Night Shift-tips please

[dakcp2001]

Anyone work night shift? Just found out today that I go on nights starting Sunday.

How should I prepare? SHould I try to stay up as late as I can tonight? Nap tomorrow? Then stay up all night tomorrow night?

I dont want to be groggy my first few nights, any tips on how to make this adjustment a little smoother? I would appreciate your advice.

 

[golfgal]

The people I know that work the night shift do best when they act like they are on the day shift-meaning, they don't go to sleep as soon as they get home, they stay up and do stuff like you would if you got home at 5:00. They go to bed later so they wake up an hour or two before they go to work, get ready for work and go, just like you would if you had to be to work at 8:00AM.

To change to night shift, yes, I would stay up late tonight, wake up early tomorrow, take a nap for a couple hours before you have to get ready for work, then get up and get ready and go. Plan on being groggy during the day tomorrow but keep moving so you don't fall asleep too early.

 

[Kellydelly]

I would just try and take an hour or two nap before you have to go in Sunday. The first shift you just have to suck it up and stay awake. Are you working 8 hrs or 12? I work 12 hr shifts as a nurse, three days a week. I don't have any trouble staying awake while I'm at work, but I am useless when I am home . I sometimes drink coffee between shifts (I'll have a cup on my way to the hospital) if I am working two or three in a row, but when I am at work I don't usually drink coffee; I just keep moving to stay awake .

 

[PaulaSB12]

I agree I work alternate day shift and night shift. On the day I start night shift I always take a 3 to 4 hour nap. When I get home at 7 in the morning I relax for a couple of hours then go to bed. Wake up at 4 get ready for work and eat then go to work at 6ish. When I come home on the last day I only nap for a while so I can get ready for the next day shift which is on wednesday after a weekend night shift and monday after a wednesday thursday night shift. Don't drink coffee though but that is because I can't stand the taste of the stuff.

 

[BEloveDisney]

I stay up as late as I can the night before I start midnight shifts. Then when I get home from the midnight shift I go to bed right away and sleep as long as I can (usually around 8 hours if I take Advil PM, four or five hours if I don't). I don't usually nap after I get up, but a lot of people do. I try to leave a fan on or the t.v. or both to block out some of the day time noise in the neighborhood. For me, the second night is the worst in terms of grogginess. After my last shift I sleep for a few hours only so that I can go to bed at a regular time with my husband. Good luck!

 

[minkydog]

I worked night shift for 25 years as a nurse, so I'll give you my routine. On the evening of the first night shift, I put myself to bed around 7pm. I turn the lights off and put the fan on. I don't always sleep, but if I just lay there and rest(no reading or watching TV) I'll get some energy. At 10pm or so, I get up, shower & dress for work. It helps me if I turn all the lights on and play upbeat music to get my blood going. Staying awake at night was never a problem for me--I'm a night owl anyway.

There's a lot of discussion about when to go to bed the next morning. Some people swear by staying up and getting some other things done. Not me. I'm so whipped after work, especially after that first night, I fall into bed as soon as I get home. Turn on the fan, get it real cool in there, block out all the light, turn off the phone. I even put a sign on the door that said, "Baby sleeping. If you wake her up, there will be hell to pay!" If you wake up during the day, make yourself lay there with your eyes closed--you'll go back to sleep. I learned to walk to the bathroom and do my business with my eyes shut. I sleep until 4-5pm, then get up and fix supper. I don't go back to bed until the next morning.

Meals are kinda weird. For instance, I eat cereal when I come home from work, even though it's technically my supper. I eat lunch around 1-2am. When I wake up, I'm going to eat supper even though it's really my breakfast. That can lead to some interesting choices--fried shrimp for breakfast? How about Lasagna? You get used to it after awhile.

On my off days I sorta keep to that schedule. I sleep late and stay up late. The first night back to work is always the most difficult but you'll get into the rhythm. The best piece of advice I can give you is to make sure you get long, uninterupted sleep. Don't try to do things during the day. If you have dr appointments or school meetings, make them first thing in the morning or last thing in the afternoon. No middle of the day meetings, unless it's life or death. You really have to guard your sleep. Be sure you're family is on board. It's hard for other people to "get" the life of a night shift worker--that's why you turn your phone off, cuz you won't believe how many people will call you and say, "Oh, are you sleeping?" My kids & DH learned the hard way not to wake me during the day unless my hair better is on fire!

Good luck with your new shift. It will take you some time to get used to it. Prepare to be exhausted for the first 2 weeks. You'll probably want to sleep all day long--make arrangements for that. But you'll hit your stride sooner or later.

 

[pigletgirl]

From my friends who are night shift nurses:
1. Eat alot of protein! Carbs will make you sleeper quicker. Eat that bowl of cereal when you come home.

2. Try to sleep 8 hours during the day. Get room darkening shades if need be.

3. Around 4am is the hardest of folks so don't hesitate to drink a cup of coffee if need be.

5. On the off days, come home and sleep. If you can try not to set an alarm and let yourself sleep until you wake up.

GL!! I will be probably doing nights sometime so I'll be in your shoes very soon!

 

[DawnCt1]

DS#1 works nights as a respiratory therapist. I think he is still figuring it out. Some of the things he does is room darkening shades. He says that he needs a white sound generator. In the meantime he runs the fan on the air conditioning unit. He doesn't try to go to sleep the minute he gets home. He may play a video game to relax, he doesn't drink caffinated drinks after 4 am. If he has to be to work at 11 pm, He goes to bed at 3 or 4 pm for a long nap if he hasn't been off. If he has to work 7 pm to 7 am, he goes to bed earlier. He is hoping to get block scheduling so he can have the same days off each week.

