Hellobee Boards

My husband has been on several short-term night shifts (ranging from a few weeks to a few months at a time) since DD was born. Actually, the very first time he worked night shift was when she was about a month old; the most recent shift just ended 2 weeks ago.

The hardest part, for me, is just that we don't get a lot of quality time together when he's working nights. He works 4, 10-12 hour shifts, so he tries to switch over to being awake during the daytime when he's off, but it's tough. It's hard on him to switch back and forth, constantly, but otherwise we don't really don't see him much. There's also a lot more pressure on me to keep up everything with the kids (doing their morning and bedtime routines by myself, doing all night wakings by myself, taking care of them during the day and trying to keep them quiet so he can sleep, etc...) which can be stressful at times . However, we do feel lucky because some of DH's co-workers are on permanent night shift, whereas he only does it periodically, so it's not so bad.

Overall, I think it's totally doable, and once he starts, you'll get into a good rhythm that will make it easier. It's not ideal, but it is doable, especially if you'll only have to do it for a set amount of time.