Work the night shift? Yes or no?

[mommaU4]

My DH might be able to start a new position at work but I'm not sure if it's a good idea.

It's a night shift from 8 p.m. to about 7 a.m. It would mean a $2 an hour pay increase. And the schedule is 7 days on then 7 days off.

My big concern is I'm afraid his health will suffer from lack of sleep. My older kids are in school all week and my younger two are in Kindergarten tues/thurs and every other fri. so on the days the little ones are home I'm not sure how well he'll be able to sleep. Plus I'll be home alone all night. But the pay increase and 7 days off in a row are awfully tempting.

We are both sort of on the fence about this one. Any advice?

 

[momof3disneyholics]

I have worked the night shift before. I used to work 8pm-7am 4 times a week. When my days off came I felt like I had a hangover for the whole first day after I woke up.
It was worth it for the money and the time with my kids though. I would get home, send the kids to school, sleep then wake up when they came home. The downside is that it is almost impossible to get anything done during the day because you are sleeping. Also on your days off, you are more likely to stay up all night instead of falling back into a regular sleep pattern. But, being able to be there when the kids went to school and got home from school was a big plus.

 

[NMAmy]

My ex worked the night shift for years (actually, I believe he still does.) He was a cop so we didn't have a whole lot of choice in the matter but it was what we were used to so we adjusted.

We had dinner together as a family and then he went to work. He was home when we got up in the morning so we'd all have breakfast together, too. He'd sleep part of the morning on the weekends and then get up early to do things with us.

It can be difficult in the beginning but we actually saw him quite a bit even though we were on different schedules. We would close the bedroom door during the day and dd knew that if the door was closed, she needed to be quiet around the bedroom area but he was a pretty heavy sleeper so it wasn't a big issue.

I've never been one to be nervous being alone at night but then again, we always had at least one dog which made me feel safer. Plus, since he was a cop, if I heard a noise or something--I'd make one call to his cell phone and I'd have 3 or 4 squad cars with lights flashing at the house within 5 minutes. Don't laugh--it really happened one night when I heard some vandals on our street.

 

[mrFDNY]

hey,
you will get used to it in time.with 7 days off i say go for it.trust me when your that tired you'll slepp thru anything.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

DH had to work midnight shift shortly after we got married. He is NOT a night person. And he could not get good sleep during the day even though he was the only one home. There was no pay differential, so no plus in that column. Anyway, it made for one cranky DH, and at one point I thought I would kill him. Luckily he was put back on his day shift after they hired another officer.

I didn't mind being home alone. And he worked 4 on, three off. He would try to live the 3 days off normally (i.e. my hours) which probably didn't help matters.

 

[Chicago526]

DH works nights. He's a press operator, and the newspaper gets printed at night, so days won't ever be an option (at least not for another 20 years, that's how long it takes to get enough seniority for 2nd or 1st shifts printing the special sections).

I don't mind being alone at night. I was single and living by myself for 3 and 1/2 years before we met, so I was used to be all alone anyway. And growing up my dad worked all kinds of crazy hours (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 24 hour call, holidays, weekends, you named it he worked it!) so to me, 9 to 5 M-F is weird!

That said, it does take a while to get used to. And it will be double hard for your DH because he'll be 7 on and 7 off. He'll just get used to being awake all night and then he'll have a week off. If you decide to do this, he will want to continue being awake at night and sleep during the day, or it will cause problems. He won't need to keep the exact same sleep schedule, but it should be as close as possible. On DH's days off (he's 4 on and 3 off) he'll stay up until about 3 AM and then sleep until noon.

And if he doesn't get enough sleep, it CAN cause health problems and/or make existing health problems worse. DH is type 2 diabetic and it's crucial he gets enough sleep or his blood sugar levels become uncontrollable no mater what he eats.

Anyway, as with anything else, there are pros and cons to night shift work. Keep talking about it, and try and talk to people you know that work nights and see how they cope with it.

Good luck!

 

[mommaU4]

That said, it does take a while to get used to. And it will be double hard for your DH because he'll be 7 on and 7 off. He'll just get used to being awake all night and then he'll have a week off. If you decide to do this, he will want to continue being awake at night and sleep during the day, or it will cause problems. He won't need to keep the exact same sleep schedule, but it should be as close as possible. On DH's days off (he's 4 on and 3 off) he'll stay up until about 3 AM and then sleep until noon.

Thanks for the advice so far. Doesn't seem to be a cut and dry situation.

This is what I was afraid of with the 7 on 7 off, that his sleep schedules would be constantly out of wack going back and forth.
If he keeps the same schedule though on his days off it takes away from any benefits to having him home. In other words as someone else posted, when do we have time to do anything?
I know when I don't get enough sleep I'm a real witch and I don't need a grouchy DH like someone else said. Sigh. Well it appears we'll need to do somemore thinking.
Two others are up for the position so maybe he won't get it and it won't be an issue. Thanks again!