For Those Who Work Nights to Avoid Daycare Costs...

I worked nights but not overnight.

Everyone I knew that worked an overnight shift had to get their sleep right after work getting up around 2 in the afternoon.

I helped a friend out for awhile when she worked nights- her girls slept at my house while she worked, and I got them off to school in the morning. When they came home from school, she was up and they had the evening to spend together. That worked because they were in school all day. If they hadn't been in school, she would have had to find daycare for them.

I think you would have to consider some form of day care or child care just so you can get enough sleep. AND you are pregnant too? You did not mention how many nights a week this would be, or how many consecutive overnights you would work, but speaking as someone who had done the overnight shift on a regular basis (as an emergency veterinarian), it is HARD, and the lack of sleep catches up with you. The only way it worked for us was because hubby was not working and could take care of our daughter while I was sleeping. And she was only 1 child, not 3. After 3 nights in a row of overnight work, even with sleeping during the day, I was a mess. At one point I was expected to do a week's straight of overnights and I was a zombie most of the time. Throw in being pregnant on top of everything else and I think you will be burnt out in a very short period of time, and that's not healthy for you, or anyone else. Unfortunately I've also heard horror stories about parents that were trying to nap after working overnight and what happened when the kids were not supervised, and the parent was too sound asleep to realize what was going on. Or errors that the parent made from being so sleep deprived. I'm sorry, but this does not sound like it would work very well at all, and you have to think about how long you would have to do this for in order to get the debt paid down. I'd be trying to come up with a different plan if you are able.

When I did this for a year... I slept for apx 3 hours a night. Took care of my son all day, then worked all night. I had a 4-5 hour sleep "window" but I'm not the kind of person who CAN just walk in the house, undress, and fall asleep. Even exhausted I need about an hour to eat, wind down, collapse and sleep the sleep of the dead. AND there were many nights of NO sleep. When your kids wake up freakin' early (for whatever reason) and you can't get them back down... there's just nothing to be done. Not unless you have help. (I didn't).

I DID do the dozy/nap on the couch with cartoon & breakfast for my son (to scooch in an extra hour or so when he started waking earlier). 2 hours of sleep... stumble to the kitchen... make scrambled eggs and hot chocolate (I can make those things now half asleep, drugged, with my eyes shut, one arm tied behind my back!)... bring breakfast and a blanket to the living room... set him up... half sleep on the couch.

WHICH IS, btw, when Jehovah's witnesses/ friends who 'just drop by' without calling, etc. WILL decide to show up. Right when you're feeling like mother-of-the-year.

You can NOT make that work. I've provided care to graveyard workers off and on through the years. NOT ONE of them have been able to make it work for more than a few months tops. And that's while NOT pregnant. The only people I know that can make this sort of thing work is when the other parent is working evenings and one overnight, and then the overnight sleeps while the day person is up with the kids. Even with that schedule, by the time the parent gets settled down, and the other parent needs to get ready for work, the sleep day is cut short to about 6 hours.

Many people I know have been able to have the other parent sleep with them, then hired me to care for the children on the day shift.

I don't think you can make that work. You're gonna need to sleep and not only that, you're going to need to be alert for your 1 and 4 year old's safety. I once read an article about a news anchor lady who worked a LOT. She had a nanny but she wanted to be a good mother so also spent as much of her waking hours as she could with her baby. So that left her with only a few hours of sleep every night. It was OK at first but as time wore on, the lack of sleep caught up to her and one day, she went to get hte baby from the nanny at the top of the stairs and in her tired state, she misjudged where the steps were and fell down the stairs holding her baby and as luck would have it, each time she fell, it was on TOP of her baby so that her baby got all the impact. The baby didn't even cry and they thought the baby was paralyzed but luckily it turned out to just be a broken thigh or hip bone or something. Anyway, the moral of the article was to get plenty of rest. Your schedule sounds like it woudl be crazy. If you absolutely must work, you have to at least get a nanny to give you the morning off to sleep. Good luck,

I work 7 pm to 7 am Friday and Saturday. I stay up late Thursday night and get uP with my kiddo at 6:30-7:00 am. Then I go to sleep at noon till about 4, when I get up, get ready, make kiddo dinner, etc. I leave for work at 6 pm.

I'm officially off the clock at 7 am, but due to the nature of my job, I'm not usually home until after 8:30. I'm on breakfast duty, so after breakfast I immediately go to sleep & get up at 4 again.

On Sunday's I force myself to wake up around 1 pm so I can go to bed at a normal time that night.

It's very taxing to flip your schedule around & do the minimal amount of care I do on the days I work. (husband keeps kiddo while I work). I only do it b/c I'm the only one who works & b/c it's the most $$ for the fewest hours worked.

I hate to rain on your parade but what you're suggesting would probably be impossible with one kiddo, much less three, unless you have someone to watch them while you sleep.

I tried being up with my kiddo, in the beginning, and only sleeping when he napped - it was dangerous. I made errors at work (which could have killed someone), was dangerous driving, and almost got psychotic from sleep deprivation.

