Family Matters
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
thinking about avoiding daycare cost & working opposite shifts
DH got a job working nights, and I currently work during the day. We pay approx. $1200 a month in daycare. Our 11yr. and 12yr. old won't be attending daycare this school year, but we have a 2yr. old and a new baby on the way in a few weeks. I plan on keeping the 2yr. old out of daycare while I'm out on maternity leave, but DH is suggesting that we keep the little ones out of daycare for awhile, and he will watch them during the day so that we won't have to pay daycare for awhile. Although I think it would be a great idea I guess I'm a little concerned about him not getting enough rest during the day for his night time job. This could save us a ton on money each month...but a little concerned about DH not getting enough rest. What would you consider...would you pull your kids out of daycare if you and your DH worked opposite shifts???
Re: thinking about avoiding daycare cost & working opposite shifts
Is there a PT daycare that they could go to, like 1-2 days per week? That would at least give your H a few days that he could sleep for longer periods of time.
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
I have a friend that works day and her H works nights and they have a day care provider that they pay per day only. They do have to give notice by the 25th of each month for the next month. This works out great for them as they pic 1-3 days a week that their daughter is in day care, usually only when he thinks that it is going to be a busy day at work, or a lot of meeting or something like that.
They find that this works out great, it saves them alot of money on daycare.
I would only do this if your H is ok with this as it could cause sleepless days for him.
Ditto. Your husband has to sleep, right? When does he expect to do this?
I'd personally never ever choose that lifestyle for my family. My marriage and our family's quality time together means more to me than saving money on daycare (which I find beneficial, but that's another topic).
Seriously stop and think about the logistics of this situation - I don't see how this arrangement would work without one of you (him) sacrificing any sort of down time.
This. Watching 2 kids ages 2 and under with little to no sleep? Oh helllll no! I would rather sacrifice the luxuries and whatever else is needed to help pay for daycare.
I do not have children, so I can't speak to you specifically about daycare. However, I have worked night shift for a total of six years (over two separate stints), and let me assure you that it is more complicated than just working at night and sleeping during the day.
Humans are not nocturnal, so it can be challenging to train yourself to sleep while the sun's up (even with black curtains in the bedroom!). There have been many times where I've stared at the ceiling with insomnia all day, but finally started getting tired when it got dark (which is precisely when I have to start getting ready to leave for work, great!). Plus if your H intends to break up his sleep to care for the kids, definitely keep in mind that two 3 hour naps does NOT equal the rest you'd get from 6 uninterrupted hours. Not even close.
So, all lecturing aside, two of my night shift CWs are dads with toddlers. They are exhausted, and often take naps in their cars over their lunch breaks, but they're making it work. I believe they have the kids in daycare a few days a week instead of everyday. Good luck with whatever you two decide!
Are you talking nights or overnights? My H was working 6am-4pm. And I was working 5pm-1am. I slept from 2am-9am. Granted, I didn't have a new baby waking up multiple times so I got solid sleep. But my 3 month old is sleeping 7-7, so if we were still working those hours we could still make it work.
My brother on the other hand works 7pm-7am and my nephew goes to daycare because my brother goes to sleep at 8am.
Angel Baby grew wings on 7/15/2011 at 7w.