If you have to start working the night shift but aren’t sure how to work the night shift when you have kids, you’ve found the post that will lift your spirits 🙂 I see many advantages to the night shift when small children are at home.
Usually, those of us who work the night shift sleep in the morning. Each one has a different rhythm: some sleep straight from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon; others get up to eat but then take a nap; Others come home and clean up or have breakfast and stay up for a long time until they get sleepy.
If you still need to learn your rhythm, you will find out in the first few weeks, don’t worry.
How to balance the night shift and kids?
When your little ones are sleeping, you will be working. For them, the time you are away will feel as if it is less since they will basically spend it sleeping, and when you are sleeping, they will be at school; it sounds ideal, doesn’t it?
Each family has a different routine, and depending on your work or schedule, you can do more or less.
The 12-hour shifts have the advantage of not having to go every day, although when you go, you have to leave home early, and usually, they are not in bed yet, and when you come back, they are getting ready for school.
Some Advantages of Working the Night Shift
Free mornings for you
A great advantage of the night shift is that you won’t usually work every night, which means you’ll have some mornings to yourself or run errands.
Each person will choose what interests them the most: I have colleagues who spend their mornings at the hairdresser; others go to the gym, and others like gardening. I, for example, look after my horses if I’m not too tired.
Errands are usually done in the mornings to avoid doing them in the afternoon when your little ones are at home, which translates into more time with them.
Take them to school some mornings.
This is one of the rediscovered pleasures of the mornings at home. Take them to school without a hurry, with all the tranquility in the world.
But the night shift also has some inconveniences. Not everything can be perfect… 🙂 If the kids are sick and can’t go to school, you have to sacrifice a few hours of sleep to take care of them, meaning you will be restless for the night shift ahead.
A mistake…
On a personal level, I used to get up around midday to clean the house and run errands, but it was a mistake because I was sleepy at 9 pm.
One day I decided that the house could wait, and now I get up at 2 pm, but I make sure not to tire myself out, and when possible, I take a nap before getting ready to work.
Takeaway.
After all, the most important thing is to find the best routine based on our needs and habits. There is no one size fits all approach to working the night shift and caring for our kids, so don’t be too hard on yourself and try to find a balance between work and investing time with your family.
