Full time shift work.. Any insights from those doing it?
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@Lily that's amazing, thank you for the hope! 😊 How do your boys find things with the routine being kinda interchangeable? I worry for my LO because she's such a lover of routine. I'm so glad to read you all still get quality time together, even with you both on shifts wow well done!! I'm not sure my new environment will accommodate flexible working, they're not exactly known for being family friendly but it's a now or never thing for me on a personal level, plus they said they will take into account family circumstances. Got serious mum guilt making this decision, sometimes I break down over it I feel ridiculous! Is it somewhat normal for nurseries to accommodate different days? All this feels a bit like baptism by fire for me atm 🙈 sorry for all the questions x
Tbh their routine doesn’t really change that much, it just differs who is the one looking after them / putting them to bed and luckily they have always been pretty happy with grandparents etc. sometimes even easier for them than dad and me 😂. We’re both police so I totally understand, they usually have parenting / flexi working spocs and should try and be accommodating if possible. I know it’s easier said than but try not to feel guilty - you should be able to focus on what you want as well. I don’t think it’s normal for nurseries to be flexible, most want the same day but ours was new and not at capacity yet so they’ve been really helpful. Feel free to message me if you have any other questions x
Most nurseries won’t be ok with you changing days all the time because that means they can’t offer the spot to anyone else on the days your little one isn’t in. You may need to investigate the possibility of family/friends as childcare, or pay for a full-time spot even if you don’t use all of the days.
@Sophie Thanks for the insight. I've managed to speak with my local family Information centre and it turns out there's lots of early years settings that are more accommodating and accepting of parents who work in the emergency services that are on shift work, with accredited wrap around care which is a huge relief
Oh, amazing, I don’t think we have anything like that near us! Hope you find somewhere you like
Hey! Both my and husband and I are shift workers and we have 2 little boys, only 15 months apart. When I went back after my first not much changed as I was already pregnant again so was on restricted duties and worked from home a lot. However now I’m back properly and operational, I submitted a flexible pattern which was approved and so did my husband. It was hard to figure out but essentially I have dropped one of my early shifts, and then my lates are only 12-8pm instead of 2-midnight. My husband is then off when I’m on nights, and we still get 2 days off together, then I’m off still for his first couple of shifts. Then for the others we use nursery and luckily our mums help. My work have been very accommodating since I’ve returned. Our nursery also allow us to do different days each week, as we know our shifts for the foreseeable we’ve booked the dates for the next year. X