Any Mom's work Full time overnight??

[mannasn]

I'm an RN who's worked 7p-7a for the past 2 years. I have two little boys (well, not so little - 9 and 6).

As far as working nights goes...
I love the environment at nights. People really seem to work together well. Less "suits" around and less "politics" in general. More autonomy. I am often able to go to my children's ball games, events, etc because I can just get up a little early and go before I have to be in for work at 7p.

I HATE the way I feel working nights. I'm always tired and cranky. I can never get back on a "regular" schedule even on my days off. I miss important family events that happen on my days off because I have to sleep during the time that most people are awake.

It's not so easy as working at night and then being able to "be there" for your family during the day time hours. At least not if you plan on working close to full time hours and getting a decent amount of sleep.

I love the atmosphere of nights and my coworkers, but because of the way it interferes with my sleep schedule and my personal life, I hope to move to dayshift in a few months (sure gonna miss that night shift differential in my pay, though)!

Good luck!

 

[It's A Small World]

Have you checked out Craigslist.com for your area to see what sort of part-time jobs may be posted? I just landed a crazy job where I post real-estate signs over the weekends for a few of the new housing communities being built near me. It's flexible. The signs need to be posted anytime after 6PM Friday night and 10AM Saturday morning. I then have to take them down anytime after 6PM Sunday and 10AM Monday. I wake-up around 5AM on Saturday to do the posting. I'm home by 7AM.

I also just landed another part-time job placing grocery store coupons in a few of the local grocery stores. I have a set territory and I can work when I want in a given week as long as I get my tasks done. If the store is open 24 hours I can go at midnight if I choose.

I also do the occasional focus groups. It's not steady work but, I get paid about $100 for sharing my opinion for 2 hours.

I've found all of these positions through Craigslist.com. I highly recommend checking it out.

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

Thanks for the tip It's a Small World!

For those of you that work in school districts, where did you find the listings. I notice that most of the work that we have in our school district now, is very scattered (on a when we need you we will call basis) or part time. And unfortunatley, i am going to need something FT for a while. I am up for any other ideas of what you SAHM's or Any mom does to balance work and kids...

 

[onthego103]

I started working 11PM-7AM a couple nights a week at an answering service about six months ago. I also work two days a week during school hours at my regular job. My kids are all teens and the hours I need to be available for them tend to be the after school hours and evening hours. I feel like working the overnight shift has little to no impact on my kids and that I'm willing to deal with the crazy sleep hours. The nights I work vary weekly. I prefer to work a night prior to their school days so I can sleep while everyone is off at school and work. These hours will be much less ideal during the summer, but my kids are old enough that I will still be able to manage.

 

[LargoLori]

Hospitals have various night shift jobs. My mom did this full time for 30+ years while raising 8 kids! My dad worked regular 9-5 hours. Mom would come home around 7:30 am, get us off to school, sleep during the day. She would be up when we came home, cooked dinner every night!, then slept for a few hours after dinner. She never complained and even when she had the chance to work days, she stayed on the night shift. It works for certain people.

This is what I do only I work 911 and I do complain..sometimes... ..I can tell you that it is not for everyone. Your body really needs to get used to the crazy schedule. Also you stated that you only sleep 5 hours per day. That may change because I find 5 hours at night very different than 5 hrs during the day. Sonetimes 8 hours is not enough. We also do summer camp when school is out although DD is now old enough to be awake by herself while I sleep. Good luck in your job search. I forgot to add that I work 40 hrs per week 11pm to 7am.

 

[luvmickey5374]

Hi there! I'm a mom who works fulltime nights!! It is hard on your body but I have found that if you can get used to it, it does open up availability quite a bit. I really don't miss anything but I am used to adjusting my sleep if needed. I work 4 days from 1030pm-0700am. I've done it for about 9 years now and my children are 4 and 6. It is very hard to get used to so I would say it's not for very many people. If you feel that you would only do it for a short time, I say don't start at all....it would mess your body up even more. In the end, only you can decide if would be right for you. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Cindy B]

It is tough work. It will be fairly difficult to find something especially if you following through with the other thread. (moving)

Overnight work can be pretty hard to come by around here unless you are in the healthcare field. One of my neighbors does overnight work and she has three little kids. I think she works in a nursing home (there are about 3 nearby). I don't think she is a nurse but more of health aide or maybe kitchen work.

I know a few people that have done overnight shifts stocking at Target. I've considered doing that as well.

If you have any IT skills, some corporations do hire overnight staff for help desk shifts.

