Studying with a newborn

Just curious if anyone on here has had a newborn and how it impacted their studying? Or how they worked with their wife to find time to study? Or if they found it was extremely hard to do any studying?

(small background below, feel free to ignore, just me rambling)

So I've been in IT for about 4 years. Just kinda buying my time, not really working on improving myself much. I'm doing alright right now, pretty much am the whole IT Dept and support about 100 employees. My last Cert I got was Network+ about a year and a half ago. My wife and I recently had our first child a 4 weeks ago. Maybe having a child has finally realized I need to get my butt in gear and got me motivated to really start working hard towards improving.

My wife is definitely supportive of me studying right now, I've been coming home from work and studying for 2-3 hours a night. I just feel its easy right now with my wife taking 12 weeks off work. Meaning she has been taking care of all the late night wakings/feedings so I can sleep, go to work, and come home and study. (my wife is pretty awesome) Also, she has had her mother or father there pretty much everyday which has helped out alot. But when she goes back to work I'm just not sure how easy it is going to be study with me having to take care of baby a lot more. Just looking for advice from anyone who has done it. Thanks in advance!

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down77

I passed my CCIE 3 months after my daughter was born... it's possible but requires communication with the family and dedication to your studies. I would study from 9p-1a (wife went to bed at 8p to get sleep) many nights while taking care of my daughter. Around 1am my wife would take care of her. I have my 3rd and final little one due in less than a month and my wife and I have already had the discussion on how to handle the care/feeding schedule so that we can alternate. I plan to study again during the times I am up late taking care of the little one(s).

joemc3

I am currently doing it, but I am slightly failing at it. I wake up at 4:30am and get home at 4:20pm. I have to be in bed by 9:30 at the lastest. I would also like to spend time with my son and give my lady a break. Some days, I am too tired to study and she wants time off and there goes another day of not studying. for you to be successful your lady is going to have to give you some breathing room. I set a longer goal for any certification than someone not in our shoes.

mweaver84

Wow, that is pretty damn impressive to me down77! I'm going to assume to make it work I'm going to need to learn to live with getting about 4 hours of sleep a night and studying late like you said (9p-1a). Takes alot of work but sounds like it definitely paid off for you.

taternuts666

@mweaver84

My second child was just born 12/23/2014 and I'm at the tail end of my BS degree with WGU. I slacked off this term and have to pass all 3 classes to make OTP by the end of February. Needless to say this has been a challenge with a newborn and a 3 year old with special needs. My wife and I take turns with the baby by switching every other night. One sleeps in one bedroom with the baby and the other in the other bedroom with our toddler son just so we can get a full night sleep every other night. Generally I study from about 8:30pm - 11:00pm on my nights with the baby.

It's very tough so I feel your pain sir.

EngRob

It's definitely tough, but alternating is probably the best option. My son just turned 6 weeks old and is colic so my wife is exhausted and I fill in when possible. Finding it tiring trying to study and concentrate on WGU, work, and family time but keep pushing along.

Kinet1c

4 month old at home now, it's tough but as stated, it requires complete cooperation from everyone at home. Early on I helped with night feeds - do a feed at midnight, study for a few hours, then do a 4am feed and sleep till about 10/11am. At this moment, it's close to assignment submission so unfortunately my wife is taking the brunt of it but she understands my education will help us in the long run. If there's no support from home then I'd put it off 6-12 months at a minimum.

gorebrush

I read the title and thought "Man, you guys are startin' 'em young!"

N2IT

Hehehe been there. You all must have laser focus concentration, any distruption when studying I am done for a while, especially when it's a scream child. My kids are 12 and 6 and starting to get more independant. Especially the girl.

Now I have no excuse and I study less now.

To answer your first question, how I managed was to focus only on one maybe 2 things and take my time learning those. I don't want to put stress on myself and I would shamelessly study at work when I was in a operational role.

down77

mweaver84 wrote: »

Wow, that is pretty damn impressive to me down77! I'm going to assume to make it work I'm going to need to learn to live with getting about 4 hours of sleep a night and studying late like you said (9p-1a). Takes alot of work but sounds like it definitely paid off for you.

I did, but I will tell you that I had to depend on Bing/Coffee/Spike to survive the first few months. No matter what you decide make sure to get proper rest so you can function at the office.

mweaver84

gorebrush wrote: »

I read the title and thought "Man, you guys are startin' 'em young!"

hahahahahaha

ninjaturtle

This is definitely not an easy thing to do. All I can say, being that my daughter is now 7 months old. Study as much as you can in the beginning when they are sleeping a lot. After a few months getting them on a set nap schedule, will eat up your study time. I took a couple weeks leave from work, and I got absolutely no study time in!! Upstairs downstairs ...get bottle. Upstairs downstairs ...get diaper. Upstairs downstairs ...get bib ect ect... The time flies by and low and behold, your back at work exhausted and you realize you only looked at the cover of your book, and didn't even open it. Granted, this was right when we brought her home, so after that when she was sleeping a lot I got in the study time.

You can do it mate, it just will be a challenge. Stay positive, stay strong and don't let frustration win. Water off a ducks back for everything, and realize you're doing it for that little joy you just had.

Cheers!

ghoul

My second son was born in July. The first couple months I was able to study with him sleeping all the time. For the past few months it has been extremely challenging not only to study, but to do literally anything besides hold him and take care of our toddler.

