Babies in vet school

[Sierra_mountains11]

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I know there have been some threads about this in the past, but I'm wondering if any vet student parents (or even those who haven't gotten in yet) have any suggestions or hacks that will make starting vet school with a 4-month-old baby easier? I am about 24 weeks along now 🙂 I'm specifically wondering: How do you manage your school/life balance? Any helpful baby items we should put on our registry? Did you bring your baby to class with you? Etc... TIA!

 

[JustPaws]

I started first year with a 6 month old. I don't study nearly as much as my classmates, and skip a lot of stuff from 5-8pm or 9pm because that is family time, bath time etc. I use weekends to catch up. Boppy for nursing mid exam when at home, one of those bouncy chairs for her to sit in - bounce with foot while reading or in online lecture. I never did take her to class but I would give professors heads up if I thought there was a chance I might miss when she was sick etc. I pumped at school for all of first year and beginning of second year- definitely get a double electric pump cuz it will take up too much of your breaks if you only can do one at a time. Now that I am a third year, she is almost 3 and I am practically a sahm with her out of daycare due to covid. It's been tough but I do my best. Hopefully you have family nearby to help but if not you can still do it. Good luck.

 

[JustPaws]

Also this thread on the veterinary side:

anyone have a baby while in vet school?

Hi everyone, I'm not a vet student yet but I have questions about a situation that will affect me when I am. I was wondering if anyone on this board has been pregnant while in vet school, or known someone who has? If so, which year did you (they) get pregnant and what were your experiences...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[SkiOtter]

@Meow2124 @catahoulas17

 

[DVMDream]

Don't bring the baby to class with you, that is a distraction/disruption for the other people taking the class as well as for the professor. The once in a blue moon when you have no other option, fair enough, but not something you should be counting on doing daily, weekly or even monthly, it is disrespectful to your classmates and the professor teaching.

I know Iowa State had an onsite daycare center. I know there are other schools that have similar. I'd check out with you school(s) to see what daycare options are available. I know things are all over the place now with covid, but I would look into that since I know many schools have on site options.

 

[JustPaws]

MSU has an onsite daycare but the wait list is years long. You pretty much have to already have a child in it to get in. OP, you would need to get on waitlists at your school/prospective school while pregnant for any chance. We got on my school's waitlist at birth and she never got off the list.

 

[Sierra_mountains11]

Don't bring the baby to class with you, that is a distraction/disruption for the other people taking the class as well as for the professor. The once in a blue moon when you have no other option, fair enough, but not something you should be counting on doing daily, weekly or even monthly, it is disrespectful to your classmates and the professor teaching.

That's a good point. Thanks for mentioning this 🙂

MSU has an onsite daycare but the wait list is years long. You pretty much have to already have a child in it to get in. OP, you would need to get on waitlists at your school/prospective school while pregnant for any chance. We got on my school's waitlist at birth and she never got off the list.

I'll be going to Utah State (through the WSU program). I'm not sure if there is a school daycare, but if it's anything like the elementary school on campus, the wait list is probably years long too.

Fortunately, my husband works from home, so that gives us a little bit of flexibility about what to do with the baby during the day. My in-laws also live close to us and have offered to help. I'd really like to avoid daycares if possible right now because of covid and baby daycare being more expensive. We're looking at options though 🙂

Thanks for the input!

 

[Meow2124]

Congrats to you! I started first year with a 7 month old baby. Since we are in times of COVID and 75% of our curriculum is online I can really only speak to these current circumstances. For me, handling a baby and a veterinary curriculum has been totally doable. You will make some social and maybe even academic sacrifices for the sake of time with your family but if that’s something you can get past then you’ll be in great shape.

There are many things you need to think about and prepare for prior to arriving at school that your peers will not - childcare, lactation rooms, insurance options provided by the school, etc.

There have been more than a few instances where my son was sick and I had to have him in the background of a zoom meeting or listening to a lecture but I would not ever bring him to class (and he would not enjoy it at all), instead just have a conversation with your professors about your situation if you don’t have childcare coverage or if one of the many baby colds hit (pretty much every few weeks).

The routine that works best for me is school 8-4, spend time with my family until my sons bedtime (630 or so), then back to study mode. I use my weekends to relax unless I desperately need to catch up on schoolwork. You’ll find a balance that works best for you.

Some must have items: a boppy or breastfeeding pillow if you’re planning on that, an activity center, diaper genie, rocking chair, sound machine, wow it hurts me to think I can’t even remember some of the stuff I used when he was a little baby 😭.

Anyway, you can message me directly for more specifics. Good luck!

 

[lkellyanns]

Congrats! I am a first year and my baby (almost one year old 🥺) was 6 months old when I started vet school. Cornell has been very supportive of me while I’ve been here. I personally struggled the first semester because I was trying to be the perfect parent and perfect student at the same time, so please give yourself a break when/if it comes to that. I never brought him to class but he definitely yelled or laughed loudly while my husband was watching him once or twice during a zoom meeting and I only got positive responses and laughs. I think it’ll be helpful for you since you’ll be hopefully getting into a good sleeping routine by 4 months which will help sanity-wise. The biggest “issue” I’ve had is relating to my peers since many of them don’t have the same family responsibility yet and all around act pretty shocked when they learn that I have an “actual human baby” 😂. Also, for must-have items, we have used reusable diapers for our son for almost his entire life and it is a huge money saver and pretty easy so if the thought of drowning in both student debt and the cost of diapers at once scares you, it might be a good option!

 

[MixedAnimals77]

That's a good point. Thanks for mentioning this 🙂


I'll be going to Utah State (through the WSU program). I'm not sure if there is a school daycare, but if it's anything like the elementary school on campus, the wait list is probably years long too.

Fortunately, my husband works from home, so that gives us a little bit of flexibility about what to do with the baby during the day. My in-laws also live close to us and have offered to help. I'd really like to avoid daycares if possible right now because of covid and baby daycare being more expensive. We're looking at options though 🙂

Thanks for the input!

Covid aside:
I can't speak to what the UT campus offers-I'm sure there's something because there are usually alot of families at the UT campus. However, I do know from UT students in my year it seems the people with families become pretty tight knit and tend to trade off baby sitting days because most are married and have a spouse that helps out too-seems to work for most of them especially as students get adjusted to exam schedules and things. At least in my class even the UT students who don't have kids seem pretty willing to help out-I really think it's just part of the culture there with the school and many of whom share the similar values and often go to the same church.