As a certified nurse assistant, Lisa Mersinger is accustomed to nontraditional work hours. As a mom of a 4-year-old, she's also familiar with the challenges her schedule presents when it comes to child care.

"It's very hard to find someone who will work past 6 p.m.," said Mersinger, who works at Eden Village Care Center in Glen Carbon. "It's very important, because we get extra money for working the shifts nobody wants to work, so it's more money for my household."

The challenge of finding child care is difficult for almost all working parents, but it's next to impossible for those with irregular or inconsistent hours — police dispatchers, nurses, factory workers.

For them, child care options are rare, especially if family members can't step in. Because of that, parents are often left in the middle, clamoring for help in the eternal balancing act between family and work lives.

"When I get parents that call me and find out I do evening care, they are really surprised," said Laura Cochran, of Granite City, who offers services until midnight. "The need is greater than there are providers."

So why don't more child care providers offer services at night? Some of it is economics, said Elaine Rodgers, supervisor of the Children's Home and Aid Society Child Care Resource+Referral Program, which tracks care programs.

"Since the demand for child care is mostly during the day, it is not economically feasible to provide overnight care," she said. "They may get one or two children who need overnight care as opposed to a full eight children who need day time care."

State regulations also limit options. Child care centers can operate around the clock, but licensed at-home care providers can be open only 18 hours per day.

In Madison County, Children's Home and Aid Society has 169 licensed child care providers in its referral program. Of those, only 35 offer evening services, and only two — in Godfrey and Edwardsville — have overnight programs.

The rule limits how operators function, said Lititia Pinson, who runs a Collinsville center. (She cares for Mersinger's daughter.)

"Personally, I would love to do overnight," she said. "I had a girl the other day call and ask if I do midnights."

Additionally, although there may be demand for evening and overnight child care, it can be spread over a larger area. And because many late-night workers will change shifts, it's hard for them to make the long-term commitments child care providers need to stay open late.

Some employers, like U.S. Steel Corp., have programs to help employees find child care. But for those who can't find a licensed caregiver, they must rely on relatives — referred to as license-exempt child care providers, who can legally watch up to three children — or unlicensed caregivers.

Licensed at-home child care providers can watch between four and eight children, depending on ages, training and space available.

Judy Wilson, of Granite City, a single mother of two, went through a half-dozen babysitter and child care providers in about a year before finding Cochran through the Children's Home and Aid Society.

Because she works from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wilson had to use a combination of licensed day care and babysitters. The stress and difficulty of finding babysitters affected her work until she found Cochran last year, Wilson said.

"I don't make much. It's $25 here, and $25 there for babysitters on top of regular child care. I was basically broke all the time because of child care," she said.

She also had concerns about using unlicensed caregivers.

"I go to work knowing my kids are somewhere safe," Wilson said.

Rodgers said Children's Home and Aid Society can help people interested in developing child care businesses. And a proposal for an overnight child care center at a former Granite City church was recently given tentative approval by the City Council, although with licensing and inspection it could be six months to a year before it could open.

Contact reporter Scott Cousins at 618-44-0264, ext. 113