My wife stays at home, so when I get home she wants relief. She's also trying to earn money with a side business. This has been a massive issue for me. Ive been able to get her to work with me the last month so I can really swing for the fences before my vouchers expire. Because of this, I'm taking two tests tomorrow. My heart goes out to all of you guys in this struggle. I know it will get easier, but the infancy stage is trying, especially with 2 or more kids.

As I type this I'm holding my 6mo old while my wife cleans the kitchen, and then study for a couple hours.

ninjaturtle

ghoul wrote: »

My second son was born in July. The first couple months I was able to study with him sleeping all the time. For the past few months it has been extremely challenging not only to study, but to do literally anything besides hold him and take care of our toddler.

My wife stays at home, so when I get home she wants relief. She's also trying to earn money with a side business. This has been a massive issue for me. Ive been able to get her to work with me the last month so I can really swing for the fences before my vouchers expire. Because of this, I'm taking two tests tomorrow. My heart goes out to all of you guys in this struggle. I know it will get easier, but the infancy stage is trying, especially with 2 or more kids.

As I type this I'm holding my 6mo old while my wife cleans the kitchen, and then study for a couple hours.

It's like your talking about me!! Wife is also a stay at home mom, and when I come home after a long day at work ...BAM!! My wife hands me my daughter who is in the mood to play and scream, as she just found her voice. I know it's not easy to be with a baby all day long, but at the same time it's not easy coming home to one from a long day at work, dealing with adult babies who think it's ALWAYS the network. It's not the network people!!!! Most times :P

I will say this though, knowing that I'm not alone and others have the same struggles makes me feel just a little better. But like you said ghoul, it will get easier. Soon we'll find ourselves studying next to our kids, as they do their homework. I can't wait for that day to come!

Stay strong gents!!

--chris--

joemc3 wrote: »

I am currently doing it, but I am slightly failing at it. I wake up at 4:30am and get home at 4:20pm. I have to be in bed by 9:30 at the lastest. I would also like to spend time with my son and give my lady a break. Some days, I am too tired to study and she wants time off and there goes another day of not studying. for you to be successful your lady is going to have to give you some breathing room. I set a longer goal for any certification than someone not in our shoes.

Add into this going to school full time and still working out two days a week. It just slows down your progress really...it took me every bit of 10 months to pass CCNA because I have limited time resources for studying.

kohr-ah

I used to let my daughter sleep on my chest when she was a new born and I'd read my tech books or watch training videos. Made it a lot easier.

Otherwise I'd study at work on lunch or in the morning while having coffee if the little one was sleeping.

ccnpninja

I had ups and downs in my study time. I got a deal with my wife to take care of the baby on weekends only, in exchange of dining out

JustFred

I have similar arrangement like Ninja. Getting a good night sleep is crucial though.

philz1982

Good luck, I've got three little kids and have been living this for 5 years now

I follow the study at night listen up for the kids strategy.

jibbajabba

My wife is due in two weeks from now

Funny enough - I am not worried whether I got enough time to study or not. But I wonder if I can be bothered at all ....

Already losing the interest in all that nonsense lol .. Must be getting old ..

f16jetman

My wife is due with our first child in August. I start a BS with WGU on Feb 1st, and a new job on Feb 9th. I am excited about our child but thankful that I will at least be able to get in the swing of things before the baby is born. My wife will be stay at home as well, so I probably have coming home and being handed a screaming baby to look forward to lol. I am excited about this new stage of life though.

hiddenknight821

I'm glad someone started this thread as I'll be having my first newborn in April. You guys are incredible with coping the baby situation. I can't figure out how to make this study plan happen yet when the newborn gets here. I know my fiancee (who will be my wife a week from now) will be very unhappy if I spend too much of my free time studying during the first year. Good luck gents.

gorebrush

I am not the best one to gain any experience from because I have no children (though a dog and 5 tortoises is probably close enough) - I would say though that if you are creative with your time management, you can be productive even with kids - i.e. watching a video on your tablet for 20 minutes here, doing it there, reading this while baby is asleep or whatever - can all help.

I don't believe that having children should stop you progressing with certifications. Sure, it will make it more challenging to get the hours in, but I think if you want it bad enough (and ultimately, having a new cert will help with job progression which in turn would benefit your child/ren anyway. At least that's how I see it. I think my wife would have different ideas though.

ghoul

ninjaturtle wrote: »

It's like your talking about me!! Wife is also a stay at home mom, and when I come home after a long day at work ...BAM!! My wife hands me my daughter who is in the mood to play and scream, as she just found her voice. I know it's not easy to be with a baby all day long, but at the same time it's not easy coming home to one from a long day at work, dealing with adult babies who think it's ALWAYS the network. It's not the network people!!!! Most times :P
I will say this though, knowing that I'm not alone and others have the same struggles makes me feel just a little better. But like you said ghoul, it will get easier. Soon we'll find ourselves studying next to our kids, as they do their homework. I can't wait for that day to come!

Stay strong gents!!

Dude, I think we are the same person. Haha. I have to play the everyone thinks it's the network game almost every day lately. I agree, seeing that I'm not the only one in this struggle gives me comfort. In other news, I passed my ccna security yesterday, so things are working out.

pevangel

Wow, we have quite a bit in common. I've been in IT for almost 4 years and my wife and I had also had our first child a bit over four weeks ago. My wife is also off work for 12 weeks, but I take care of the baby a lot now. I've volunteered to do all the laundry because our dryer sucks, so there's a lot of time in between loads. It will usually take me all day and I get a ton of reading done. The rest of the week doesn't look so good though.

daviddws

When my kids were younger I would ask my wife to go to her sisters with our kids during the weekend. That alone helped me out greatly.