worked long hours (out the house for 14 hours a day) but it meant I only had to work three days a week. I weighed up the pros and cons and decided that the job enabling me to have four full days with DS a week was worth the downsides.

The shifts meant that some days I would only see him for 20 minutes before I left for work and on the worst occasions I would go 48 hours without seeing him. It was hard at first but we soon adapted and it now works really, really well.

I love having four days with him to spend quality time with him rather than just seeing him for an hour a day before bedtime that my 9-5 job would have meant. It also means our childcare bill is only about £360 a month.

There are pros and cons and it's just about weighing them up.

I've always done shift work and can honestly say I feel like I see more of the DC because of it.
When I'm at work, I'm at work. I used to do long days (13h) so left before DD woke up and got home after she was asleep. But she was with my mum then and it meant I didn't have to worry about getting back from work and doing the dreaded cook tea/play/bath/bed after a days work

I work full time shifts, though not 12 hour ones. I get lots of time at home with DS, IMO it's one of the major benefits of shift work. I do have to work weekends, public holidays, inc Christmas Day, and sleep during the day after night shifts, but I think that I get a lot more family time than I would in a 9-5 role. It also costs less for childcare as you're not always working at the same times as your partner.
That's not to say that shift work doesn't have it's downsides; the antisocial hours, fatigue, etc. However, if I were to be offered my job but with office hours I would decline it.
Go with the role that suits you and your family best, you'll make it work if it's what you want