Several months after I had my daughter I switched from working full time to working part time. I worked evenings and weekends. For the first few months I had a babysitter come into my home to watch my child. When I found out that she was unavailable more often than she was available, I started relying on a friend to babysit. Eventually, I worked when my husband could be home. That way we didn't have to worry about child care at all. Unfortunately this also meant we had less free time to spend together.

Robin McClure, the About.com Guide to Child Care sums up the dilemma of finding child care if you work an odd schedule: "It's hard enough to find quality child care when you work traditional weekday hours. But what happens when you have rotating shifts, require overtime, or have to go out of town? ... [O]nly a small number (12 to 35 percent) of childcare providers offer care outside the traditional 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. timeframe, according to a study by the General Accounting Office." Fortunately Robin has some solutions. Read Finding Child Care When You Don't Work 9-to-5.