Any Moms or Dads That Work Overnight?

My BIL loves when he works the graveyard shift, though he usually works swing...permanent openings are far and few between. He comes home, makes breakfast for everyone, walks my nephew to school, comes home, runs errands, goes to bed the better part of the day, (darkened blinds in the room) has dinner with everyone, naps some in the evening then goes to work. Keeping the same schedule on the weekend is how he keeps it together, though he cooks dinner on the weekends, too.

I'm a natural night owl and I PAY-- I Pay for him to go to the sitter while I work and I pay for him to go to Daycare while I sleep and I count the days until he starts Kindergarten!

It's worth every penny! I can NOT work mornings-- I'd be fired in a week for tardiness and b*tchiness. If you work evenings and have a kid in school you NEVER see them. So when there was a (VERY RARE) overnight opening I grabbed it-- even though I KNEW I'd be poor for 2 years until he starts school. I figured 12+ years of being home and awake at the same time more than balances out 2 years of sacrifice...

I work 10-6 five nights a week and I pretty much KEEP the same schedule even on my days off. He goes to the sitter a little after 9, I pick him up at 7 or 7:30 (I tend to dawdle so he can sleep more) the I take him to "school" and pick him up anywhere between 4 and 6. When I work Friday nights the sitter keeps him until Saturday afternoon.

Working full time is actuallt EASIER than working part time-- working part time your body never adjusts!

Everyone I know that works nights go to sleep when they get home, get up in the afternoon, lather rinse repeat.

Where it gets to be a problem is when you try to stay awake too long. Like only sleep a few hours and then perhaps watch kids. It won't work in the long term.

I only slept 2-4 hours. But that was because I was married to a jerk.

The families that do this that I've seen this work made sure EACH parent got to sleep OR single parents had the kids in daycare or school so they could sleep.

CAN'T. Work all night then work all day... And raising / watching/ teaching children is work. That's why sitters, nannies, & teachers are all paid positions.

I've worked the graveyard shift. It's called the graveyard shift for a reason. One just cannot get good enough sleep during the day. The way I and most of the other officers handled it was to set aside 8 hours for sleeping. Some get away with breaking that into two periods of sleep. I never could do that.

I would eat something when I got home and then go to bed. I got up whenever I woke up. Of course I could do this because I was single and didn't have my daughter yet.

What is a necessity is to get at least 8 hours of sleep. More if you can manage it. You won't get enough sleep on the two days you work graveyard, so sleep extra on the other days. I suggest working only 2 graveyard shifts makes it harder for your body to adjust.

You get home and do your wind down. Maybe take a warm bath, darken the windows in the bedroom and pretend that it's night. You have to get a routine.
Black out curtains would be a necessity for me. I had foil on my windows when I worked that shift back in the 80's.
I still always felt like a zombie.

I would look into melatonin...your body naturally produces it...but if it's not really dark, your body may not produce enough. I always hesitate to take anything on a regular basis...so you may want to talk with a doctor first. Melatonin is good for other things as well...there have been several studies showing higher levels of certain cancers among people that have night shifts...supposedly it's tied to lower melatonin production. My husband works nights...We also have darkening shades...that helps...and I try extremely hard to not do anything (or let the kids do anything) that would wake him. I try to make sure he get 7-8 hours. Our room is in the finished attic...so at least he's a bit farther away from any chaos :). I think routine is important...next week his shift will change for at least 3 months and he'll have to go in (and thus, come home) a couple hours later...but right now he gets in at 4 am, sometimes nibbles on something, then goes to bed and wakes up around 12:30-ish.

In child care we are required to darken the rooms by 85% during nap time.

I had dark blankets that we hung from hooks permanently placed on the windows. Once the room is darker it sets a different mood and the kids bodies recognized it was time to shut down.

I had certain CD's that I would play and as soon as the kids started hearing the music they would start nodding off.

Taking time to figure out your biorhythms is a good idea too. Think about this from a different point of view.

Most people don't get off work at 5pm, go home and drop right into bed. They eat dinner, watch some TV, go visit with friends, do stuff. Then when they start getting tired the go take a bath, shower, etc...change clothes, start the bedtime routine. Then when they lay down their body is ready to let go and relax enough to go to sleep.

So my suggestion would be to take a few minutes and think about your body.

Do you feel like you can lay down and go to sleep as soon as you get in from work?

Do you need to eat "dinner" before you can lay down?

Do you feel wide awake and energized in the mornings? Then it will be next to impossible to sleep during that time. I am a night person so it is very easy for me to fall asleep as soon as I get home, but I cannot eat a meal then go lay down. I have to have a nearly empty tummy to fall asleep.

Do you have appointments that will take up your sleep time in the afternoon? Call and change them to the best time for you to get the maximum amount of sleep.

Do you take time to do some relaxation and perhaps meditation to get your mind ready to rest? Setting the mood and getting relaxed enough to fall asleep is important.

These ideas should help.

The things that will keep you from getting enough rest:

The phone is not unplugged, most sales companies or bill collectors will call during the day. Family and friends will forget you are sleeping and call anyway.

Tell hubby, kids, the schools, child care, anyone who may need you in an emergency that you are going to be trying to sleep during the hours of XXam-XXpm and if they need someone call the hubby.

If he is not on board for you to work this job he needs to have the wonderful experience of his wife and kiddos, the phone ringing, etc...over and over and over at least 2-3 nights in a row where he has to go to work the next day so he can "get the picture" of what your "nighttime" sleep is like. Guys just don't understand unless they have been there.

Your kids will have to have someone watch them while you sleep. If you are trying to take care of them at the same time you are trying to sleep you will end up in the hospital.

Sleep deprivation is not fun. I took steroids a year ago in December, the doc had me taking them in the evening instead of the morning. I would doze off a few minutes every 5-6 hours. This went on for about 4 days. By the end of those 4 days I went in the hospital ER and begged for them to put me to sleep. I was not functioning.

Our bodies must have sleep or your mind will break. Psychotic breaks are not uncommon with sleep deprivation.YOU must draw a line and not go over it. You must sleep as much as possible.

My husband takes melatonin when he comes home, and we have blackout shades in our bedroom. He turns the TV or stereo on low (for white noise--since the rest of the house is awake and active) and gets in bed. Often he will eat a frozen kashi waffle with peanut butter slathered on it before he goes to bed, like a mid-nite snack almost, except it is 7:00 a.m. lol.

Black-out shades were the best thing we ever did regarding his mid-shifts.

I have worked nights since Nov. 1. I work from 6 p to 6 a four nights a week AND watch my son during the day. I average about 3 to 4 hours of sleep but it's intermittent. At first it killed me but I guess my body has adjusted because I'm pretty used to it now. The only thing that keeps me putting up with it is because I am looking for another job and this frees up my days in case I need to interview.
Oh and I live on Red Bull!!!!
Good luck!

My husband worked 3rd shift for a few years. It was tough. I had to work my shift around his sleep and work. We were so young then. I am sorry that i dont have good advice. You just took me back and man were those years tough. He was 10 nights on and 2 nights off.

Forgive me for ranting. Sending you hugs and positive thoughts :)

WOW ! ! ! Gamma G. I wish I could have given such a good answer.

I had to work night shift. 8 pm to 6 am. I hated it.

So I will just add that I have a bottle of melatonin that I use when things are keeping my mind awake. Melatonin is first cousin to saratonin that is in turkey that makes you sleep right after thanksgiving dinner. Dosage is two. I use one and occasionally I will turn the TV on real low and that will help me fall asleep.

Good luck to you and yours.