Shift work/childcare

[ForJoyousReader]

Hello,
I am new on this website so first thing hello there. I am wondering how parents navigate shift work with childcare. I currently do 7am-2pm and 2-10pm 4 days a week then it changes to 7 days straight of 2pm-10pm then my weekends as normal as my husband will have our son (he works Monday-Friday) my son will be 10 months when he starts nursery in September and I'm really unsure on shifts for when I return in December. I would like to do 3 days Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (7am-2pm) does this seem doable? I'm a first time parent so I am open to all advice! Thank you 😊

Flexible working request

Can you explain your shift again I’m confused, sorry 😂

Sounds fine as long as someone else can drop your little one at nursery in the mornings? As most nurseries don't open until 7.30am.

I’m not even going to try to understand your current pattern!
7am to 2pm three days a week is only doable if your husband can drop your wee one at nursery those mornings. Very few if any nurseries start that early. Then you need to ensure your nursery will take him early enough for your OH to get to work on time. Those working hours will probably result in a considerable wage drop for you? You’ll need to put in a flexible working request. Do it now, it can take ages. You’ll know better than us whether that proposed pattern is likely to be accepted. It does sound doable if you can get the drop offs sorted. I don’t see how your current pattern would work.

My first question is is there a shift team that works opposite you?

Do you already have a nursery place? Do they open at 7am and do they let you do part days?

Are you doing nursing shifts? I ask because that what my husband does. The nursery at his hospital was open 7am - 7pm which allowed some flexibility for shifts. He does the 13 hour long days and fixed his days and worked the shift that allows him to do drop off in the morning but then I picked up.

Are you doing nursing shifts? I ask because that what my husband does. The nursery at his hospital was open 7am - 7pm which allowed some flexibility for shifts. He does the 13 hour long days and fixed his days and worked the shift that allows him to do drop off in the morning but then I picked up.

your DH will need to do drop off if you start that early, nurseries don’t open usually until 7.30/8am

Hi all! Thank you for the replies! So as an example (railway worker) 1st week: Mon: off, Tues-Weds: 7-2pm, Thurs-Sat: 2-10pm, Sun: 10-10pm

2nd week: Mon: 2-10pm, Tues: off, Weds: off, Thurs-Sat 7-2pm, off for 5 days

3rd week: Mon-fri 7-2pm off for 3 days then starts again from week 1 hope this makes sense our nursery opens at 8am so my OH can take him in the mornings and I can pick him up. I am just thinking this is very early baby years if the early shifts are manageable with the wakings up etc and to also throw into the mix I have to commute to work by train which is 45 minutes so 1 hour to round things up.

So are you keeping your current shift pattern, or you are switching to three days 7-2?

If you're sometimes finishing at 2pm, sometimes 10pm it sounds like you need childcare to cover your OH's hours not yours.

Ideally switch to 3 days 7-2 and keep my weekends as normal I'm completely clueless to all this so I'm hoping for some advice I've asked other colleagues but haven't had a response yet.

What are you clueless about?

you seem pretty on the ball to me. Put it into your work and see what they say. xx

It's good news your husband can drop, just be prepared you will most likely have to pay for a full day at nursery even if you plan on collecting at 2/3 . E.g local nurseries do offer half days but that is 8am - 1pm or 1pm to 6pm . Also do you mean you are hoping to work the same 3 days each week or just 3 days that can change each week ? If later you may find you could also need to pay for a full time space to give you that flexibility

What kind of railway worker are you OP? DH is a train driver and gets his rota in 42 week blocks so we planned around it until I gave up work this year (health related). We were the opposite way round though, I worked set shifts starting early and finishing late so it was a nightmare sometimes to get DD sorted out. My panic about what we were going to do in the summer holidays began in January every year!

Unless your work allow you to fix your shifts/days so you have a regular need for childcare, you need to have your childcare fixed for around your oh working hours then if your around to drop/pick up and spend time with your child, great but if not your oh hours are covered. You say you want to keep weekends the same, just bear in mind this will probably be your only chance each week for family time together, make the most of it while they are young as they don't stay little for long and as they get older and more independent they will probably want to less and less time with you, so try to fit in as much family time as poss while you can x

Be aware your child will catch every bug going around for a few months. You need back up plan to cover illness.