DH working nights

[heatherw]

My dh is starting a new job soon that means he will be working nights. Im trying to think of ways to keep mindees occupied during the day so he can sleep. So far Ive come up with toddlers followed by the park and lots of fresh air then lunch and quiet play at home.

Does anyone else has partners that work nights and what do you do with mindees during the day?

[funemnx]

Ear plugs might be quite usefull for him too, as I can imagine how you'd feel if the children were noisy! :)

[huggableshelly]

my hubby copes and i do not stay out of the house nor do I aim to do quieter activities. we still get the instruments out, have music on and play in the garden .. bedroom is at the back of the house.
mine does shifts 3 wks nights, 1 wk afternoons 2 wks days

my own children even run up and down the stairs calling to eachother and fetching different toys down.

your hubby will get used to sleeping through the noise but earplugs will help him.

[funfunfun]

My OH works nights gets in 6am

although i havnt started but my own lil one is noisey in the day (me too) we do everything as normal as if he wasnt in bed

although he sleeps like a log

[miss mopple]

My husband used to work nights and tbh him sleeping wasn't a problem. The issues came when he got up, all blurry only to be confronted with a houseful of kids. I realised it was stressing him out so we worked around it by me trying to be out/keep the kids out the way for an hour or so when he woke

[heatherw]

I think im going to have to invest in some ear plugs for him! If he wants me to work, he will have to put up with it!:laughing:

[cher25]

My dp works shifts, 1 week day's, 1 week afternoon's and 1 week of nights. This week he is on nights, he sleeps fine and i don't make a point of staying out with mindee's.
He sometimes has trouble getting to sleep with the noise, but once he is asleep a bomb could go off under the bed and he wouldnt notice. lol

[louised]

my OH used to work nights when my children were younger and I didn't childmind and it was a nightmare. It was impossible to keep them quiet and he was really grumpy due to lack of sleep and he wore earplugs too. Everyone is different though and it may work for you but I would never have started minding if he still worked nights

[mum26]

My dh works permanent nights - I haven't found it too much of a problem. I don't try to keep the children quiet - he does manage to sleep through most of the time.

[heatherw]

Hes only doing nights every third week so its not too bad. I think he will just have to learn to live with it!

[angiemog]

My husband works nights and it has never been a problem. He is a shift worker so it isnt all the time. I don't ever try to keep the children quiet. In the mornings we do go to toddlers/groups but as others have said I don't go out so he can sleep it's part of our routine, we then come home ready for lunch and all mine are ready to sleep by then. If we go out i do unplug the phone. Although my upstairs is registered it is only used for sleeping so I don't have mindees up there playing.... I am lucky with the layout of my house I have a door that leads into the hall which when closed shuts out all the noise. My husband always wakes up in a good mood. He doesn't come downstairs til he's showered, shaved and dressed so he takes what time he needs to wake up. It really has never been a problem but everyone is different. Good Luck x

[FussyElmo]

my OH used to work nights when my children were younger and I didn't childmind and it was a nightmare. It was impossible to keep them quiet and he was really grumpy due to lack of sleep and he wore earplugs too. Everyone is different though and it may work for you but I would never have started minding if he still worked nights

Worked like this for us too. It was a nightmare trying to mind while dh was on nights.

[Minstrel]

I think shift workers are a different breed.

my husbands shifts are all over the place (over 24hrs) but the only time he has trouble sleeping is on his days off!

[mushpea]

my partner works nights all the time and sleeps through most of it,, once he gets in to the routine of sleeping during the day it should be ok
we do go out most mornings visiting toddler groups and in the afternoon we meet up with other childminders but only because thats whats planned not so he can sleep, i also have other minders over mine once a week and that can be up to 9 children and he still sleeps, he normaly gets up around 2pm and takes the dog out for an hour which is his wake up time then he's ok, its quite handy realy cause hes here to help watch the after schoolers whilst i cook their tea or play with the little ones.