Working nights and staying awake looking after children

[Em1209]

Hi all,

I am going back to work after having 2 children quite close together, nearly 2 y/o and a nearly 7 m/o. I am going to be doing nights (3 nights each 12h) and then looking after the children in the day due to little childcare.

My DS (2y/o) will be going to nursery on a Wednesday morning for 4 hours which I plan to be the end of the 3 night shifts and I'll only have my DD with me. I plan on doing a Sunday/Monday and Tuesday night.

Had anyone done this long term and survived on say 6-8 hours sleep from the Monday - Wednesday morning? As my DS only naps max 2hours a day now?.

I am doing these shifts to work around my partner who works full time.

Will I survive 😂👀 xx

There is no way you could do it , your body just wouldn't let you physically stay awake . My husband will do the odd night shift as overtime , so say work 7am -1 then go back again 8-7. He would usually sleep til 12 . One time he stayed awake and he was really struggling by 6pm there is no way on earth he could have gone to work again that night , impossible.

So I think we can all agree that's a 'No' then, OP?!

Please don't do this. It sounds horrendous. And dangerous, especially looking after kids and even more so if your job is something that involves looking after other people. If it's the latter, would you want to be looked after by someone who is severely sleep deprived and thus prone to mistakes?

I work night and no this will not be doable. It will be awful and unsafe

Is this your only option? It’s not doable. You need someone else to look after the kids I would say at least 7/8 hours so you can sleep.

Please don't.
It is a really bad idea.
It isn't safe for your dc.
I hope you aren't planning to drive during this time ?
It will be terrible for your health.
I sincerely hope you are not doing a job where anyone is relying on you being competent - and particularly something where you could actual kill someone, like I know Drs, nurses and paramedics all work 12 hour night shifts......

Don't do this OP, you need childcare so you can sleep. What you are proposing is ridiculous, you can't function properly on so little sleep. Organise, childminder, nursery or nanny for your kids in between nights and get some decent rest.

That's downright dangerous. You are putting yourself and your children at risk.

What kind of job is it, I hope it's not anything that you could endanger yourself or others either. Will you be driving during this extended period of no sleep? You'll need a solid block of sleep each day before the next shift.

Of course you can't stay awake for 3 days straight, while looking after babies or working 24hrs a day

I'm on my 3rd 12 hour shift and I'm struggling with some sleep. Luckily I have lots of paper work to do, as well as helping the other carers.

I struggled doing one night shift a week with 18 month old baby,managing just a short nap. Proper sleep is vital, it's not possible to function without it

Nope. That's not going to work, for anyone, mostly you but also your children.

Was it worth it? Genuine question.

Nope, nope and extra nopes for free!

What is your job? I can’t imagine you’ll be very focused by the Wednesday running on so little sleep. I’d also question how responsible you’d be able to be for your children.

My friend did this and burned out almost immediately.

Thank you everyone. I have to work but I have decided to break up the shifts. Not sure what days to do, I definitely want to do a Tuesday night as my DS is in nursery on a Wednesday morning so allows me some sleeping time.

Also thinking a Sunday night as I can see Sunday when Partner is home to look after the kids, then a Thursday night? So Fridays would be cat naps, then early night so Saturday can be a family day still?

Do you think this would be best? So a Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday night?

Xx

I don't know how you can do any nights to be honest. Even in your revised schedule you don't have any days to sleep following a night's work. This kind of work is only feasible if your children are in full time daycare, you won't be capable of looking after them safely at home with no sleep. What is your job (sorry if I've missed it)?

I know someone who did something similar to this, they made themselves incredibly ill.

I definitely want to do a Tuesday night as my DS is in nursery on a Wednesday morning so allows me some sleeping time.

But what about the baby?

She's young so would sleep when I slept. She's a great sleeper x

Don't do this, it will totally mess up your body clock. As others have said, you will be a danger on the roads too. Being sleep deprived is just as bad as being drunk when driving.

Presumably your partner is off at weekends. So do fri night, sat night, Tues night.

I know your going to say you want family time but it's not worth it for the sake of your health. Don't underestimate how hard it would be to stay up for so long.

No way, you'll end up crashing out at some point either at work or while watching the kids. I'm a nurse so do 12.5 hr night shifts every so often and get family/ a Friend to take lo out to the park in the day for a few hours at least so I can sleep.