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

It is doable but not consecutive nights. My friend did it when she had a baby and yeah she was knackered. She always made sure she did a Friday one week and a Saturday the next week meaning she got a proper sleep and also family time. Was made easier when her child started nursery at 3 as she got a good 3 hours sleep those mornings and hen a nap in the afternoon,

If you are insisting on doing this then you will have to either sacrifice the weekend or you will need to fork out for childcare.

Its way to risky and foolish to do it any other way.

It's difficult but manageable.
I done the night shift for years, your love life will suffer.
The nights I wasn't working I would be asleep by 9pm.
You'll feel like a zombie most days.

No you need childcare, how can you go to work a 12 hour shift without 7 hours sleep?

I don't want my job to end my relationship so I would only work a Sunday night not Saturday and Sunday, I want to spend time with my family as a family lol.

This gets more ridiculous.
So you are actually saying that your partner could have the dc at the weekend for two days, but you don't 'want to' use this for sleep because you want the 4 of you to spend time together ???
So if you worked Thurs, Fri and Sat nights, you could actually get over 10 hours sleep on both the Sat and Sunday but you have somehow decided this isn't a good idea ?

Along with the fact you think you will be able to sleep whilst looking after a baby, because your older one is at Nursery for morning - again, clearly ridiculous.
Then saying openly that you are already sleep deprived because of your dc waking you at night, so you aren't even starting from the point of getting a good night's sleep on the other 4 days.

This is dangerous, and quite frankly it will be neglectful if you are daft enough to try it.

Your children are of that age when they catch everything especially from child care settings. You won't be able to sleep when they are ill and they won't be allowed to attend child care. It's a uphill battle I know. You just want to work but don't have sufficient child care. I had nobody other than DH to rely on when my two were little. I used to work evenings 6pm- 10pm then do a sleep in (care work paid half rate whilst you sleep) then work 6am -8am. That way my husband could look after the children, but bear in mind he will be tired to after all day at work then having the children to care for. Weekend work might be your best bet if you absolutely need to work. Some places pay more on weekends.