Studying with newborn vs studying with toddler - advice?

Hi everyone :).

Just after some advice. I want to do my post grad in psych and it's sort of something I would like to get out of the way before trying for my second bub (28 weeks pregnant with first currently).
I am considering applying for 2014 intake for a 1 year full time post grad diploma in psych which would start about February. My only issue is that my bub will be about 3-3 & 1/2 months old at that time. So I have the option also of doing mid-year intake where bub will be at least 6 months old but I want to know from mums who have studied or know other mums who have studied with babies which is easier.

Read briefly on another pregnancy website that studying with a baby is easier than with a toddler as they're more demanding?
Ideally I would like to get the post grad out of the way and get started on masters which is why I want to do it sooner rather than later. I don't want to have several kids and then be juggling studies. I'd rather try get it done with one bub but I'm not sure which one is generally easier - studying with a baby or toddler? Is it easier to just wait until bub is a year old and apply for 2015 intake instead of applying for 2014 intake?

Any advice/help/recommendations/experiences greatly appreciated.

Are you doing the course on or off campus?

I think it depends on the baby and how well you adjust to motherhood. Study is extra pressure if your baby is very unsettled etc, but by 6 months they should be more predictable and sleep in the day and generally don't wake in the evening.

I completed my masters with a 4year old and 2 year old and it was easy because they were old enough to be minded by Dh or others for stretches of time and generally slept through the evening/night so I could study.

If you have to go to classes I would wait until they're toddlers because its hard to be away from a baby for any length of time (assuming you're breastfeeding). If online then you can study when baby sleeps. Assing they're a settled baby who can sleep for stretches at a time.

Studying while children are awake is very difficult.

Liebling did. not. sleep. as a baby. Did not. Although I could do coffee mornings, many days I was a walking zombie before the day began. I would not, could not, study with a baby. Well, not a baby Liebling anyway.

I did study Chemistry when Liebs was 2. I started a month before his second birthday. I studied 5 years worth of chemistry in 5 months and obtained an 85% score. This course also covered particle physics, a history and the lives of famous scientists and some teaching theory. Loved it. Fair enough, Liebs still didn't (doesn't) sleep, but it wasn't quite as bad as the baby years.

I studied with a newborn twice (both DDs) and two step sons...

Everything is possible if you really want to do it ;-)

It was really hard with DD2 as she was the worse sleeper and I spent a lot of time studying/assignment writing with her on the boob! But I managed...

It is hard to say...if you apply but then decide you would rather wait can you defer?

Personally I would rather study with a baby as opposed to a toddler.

My experience:
I am currently studying with a baby and a toddler. DS was born in Nov and I started full time in Feb. I studied externally, not sure if that's an option for you? I am now on campus and bub is 8 months and toddler is 2yrs 8 months. I have resigned myself to not getting work done during the day and that is working well. I study when the kids are in bed at night and on weekends. Do you have a lot of support? A partner to take over caring for the kids on the weekends? Family that could come over once or twice a week while you do assignments if need be? It's full on and exhausting but achievable. I have studied with newborns and toddlers and both have their cons. I am still only getting 3-4hrs sleep a night because my 8 month old doesn't sleep and hasn't slept. They're both demanding in their own way. Babies don't necessarily have two three big long sleeps a day. It depends on how you cope with sleep deprivation and stress etc. It was hardest when I had my first than what it is now with a baby and toddler as a baby is a massive life change without Uni on top. You can do it! Good luck :)

My experience is with work rather than study. I'm working every Friday at home with a two year old, and it's seriously tough. She's very demanding and takes up a lot of time, there are times when it's hard to take an important phone call or complete an urgent task. I remember when she was a baby she'd lay on her mat, or sit in her swing, or sleep, or quietly cuddle and have a feed. If I had to choose I'd study/work when she's younger than now.

Well I study and I took the first semester off after dd2 was born, she's 5 months old now and I've decided to take one more semester off. But I have 4 kids 6 and under which played a lot in my decision, I couldn't do it all. Honestly I think it depends on the baby. All of mine have been very demanding babies, refluxy, feeding constantly, non sleepers who rarely let me put them down. I started this semester and dropped it because I found I was spending hours trying to settle bub just to get 30 mins of study done. So I find study with them as toddlers easier than when they are babies

Thanks guys. Seems there is a significant difference of opinion :/.

Ginger, it's on campus. There is an online course that's part time over 2 years but it requires compulsory attendance at a residential school for 5 days 3 times over the whole duration of the course and it's in rural NSW (I'm in Victoria). So rather than do a course over 2 years online and have to attend residential schools I prefer to get the course over and done with on campus over a year.

~Hestia~, I can't defer the course, I would have to withdraw and then re-apply. Something I wish to avoid! Hence the confusion.

Babyluv, I do have inlaws I can keep bub with whenever I need extra studying time or during classes and if my mum stops working then I can leave bubs with her too. My husband would help take care of bub on weekends/weeknights whenever I would need it but if bub is a baby at the time then it will still need me to breastfeed it.

I finished my bachelor's last year and a 3 year degree took me 5 years because I didn't have any motivation. After I got married dh helped heaps with the motivation and after I got pregnant I decided I wanted to be an actual psychologist rather than settle with just a psych degree that I can't do much with unless I do some further study.

So while I am more motivated to study now, I don't really know *how* motivated I will be especially with a baby that needs constant TLC, etc. I wouldn't know how I'd handle studying post grad (which is quite full on from what my friend told me, she's doing her honours this year) without a baby let alone with one. So while I do want to do this post grad sooner rather than later, I'm just not sure if I will handle studies better with a baby or a toddler. The thing with waiting for baby to become a toddler is ideally I would like to be pregnant again 1.5-2 years (max) after this bub is born.

I guess at this stage rather than applying for 2014 intake for February, I should wait and see how I handle baby and then possibly apply for mid-year intake in 2014. That way I'll have had at least 6 months with my bub and have a better understanding of whether or not I can do it all.

It seems from the answers so far that there are split opinions about studying with a baby or toddler. I guess it's one of those things that's different depending on the person and the child and the study etc. and there's no single right answer (unfortunately for me lol).

Mid yr intake is a good idea. You'll be fine. Anything is possible. Good luck :)

I agree mid-year sounds like a good idea. I went back to work part time when DD was 6 months old (had originally planned to go back full time) and I was so glad to be able to do part time. I think I was just totally unrealistic about how young and dependent on you they still are at that age. Of course if you're motivated to go back sooner you can and both you and baby will probably cope fine but if the extra few months don't matter too much in the long term then I'd enjoy the extra time with your bub. They grow up too fast.

Mid year intake sounds like a good plan. My first baby took a lot of energy but when he reached toddlerhood he would happily entertain himself, my second was the complete opposite and while he was a fantastic baby (you wouldn't even know he was in the house!) he certainly makes me work now he is 20 months!

Good luck with furthering your studies :)

I did postgrad (off campus) with a toddler, got pregnant and just scraped through the semester due to awful morning sickness. Then I picked it up again with a toddler and newborn (about 4 weeks at start of semester), and that was just do-able (1 subject). Baby grew up, stopped sleeping all day and suddenly it wasn't so do-able. So I stopped :(

My advice, for what it's worth, is that you want to be very passionate about what you're doing. You'll be studying not just with a newborn, but for a few years after that, plus you'll have your supervision etc. You'll also be making sacrifices in terms of how much you see the kids and you're really going need to fall back on the fact you're passionate about what you're doing.

I feel your pain with having a reasonably useless undergrad psyc degree :)