 

[crisrn2003]

Hi. I'm a 6:30 pm to 7 am RN. I work Fridays, Sat, and Sundays. This allows me to take a nap Friday while my kids are at school and be awake when they get home. I can cook dinner, shuttle them around as needed until about 6 pm when I have to leave. My husband gets to be mom on the weekends and I sleep from 7:30ish until 4ish. I try to get something to eat prior to going in to work, then I eat again around midnight. I'm currently doing weight watchers, so I'm counting points. I count them from the time I get up for the day until I go to bed again.
I don't sleep well now. In fact, it's 4:03 am and I've been up about 1 hr. I will be getting tired around 8 am and then sleeping during the day, even though I was off last night.
I am not able to stay up after working. It just makes me feel horrible if I try.
Speaking of feeling bad, in the beginning, I would become really queasy around 5 am. I never actually vomited, and it would pass, but it was every morning like clockwork. That doesn't happen anymore though.
It really has benefits at work for me. As someone else mentioned, more money, less bosses, fewer visitors and doctors, fewer tests going on for the patients. Much calmer environment. But it does take a toll.
I'm lucky in that my family realizes I must get my sleep and leaves me alone unless absolutely necessary. I have co-workers whose families do NOT understand. They wake them up frequently. It's a mentality that if youre home, you're fair game. My kids will say they don't understand why I'm tired. "You sleep all the time."
As far as the summer months and days off from school, I try to set my 8 yr old up w/ things she can fix herself for lunch --like a lunchable, make somethings available for her to do--like video games, tv and videos, books, etc. then I nap on the couch. If I can make a play date or put her in camp, that works too. My husband will try to keep her up late the nights before so that she will sleep late therefore closing the gap when she's up and I'm sleeping.
It's hard on your body. There's no question about it. It's a documented fact gathered from thousands of surveys and studies. With that said, its a decision you choose to make based on what's best for your family. You made many decisions for your daughter such as not to drink or smoke when you were pregnant, to put up all your lovely household trinkets because they might hurt her, to not go out partying anymore because you had a child at home who needed you. This is no different. It may not be your first choice, but if being home with your daughter and limiting time she has to be with strangers and babysitters is really important to you, then this may be your best choice.
And, I understand being new to the area. We moved away from all family and friends for a job for my husband. We knew no one when we moved here. We've made a few friends and found a few babysitters. But it remains that nightshift is still a good choice for us.
Good luck with whatever you do.

 

[buzz5985]

I have worked nights for the last 20 years. Some years 3 - 11 pm, some 10:30 pm - 7 am. Currently 6 pm - 2:30 am.

Personally for when my son was 5 - 9 I worked 10:30 - 7 am. I had Mon/Tue off. So DH was available on Sat/Sun, I was off Mon/Tue didn't report until Wed at 10:30 pm. I would go to bed at 9 am, roll out of bed at 2:40 to pick DS up at school at 2:45.

My problem was that I would stay up for about 30 hours straight. On my dyas off. I don't know - I'm almost 50, don't need any prescription medications, so I can't say that the off hours are killing me.

For time with my family I prefer the overnight hours - 11 - 7 am. 3 - 11 kills you because you aren't home for dinner.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

My MIL worked as a nurse from the 7p to 7am shift and she made MONSTER money, sometimes as much as 90/hour and this was back in the late 80's, early 90's before she retired.

She was an NICU nurse (preemie babies). She set her own hours, also, she didn't work when she didn't want to.

AFAIK, there's still a huge demand for nurses and you can go through community colleges to get the educational certificates you need...

 

[Adi12982]

My (single) mom did it for many years while we were growing up (uncle/aunt/cousins lived next door so they looked in on us) - it allowed her to be there when we woke up and took us to school, slept some during the day, was able to get us from school and cook and clean some before she went back to work. My mom is an occasional insomniac, so the hours worked well, since she usually couldn't get to sleep til the morning - but I think it is something you can train your body to do.

She worked this shift as: a toll booth operator, an assistant manager at a store (supervising re-stocking, etc) and a couple other ways, I'll have to ask her and get back to you. . .

 

[patsfaninpa5]

Sorry to thread jack but I had a question for the posters that stated they were RNs. I am just wondering what your shift differentials are. Mine was only 75 cents. That made it much less worth it to me.
Just curious if you don't mind answering.
Jen

 

[Stitches glitch]

I worked graves at Wal-Mart while I was going to college, it was hard finding time to spend with my son but that was because I would go straight to class after work and then come straight home and crash. I didn't mind working graves, it took awhile to adjust. Some things to think about though that I experienced on the negetive side, was after awhile I went through depression, and alot of it came from working that shift because your body does need sunlight and we are not built to work during the nighttime. Also it seemed like I always had a cold, always sick, when I noticed it I started taking vitamins and it seemed to help. The positives was that we worked four 10 hour shifts, so I had 3 days off (I really liked that!), there was a shift differential, and it worked well with my school schedule. I worked with alot of other single moms and they liked graves because they would sleep while their kids were at school and it allowed them to be home to spend time with their kids all day once they got out of school. Hope that helps!

 

[momtostitchandbuzz]

Sorry to thread jack but I had a question for the posters that stated they were RNs. I am just wondering what your shift differentials are. Mine was only 75 cents. That made it much less worth it to me.
Just curious if you don't mind answering.
Jen

I make an extra 3.75 extra per weeknight, and about 4.50 extra on the weekends.

