You are not doing something unusual
Student parents are a substantial and growing part of the student body, especially among transfer, adult, and part-time students. The frustration is that a lot of campus life assumes you have no dependents. The services for student parents exist; they are just not front and center, so this is about knowing where they are.
Childcare
Options usually include: the campus child development center (often a waitlist — get on it the moment you are admitted), a sliding-scale or subsidized care program for student parents, drop-in or hourly care for class times, cooperative babysitting among student parents, and information on community providers and state childcare assistance. The student-parent program office coordinates this.
Scheduling and academic flexibility
Build your schedule around childcare realities: compressed days, online or evening sections, and avoiding the 8 a.m. or the night class if that is when you are solo with kids. Talk to instructors early about your situation — most will work with you on a sick-kid absence or a deadline, and some courses can be taken in a more flexible format. Know the withdrawal deadlines in case a semester has to give.
Money
Dependent-care costs can be included in your cost of attendance, which can increase your financial-aid eligibility — ask Financial Aid to do a dependent-care budget adjustment. Look into the childcare-assistance grant, family housing if you need it, food assistance and the campus pantry, tax credits for education and for childcare, and scholarships specifically for student parents.
Family housing and space
If the university has family or graduate housing, it is usually cheaper and closer than commuting with kids. On campus, know where the lactation rooms, the family restrooms, and any family-friendly study spaces are. Some libraries and centers have a kids' corner.
The network
The single most protective thing is other student parents — they trade childcare, share which instructors are flexible, and understand the specific exhaustion. The student-parent program, a parents' listserv or group, and the adult-learner community are how you find them. The counseling center and the dean's office can help when a semester gets overwhelming.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every office, person, building, phone number and statistic on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real institution or a service you can actually contact.