======= Date Modified 09 30 2008 19:30:57 =======
Ok, Dads that balance home + studies are welcome too ,-)

I going to start my PhD soon, and I have a small one-and-a-half year old kid. I still not sure how I going to manage it all, and my supervisor was also asking me if I'm sure that I can manage...

So, is anyone here in a similar situation ? How do you do it ?
Any advice would be welcome !

There have been lots of postings about this subject before. You might like to search the thread.

Hi - I have a three year old. It is a bit of an odd question from your supervisor! I think it depends on what your childcare arrangements are. What you can't do, in my opinion, is manage to look after children AND do some meaningful study at the same time - learnt that the first week! ;-)

======= Date Modified 06 Oct 2008 16:02:15 =======
I'm also just starting out on my Phd, I have a four year old (nearly 5) and two teenagers. I'm hoping the Phd will be a bit easier as my little girl has just started school, but throughout the BA and the MA I've combined childcare and study quite successfully. She was only 11 months old when I started the BA and it is hard. I was very lucky in the my husband is a nurse and worked night shifts so we shared the parenting, but with good childcare and assistance its quite possible to do both, lots do :-) Some sups are strange about it, when I went for my initial interview to go to uni the prof who interviewed me said how very hard I would find it with 2 children (they were 8 and 9 at the time) - I carefully covered up my new little bump and kept quiet lol (I differed as she was due a week after term started!!).

I have a 3 yr-old. She was born at the end of my second year. I took two years out but the overall aim was to make the last part part-time. In my second year out, I had 2 days/week nursery to work, and in this last year, 3 days/week. You definitely need good childcare. I organised my time like this because it was too complicated to change my funding arrangements - easer to just be officially out for 2 years then officially full-time for one year. I also work Saturdays and dh is taking some days off this term to help me get finished. A lot also depends on how well your child sleeps. Dd sleeps very well now - but not until she was 1. I originally intended to differ for one year, but then took another to get caught up. My supervisor was fine with it and very encorouging about my having a baby. He has never implied for a second that I might not manage - even though frankly, sometimes I get very tired (but then i am somewhat ancient which doesn't help ;-) )

Teafortwo - how is your 3 year old getting on? I am in potty-training hell. They say they don't go to school in nappies but there's always a first time....

Smilodon - my three year old is potty trained :-) I must admit I just left it to the nursery and they made an excellent job of it - good luck!

I just knew you were going to say that! Having a 3 yr-old that won't poo in the potty is more stressful than writing up..... I wonder which will be achieved first...? :p

I'm starting my second year with 3 kids - 8, 6 and 1. Wife works full-time so it just involves a lot of juggling. My childless PhD friends* can't see how I actually get any work done, but I think you just get used to being very productive in the available time, even if it's just an hour while the baby has a sleep. You just need to be organised and realistic in what you can achieve in my opinion, but it's totally do-able.

Having said all that, my PhD is a very solitary process (which I like). I work alone, and rarely see my supervisors. I see from other posts here that different people have very differemt experiences.

*I say 'friends' but that's really one of the things that goes by the wayside with kids - no hanging around for a coffee. When I finish teaching, I leave straight away for the latest round of picking up, taking to swimming/brownies/flute etc. :)