 

[malibuconlee]

I worked nights for over a year. It did wreck havoc on my body. The hardest was on the weekends when I was trying to be on "normal time". Awake when everyone else was. Sunday nights was the worst. I'd try and take a nap after being up all day, but it didn't always work, I've never been a napper. There were nights that I was only awake by drinking Diet Coke. i had an entire 2 liter one night!! Plus I had a 20+ mile drive home in the morning.

 

[crisrn2003]

I'm in southern Alabama where (I'm told) pay is a bit below the national averages. I make an extra $3.50 for night shift. And because I work a weekend program on the night shift, I earn an extra $2.50. I also took advantage of a special program they've recently instituted because I don't need health insurance (my husband carries it thru his work) for $4.58 an hour. I have also earned an extra $1/hr for a national certification (CCRN) and then my base pay. I'm interested in hearing about other nurses incentives for night shift and whatever else.

 

[Misty89]

I hate be another downer reply for you, but - this past summer i picked up a second partime job with the same idea's mentioned above =
I would work 2nd job when Dh is home @ night ( my daycare job is during the school day, the 2pm-5pm)Anyways........the "extra"part-time job hours were 8pm- 1am( not even a over-night shift). 3 nights a week. It was killer, ...the days after i worked that shift, I just could not get enough sleep - My normal amount is 7, but i was sleeping so long, i had to set up an alarm to get my butt outta bed to get ready for daycare @2pm.
I am saying all of this because, even if your only needs a little sleep now - Once your schedule is changed, you might need more sleep than you think.
Also, my DH worked a 11pm- 7am shift for 8 years( he made awesome money,) but it wore his body out quickly and was sick all the time. he could not change his "sleep schedule" on the weekends to spend time with the girls and I, it was like we were to seperate instead of married, when i was going to bed, he was going strong and went to bed when i got up. it strained life around here until he got off that shift.

 

[WETWHISTLE]

I am not a mother, but I go back and forth between day shift (10am-10pm) and the night shift (10pm-10am). I do NOT like it. I can't wait to have a "normal" work schedule again.

It's so much harder than I ever imagined.

 

[jenr812]

I am a new grad RN, work in the NICU. Just went off orientation and onto nights Dec 18. I am still adjusting. I have always been a night person and am used to getting less sleep than the average person, but this is still tough for me. I work 3 12s a week (7p-7:30a) and sometimes an extra 8 or 12 hour shift. We are a closed unit so we also have to take call about 12 hours a month. Meaning we are on call to come in and get $4/hr for that. We have to be at work within an hour if we are called in and we get time and a half call back pay.

I try to schedule myself two nights in a row. When I am on two in a row, I sleep from the time I get home from work til around 4 or so. When I am not on a second night in a row, I try not to sleep past 1pm so that I can get some sleep the next night. But I'm finding it hard to sleep that next night anyway! I have started taking Melatonin to help me sleep, and that helps some.

For whoever asked, our shift diff is $4.50/hr for nights (that SD starts at 3pm). Weekend SD is an additional $3/hr. Sounds like terrific money right? We thought it would be awesome once I graduated, but then DH lost his job two months before I started working. We are still trying to catch up from that. Now DH is in school for rad tech and we make the same amount of money as before when our roles were reversed LOL Can't wait til he graduates!!!

OP I hope you can find something that works out for you! How about taking a class for nurse tech and getting a nighttime tech position, in a hospital or nursing home. Not glamourous but a decent job and decent pay. IIRC the classes are short (like a couple 8 hour days). Good luck!

 

[Mandy_in_NC]

I am a full time 911 dispatcher that works the night shift. I work from 7p-7a. I have been on this shift for a little over 3 years now. I used to work a split shift from 1p-1a. I hated the split shift. It was so stressful because it never slowed down. But I love being on the night shift. It is nowhere near as stressful. I have 2 DDs. The oldest is 10 and the youngest is 8. So I sleep when they are in school. I usually get up around 4 or 4:30. They get home from school around 3:30 and come in and do their homework. I get up and check it while I am cooking dinner. I eat and go to work. My Dh is a Paramedic and he works 24 on and 48 off. So on the days he works I take the girls to my Aunt's house and then I pick them up when I get off from work and take them to school then I go home and go to bed. On the days I am off I try to get up around 12 or 1 so I can sleep that night but I usually stay up late anyway. This is my weekend off . I got off Friday morn and I don't go back until Monday night at 7pm. I got up at 1 pm on Friday after noon and didn't go to bed until 2am. I got up at 10am this morning and I haven't been back to bed yet. My Dh and I are pulling our vol duty with the Rescue Squad so I will be up all night. I just can't sleep here for some reason. I will go home in the morning at 7am (hopefully there won't be a late call) and go to bed and sleep most of the day. Then I will stay up all night Sunday night so I can sleep all day Monday after I take the kids to school. Some people don't understand why I work the night shift but for my family it is the best thing. When the kids get older I might want to go to the day shift. Gosh I hope you guys are still with me after this long of a post. OP do what you think is right for you and your family.