How to manage childcare with a weird schedule

[ERPA12345]

Hi! My partner and I are planning to have a baby in the next year. I work in the ER and do about 14-15 shifts/month. My partner travels for work and is generally gone for a week to 12 days at a time. We do not have family in the area but do have a solid friend group. Partner thinks that we will have to move to our home state closer to family for additional help. I do not want to move at all. 

How do you guys with families manage childcare? Will it be impossible to live in a state with no family with our crazy schedules? Needing some reassurance and success stories!

[SedRate]

I do not have kids but in my observations of colleagues who start a family, they:

1. Find good childcare whether that's at a daycare center or a caretaker coming to the house

2. Stabilize their schedule as much as possible, which may mean taking a job with more "regular" hours

3. One parent drops down to part time or quits altogether 

4. They move closer to family or vis versa

Hopefully parents can weigh in to provide you the reassurance you're looking for. But my assumptions are that child-rearing may prove quite difficult in the setting of erratic schedules. 

[ohiovolffemtp]

Working EM, with the possibility of nights and/or rotating shifts coupled with a partner who is out of town for their work makes it very tough.  Night/weekend child care is tough to find.  I had one colleague that had an au pair (live-in child care) to make it work.