Partner on night shifts

[GKJ85]

My other half works nights and we have a 5 month old. I find it really difficult as it's like I am doing 24 hour shifts with him sleeping during the day.

How do you cope and deal with it? Get the balance right etc. I need help.

What's his hours and shift pattern?

do you mean you’re not getting help during the day or do you mean it’s hard because you have to be quiet during the day whilst he’s sleeping?
if He was working 9-5 you wouldn’t necessarily get any help at night anyway as he’d need to sleep for work the next day:
my husband worked long hours in a very stressful job that required intense concentration so the last thing I expected of him was to do any night feeds. He would also be out the door by 7am and not back till gone 7pm but this meant we had money to live off, and my efforts at home meant our family was looked after.

What are his hours? He still has time at home awake presumably and can have a couple of hours with his baby while you get a bit of support

He needs to sleep though and night shifts are awful plus the sleep you get in the day after a night shift is horrific

There should be some time after your DP wakes before the next shift surely. Agree between 3-6 ( or whatever hours) your DP takes over does bottle bed and book etc so you get at least a few hours to yourself.

Quite often that’s just maternity leave, though: night wakings fall to me as I’m breastfeeding, days fall to me as I’m the one on leave and DP’s at work, then before/after work he deals with older DC/we juggle it all between us. Sometimes there’s just not much break to be had – with our first, it was due to a huge commute. This stage doesn’t last forever. Have you got friends and family nearby? Can you go to bed early to maximise sleep? Lower your housework standards, get a cleaner, live off oven food.