Studying with a Baby

When I needed to do this, I left the house a couple of evenings a week when my husband was home - if you have a husband, then leave him in charge of baby and get out to the library. Otherwise, if you have the money, hire a babysitter. Good luck

Maybe try to get him in some kind of childcare on campus. We put my son into daycare for 10 hrs a week--and it was absolutely amazing what I could get accomplished in 10 hrs. Also, we had subsidized childcare through the university so that is something to look into. Honestly, I think the older my son got the easier it got; he wasn't a great napper/sleeper either!

My kids are in school now, so I study while they are there. As far as home studying, I do that after they go to bed. There really is no other time. Even if they seem occupied during the day(Sat. & Sun), it never fails, as soon as I start to read they seem to need me to do something so I have to stop. I still put my kids to bed at 7:30 so I still have some energy left to absorb whatever I can. School is just harder after kids. You may have to get a sitter, I usually do that before a big test. Also, take fewer courses because of the reduced study time. It takes longer to finish, but if your GPA is important, that would be the other option.
Best of luck to you,
J.

I apologize if I am repeating anyone's suggestions, but have you looked into getting a mother's helper? Maybe a highschool student that can come in a few days a week in the after noon to keep baby occupied while you study? You may even be able to find one that is doing a work study or is enrolled in a early childhood education classes in highschool. A lot of times girls enrolled in these classes will work at local daycares after school, but I don't se why a home daycare environment wouldn't count as credits for their grades.

Anyway it's just a thought. I'm sure you will figure it out. Don't quit school, just hang in there, you'll make it!!

I am also in school and have found that I can only handle 2 classes a semester, which is 2 nights a week. I think a lot of my study time has come from my husband being so supportive. He pretty much takes over as soon as he is home from work which allows me to study while he puts our son to bed.

My son was also not a very good napper, but he would nap longer some days if I would hold him. Although it probably wasn't the best idea I would read while holding him for his nap. Other than that I just stay up late at night and study. I also have some great friends that will take him for a couple of hours on days where I have a big assignment or a test.

It is extremely hard to be in school with children, harder than some people think it is. But I have done my entire degree either pregnant or with my son and will be done in just over a month. It is doable and I wish you luck!!

My oldest son didn't sleep through the night until 18 months and that just happened to be when I went back to school. I started out with 2 classes, but the next semester I took 12 credits, plus working 20 hours a week. It is hard, but you can definitely do it. I never bothered doing homework during the day if I was at home. I got all of my work done between 8 and midnight every night. My husband took over as caregiver during those hours. If the baby woke up, he looked after him. The support from your husband is crucial. When I started with the 12 credits, my son had to go to daycare 2 days a week while I was in class. Since I had to pay $30 for the whole day, no matter how long I was gone, I just tacked on 2 extra hours so I could study or meet with classmates if we had group projects and such. You can do it!

Are your classes at night? I have night classes, and I try to finish my reading and projects after class. It keeps me up late at night, and I'm tired the next morning. It's the price I pay to actually get my work done.

Occasionally, I have an assignment or group paper to complete, and I do it during the day. Usually it's because I procrastinated. I find myself relying on TV so much to entertain my 3 year old while I get the work done. 6 credit hours are as much as I can handle or my son will be raised by Sprout and PBS.

I can't comment much about the sleeping habits. My son was never a good sleeper. We found sleep sharing to be the best way to get him to sleep well, although this takes a large time commitment from the parents.

Best of luck to you!
-B.

I would cut back on the classes and enjoy this time with your baby right now. He would love to interact with you right now. When he is not needing your time, you probably need to clean, cook, pay bills, etc. Figure out how much school work you can get done when he is in bed at night and cut out the rest. You don't want to start resenting your son's needs so you can study. You are blessed to be able to stay home with him! You are the most important person to him right now. Enjoy!

I can't help you with all of your worries, but the sleeping I can. I got the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and it saved our family. My son slept really well until he was over a year old. Then he started waking up a lot at night and didn't want to go to sleep at night, he was up till 11pm or later before crashing. After reading the book and realizing he was exhausted I started him on a sleep schedule and he sleeps 11-12 hours every night now with no feedings. It tells you how old they need to be to sleep through with out food. By getting the baby to sleep around 6 or 7 pm you should have time to get some studying in at night. I hope it helps! We also child proofed our living room and put up some gates that keep him in there so he can explore and play and we don't have to worry about him getting hurt. It worked really well for us, just something to think about since the exersaucer only works for short periods of time. Good luck!

I had babies when I got my first degree, too. It can definitely be a challenge! Try studying in short spurts. Get him interested in something and then grab your books. I also studied a lot while nursing (when he was young enough not to get distracted by it).
Try to schedule an hour each day where someone else plays with the baby while you study. Dad is the best choice (if he's around), it gives him time to bond with his child. My husband has a much better relationship with our kids because he spent so much time with them when I was in school and studying. Maybe you can also plan to spend an extra hour at school to study, too.

It is very likely that your little guy's sleep habits have been affected by you going back to school. Things have changed in his life - he's getting less time with mommy than he used to, and he can also feel your stress. Make sure that you give him plenty of attention. There needs to be times when you put the books away and focus on him and just have fun. It's going to take him a while to adjust, so be patient too. (There are other reasons babies start waking up, too - teething or a growth spurt for example. Combined with you going back to school can make it even harder).

Hang in there! With some planning and help you can make it through.