 

[tvguy]

25 years of 11 pm to 7 am here. 2 to 3 hour nap from about 3 pm to 6 pm on Sunday. In bed Monday thru Thursday by 9 am, up at 5 pm. Evening with family, shower, off to work. Friday I would do chores, sleep about 4 hours during the day. Sleep at night on Friday and Saturday.

The key in my opinion is to have a set time to sleep during the week.

I work 3 am to 11:30 am now, and I still find the key to staying healthy and rested is to have a set time to be asleep during the work week.

I can't offer advice on noise, since over the years I slept through having a room added onto my house, AND having a new roof put on!! I found that when worked graveyard shift, I was so tired when I got home, NOTHING kept me from sleeping.

 

[Kitty 34]

My youngest DS (21) just started working the night shift about a month ago. He goes to bed as soon as he gets home with the shades pulled and the fan on. He sleeps until about 4:00. It's been working pretty good for him.

 

[Anne MN]

I use to work night- what worked for me was when I got home I stayed up and got some stuff done and went to bed around 10. slept till about 6 got up ate, spent time with family and went to work (10-7 shift)
what I would do on "friday" was stay up all day and go to bed at a "normal" time.
as far as noise or shades- can't help you there, i just had curtains so natural light came in, and one summer they were repaving the roads around our house (lived on the corner) and we had a new roof put on, and our neighbor was adding onto their house- slept thru it all. I once slept thru a storm with straight line winds- later found out it was a tornado less than a mile away- DH said "how can you sleep thru that"? I guess it was really loud

 

[Judy from Boise]

Worked nights for 7 years as a nurse, I am in the unwind for a while when you get home but then straight to bed camp. Sleep until you wake if you are heading back to work, or set the alarm to get up after 4 hours if it is "Friday". On "Monday" I usually just stayed up for 24 hrs straight, my job was so busy I had no problem.

 

[dakcp2001]

Thanks for all of the tips! I am trying to force myself to stay up as late as I can tonight, so I can sleep tomorrow day. I just dont want to crash in the middle of my first few shifts.


Night shift peeps, what kind of snacks do you bring? COffee drinks? I feel like I will prob need the coffee most at like 2amish.

 

[Sosai X]

I've worked nights at the Air Force base here for 10 years now. I find I sleep best if I go to bed around 1:30 PM. I work 10 PM to 7 AM, so that gives me 8 hours to sleep. On my days off I just sleep whenever I get tired.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Black out blinds or curtain liners help to keep the light out of your room, so you can make the room dark help as well.

 

[AshleyW]

Thanks for all of the tips! I am trying to force myself to stay up as late as I can tonight, so I can sleep tomorrow day. I just dont want to crash in the middle of my first few shifts.


Night shift peeps, what kind of snacks do you bring? COffee drinks? I feel like I will prob need the coffee most at like 2amish.

I usually drink something caffeinated until about 3am (mid-point for my shift) and then juice or water from 3am-7am. It helps keep me awake for my shift, but then I'm not too wired when I get home. Food-wise, I actually eat a full meal (my "supper") around 3am, and I just eat regular supper foods. I eat my lunch around 6pm, so I usually bring an orange or an apple to snack on at 11pm when I first get to work to tide me over til 3.

 

[VAfamily1998]

The best piece of advice I can give you is to make sure you get long, uninterupted sleep. Don't try to do things during the day. If you have dr appointments or school meetings, make them first thing in the morning or last thing in the afternoon. No middle of the day meetings, unless it's life or death. You really have to guard your sleep. Be sure you're family is on board. It's hard for other people to "get" the life of a night shift worker--that's why you turn your phone off, cuz you won't believe how many people will call you and say, "Oh, are you sleeping?" My kids & DH learned the hard way not to wake me during the day unless my hair better is on fire!

Totally agree with this! I used to work overnight in a grocery store, and it's amazing the way people who don't work nights think "You have your whole day free!" and expect you to be able to do things during the day. My mom would plan family parties/events for the middle of the afternoon, and would get really upset when I told her I couldn't come because it totally screwed with my schedule--it would be like planning parties for 2 am for a "day shift" worker!

 

[dakcp2001]

Well here goes nothing, tonight is my first 12 hour night shift. Wish me luck! I dont feel prepared. I ended up staying up til 5am last night and slept til 1pm this afternoon. I just dont know how I am going to 1-stay awake and 2- be alert enough to think


Wish me luck!

 

[MomRN]

Good luck! I work 12hr night shifts as a nurse. Most nights are so busy I don't have time to be tired. The slow nights...it's hardest around 2-4am. Here's my routine:

First night: wake up at a regular time (8-9am) but take a nap around 1-2pm for a couple of hours.
Consecutive nights: come home, take a shower, go straight to bed. I'm exhausted. Usually in bed by 9am, wake up at 3pm (I work 7p-7a)
First night off... sleep 9-1 (sometimes 2 ish). This is by far the worse day. I am tired all day, and sometimes take a nap about 6pm. However, I try to stay awake until about 10pm-11pm and start back on a regular schedule.

If you have the luxury of making your own schedule, or have any imput, try to work your days all in a row.

 

[dyna]

DH worked 3rd shift most of the time for 30 yrs NEVER did get used to it....

Room darkening shades do help we took that a step further got them wider than the window from ceiling to floor to block out light around window as well.

Sound machine also helped....usually it was not the inside noise from the house that woke DH during day but the outside noise we could not control.... neighbors lawn mowers, chain saws etc, kids playing outside, in our old house traffic.

After the kids reached school age...the 3rd evening dh got up saying kids had woke him up 3 days in a row I cleaned carpets all night long.....kids would get up complaining next morning they had trouble sleeping due to noise... I'd say yeah an dad had that problem 3 days in a row...they would be much quieter while dad slept for a few weeks lol