I've worked that shift for a year at a time and had no children. I discovered that I needed more sleep during the day than I needed when I slept at night. One just doesn't sleep as well in the daytime. Our internal clocks are programed for night time sleep. Working at night takes a toll on our body. I doubt that it would be good working this shift while pregnant. Four hours of sleep in not enough for anyone let alone a pregnant mother.

After several months I was able to get a consistent schedule going and this is when I realized I needed more sleep. Instead of sleeping 8 hours, I slept 10 and sometimes 12 when I wasn't able to get the 10 hours in a row. When we break the sleep up into segments we don't get to the necessary deep sleep we need for refreshment.

I've worked shift work off and on for several years. I found that a 6pm to 2 or 4am shift worked better, if you can tweek the hours. Then your husband can watch the kids in the evening and you can sleep during the late hours of night.

I agree that working this shift is not a reasonable or even doable option for you unless you hire some daycare. At 1 and 4 your children need alert care which you can't give them on no sleep.

When we split shifts, we didn't do it that dramatically....I worked 6:00 am til noon and my husband worked 1-10 or 11 p.m. We could both get "reasonable" sleep at night.
Your plan sounded perfect until the "and have my 1 and 4 yo get up for the day" part....
What time do they all go to bed? Even if it's 7:30--you're only going to get a couple hours of sleep.
I don't mean to be a dream crusher but without a sitter or childcare, I wouldn't be able to do that for very long.

I did this for 10 years. You just have to deal with it, and sleep when you can. I had 2 babies working nights, and it was NOT FUN. Just make sure you don't turn on the TV for the kids, and take a nap. You'll get into a habit, and when your kids get a little older, you will regret that time lost. I did.

It sounds as if that situation is making it so it will be impossible or you work out. BTW, 35 hours is full time.

I'd search out a job that is about half those hours if you really want to do it, that is more do-able.

So, you're planning on working a full time night shift, on top of being a mom to 3 kids, 2 at home, one on the way, and hardly sleeping? I think the 4 hours of sleep is a very high estimate. I know this looks doable in your head, and that you don't want to pay for daycare, but I don't see how that's feasible, personally.

That sounds a little tiresome to me. What I would do would be to consider a part time morning sitter. Someone who will either come to your house for 4 hours or maybe someone's in house daycare. You still make the money and only pay partial child care

I am a single mom and work full time over nights. Right now I pay DOUBLE day care-- I pay to work AND to sleep. I figure it's an investment-- 2 years (only 1 1/2 left!) of being daycare poor and THEN he'll start school and it'll be smooth sailing for TWELVE years!

I can NOT work mornings, if you work evenings you NEVER see your school age children and there are NEVER any openings on overnights, so when there was I grabbed it!

my friend works till midnight and imagined she would sleep upon arriving home. She now gets to sleep at 1 or 2 and up at 6:30. She is just trying to do it for one year to pay down debt.

I work PT overnights, but do it on the weekends, and only 24 hours a week. This way I work Friday (get no sleep before going in Friday night), sleep Sat afternoon, and Sunday afternoon, and then go to sleep on Monday when the kids do. This works the best because my husband is home on the weekends, and allows me 8 full hours of sleep on Sat and Sun. I have 3 kids under 4 home during the week, so this is about all I can do without needing any childcare. If you want to work more you could hire someone to come over at like 3 until your husband got home so you could get some sleep before going in to work. I work for a hospital, and we get benefits at working just 32 hours a pay period (every 2 weeks). This saves us about $500 a month because us being on my husbands insurance is so high. I would look at jobs at hospitals, have good benefits, and the hours you may need. Good luck!

It is not possible with the ages of children you have. Most people who do this have an evening job or a hubby who is home during the day. Otherwise the kids go to child care so mom can sleep. There are not any other options. If you have a 1 year old and falling asleep from exhaustion you are setting that child up to watch themselves all day while you sleep. Unless you will be making enough money to pay for child care during the day for the 2 little ones then you cannot take this job.

I am pretty much in agreement with all the other posts, but am adding my two cents and another consideration to your thoughts. As a career RN, I have done my dues, working the night shift, 8 hrs and 12 hrs, flip flopping on hours, and also went through a pregnancy in my younger years working nights. With your pregnancy and the little one's at home and family obligations, this will take a tremendous toll on your body and your health. Lack of sleep causes so many problems and sets your body up for immune system failure. Many studies have been done with night shift workers and sleep deprivation, show that it takes up to 10 years off your life expectancy.
When one is overly tired, it messes with your immune system, makes you susceptible to catching everything that comes along, not to mention the stress of dealing with life, increases likelihood that you have an accident as you are less attentive. Irritability, crankiness, then bad habits can easily set in as you make adjustments to try to stay awake at work. Overeating, increase in caffeine intake, things that help to "pep you up".
If you have an option of some other means to make money, and this isn't a "have to" situation, I wouldn't start out working nights, especially being pregnant, and not expecting any more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep. That in itself is a demand on your body and I believe, can have a profound effect on the baby.
There are people who are really "night people" who can go on very little sleep, but broken sleep like you are looking at, is not healthy. Best wishes!