Shift worker Wives?

I am one!! DH does 2 night the turnaround day and 2 days. 12 hours shifts too (7-7) He is pretty much a ghost for those days cos he is so tired. Does your DH do days as well as nights? On his days off I still do most of the baby rearing but DH cooks most of our meals and helps me with housework so I have it pretty sweet (so I get told but then I think we both have it pretty sweet)

Thanks. He really is good when he is home, in terms of housework and things.

He works 5 week rotating shifts, usually one 7 day "night shift", 3 days off, then another 7 "late shifts" and so on.
I let him sleep in, and he always gets at least 9-10 hours sleep. He gets up at 8am to take Janaya to school on his days off, but wont do any earlier than that.
He's now saying he wants to sleep longer

maybe he needs a holiday. I know that DH often is real tired when he has been working with no break for a while. I know that doing shift for so long does end up taking it out of ya. Kinda hard to live with I guess especially when they do such long hours. Do you guys have much of a social life? DH and I are def home bodies but I find that we don't really have much to do with 'day-workers' as you never seem to find days that work for both of you and so we only really do anything with other shift workers.

Edited by Henna79

Yeah I'm a shift worked wife as well. My Dh doesn't do nights though, he just alternates between morning shifts and afternoon/evening shifts but he is also on a call out roster some weeks and weekends so gets called in during the middle of the night and his weekend then isn't free as he can't go too far from work just in case or have a drink etc.

Basically the way we work things is that I look after kids pretty much fully but I normally get a lay in on one day at the weekend (if he hasn't been called in) it's normally only till 8ish and depends on what Kyle is up to as DH's boobs don't work. I then let him have a lay in on the other day and he often has lay ins when he is on lates unless I'm struggling and then he gets up to help me out and sometimes he just gets up anyway.

He often cooks and does housework and helps with the kids when he is here. We don't really have anytime together when he is on lates as I am normally out in the mornings when he is home but we make time for us at the weekend and normally get a dvd out one night and blob out on the sofa together. Things are a bit harder for us now that I'm studying as I do that in the evenings so even when he is here I'm busy.

Was worse when he was doing a really crazy pattern with nights and shifts that were constantly changing, so some 8 hours, some 10 and some 12.

When our first two were babies my hubby was a long haul truck driver and I effectively did everything with the kids. He would drive during the night and sleep through the day and man it was hard to keep toddlers quietly amused during the day. I honestly don't know how either of us did it as I didn't get much in the way of time off and he was constantly tired and missed out on a lot of their younger years.

But then the tables were turned when our youngest was a toddler and DH was studying and I was shift working. My shifts were 4 days, 4 nights, 4 days off and I loved it - apparently the best shift roster. And interestingly DH and our youngest have a really special bond from all that one on one time they had.

I suppose I can see it from both sides and it's a real juggling act whichever way you look at it. I hate to say this and hope I don't get blasted but I think sometimes you just have to suck it up and make the best of hard times - neither your's or your husband's jobs are easy and at the end of the day if he's not earning the money to support you being at home then you would have to work? Try to keep in mind that you won't be at this stage in your lives forever.

Shiftwork is a b*tch on your body and you can constantly feel like you're trying to catch up on sleep so maybe restricting how many overtime days he does in a month might help so he gets enough time off for his body to recover? I hope you find the solutions to fit in with your family.

Just wondered how everyone was getting on?