Ok not to be a B****y mom but, Sarah B!!!!!!!!! Did you not read the question?? ALL OF IT??
But yes is it very difficult to study and be a mom. I'm currently taking two classes online and we are just settling down from moving, so my son's schedule is soo messed up because he just confused as to where he is at. He also is not a big napper. I have a friend who knows just about anything about babies and she told to try a weighted blanket since some babies need some pressure on them (I dunno that's what she said). She suggested this website affordableweightedblanket.com. BUT she is a poor student like me and what she did is basically made one of those rice heating pads. On the website it shows different weights for the babies and weighed out that much in rice then put it in the slates. If your don't know how to make one, email me and I can tell you how. I plan on making one once my sewing machine is set up and I hope it works! And I hope it could work for you!.
Oh and I like Julia N's post. It is better to study is small portions instead of large times. Things stick better that way.

I have my hubby watch the kids so I can do my assignments. He works in construction and I understand that he is sometimes so tired from work so I make sure to designate days I HAVE to do my homework. Hopefully, your husband can see you are also trying to contribute and would watch baby a few evenings at night.

I am taking an advanced writing class so I just wait and spend sometimes 12 hours on Sunday to write my papers. I lock myself away from everybody.My hubby will bring me plates of food-breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

My two youngest kids were both excellent sleepers from the beginning, but around 8 months, they suddenly started waking up multiple times during the night. It was just a phase with both of them, and they eventually went back to their old sleep habits.

As for studying with a baby. I had three kids while working towards my Ph.D., and I found that the best (and almost only!) time to study was after bedtimes. I wrote my dissertation between the hours of 9 and 2--at night. If you can afford it, though, you might consider putting your son in a Mother's Day Out program (ours is 9-2:30) two or three days a week, though I can fully understand your hesitation to do so. I didn't put my oldest in a MDO until he was 2, and my two youngest didn't start going until they were each 1.

Though having a child definitely makes it harder to find the time to study, I loved the flexibility that being in school gave me to spend more time with my kids.

is he on a schedule? I found with my daughter on the Baby Whisperer's EASY routine I could plan my days better, because I knew when her general naptimes and stuff would be. She napped/slept much better once she was on the routine also.

And I would suggest an Exersaucer. I got a lot more done when I could plop the kiddo in her saucer. She loved it and would be very entertained. If there was music on, I could sometimes even get a show when she would dance. :-) She loved her saucer till she was over a year old. Good luck!!

I started school when my son was 2mo old... I hear you on the juggling thing.

I would suggest that you just learned 3 classes a quarter is too many. Sigh. Did that, although I worked my way up 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3 (try again, since it was a gym class...nope...okay back to two, 2, 2, 2,).

In order to keep full aid, I typically made sure one of my classes was a lab class... so 11 credits total kept me my aid (5 credit classes are the norm at my school).

I studied during naps and after bedtime... but as he started dropping naps it was very hard. As he started dropping naps I learned I could only do one "hard" class, and the other had to be an "easy" class. 2 naps were heaven, because one nap was a "shower and do nothing" nap, and the other nap was a study nap. Mostly though my work happened after bedtime. It gets a lot easier once they're in preschool.

If it's not too late in the quarter you might think of dropping one class... but keep an eye on your aid.

Hugs.

R

Hi M..

Couple of things... I totally understand why you would want to go back to school, but what made you choose right now to pursue it? I hope you have some good support because as your child turns one year old and is moving all over the place, you are going to need some extra hands. Is he in daycare during the day? Or, do you stay home with him? It sounds like you are tired from all you are doing. It's a lot to take care of an 8 month old, your partner, and go to school! Can you take 1 class, instead of 3? Also, can you put your son down a bit earlier? At 8 months old, he should be able to go down at around 7pm or even a bit earlier. Does he nap twice a day during the day?

Good luck to you.

It is insanely hard to study with a baby! I took a 4 week break during the summer and started up again 2 weeks after my son was born, and continued to finish off my education (he was 2 when I finally finished). My best words of wisdom are...see if whoever is watching your son while you are in class can keep him for a little while longer during the day so you can stay on campus and study! I would purposely schedule my classes so my day would look like this:

10 AM (class)
11 AM (class)
11:50-1:50 (break)
2 PM (class)

Something along those lines always worked for me...sometimes it meant that I had to take classes that weren't my top choice, but it also meant that for almost 2 hours 2-3 times a week (depending on if I went MWF or TR), I had time for me to study, get work done, or drink a coffee and read the paper!

If you can't schedule yourself this way, may I suggest hiring a young girl in the neighborhood to come over a day or two a week to be a mother's helper? Around here, you only pay them about $4 an hour (because you are technically at home), but she could take your son off of your hands while you could get some work done.

If none of these options work, then I suggest trying to rest a little during the day so you can stay up later at night. My son also went through a stage where he wasn't consistently napping, and I found that unfortunately, I got quite a bit done at night time when I knew that he would sleep some.

Finally, your son shouldn't need to get up in the middle of the night at his age, so you may need to just give some tough love so you can get some sleep and be a productive mom and student during the day!

Good luck!

Do you have a friend or family member that could take him for a few hours. Maybe you could trade babysitting time?

I found it very difficult to study at home. I would try to get some done during naps, or after bed but the only long studying I got done was when I left my kids with dad after he got off work and went to the library. I worked out a schedule with him and got the heck out of the house. It was the only way I could focus.
Gook luck.
K.