how soon will you let someone else babysit?

Gingermom15

how old will baby be when you feel comfortable letting someone else babysit?
We are leaving Henry with my mom for the night on New Year's Eve and picking him up early the next morning. I have to go back to work in 6 weeks and do 12 hour shifts, so I'm sort of considering this to be a dry run to see how I do. I know Henry will be fine.

celainev

Everyone is pushing me to let someone babysit my 2week old!!! I have no desire to let anyone babysit right now, though. I'm still getting the hang of breastfeeding and we've been so busy with the holidays that I feel I barely have had my baby on my own yet.

I'll probably wait til he is one month.

yl1m32015

Everyone keeps offering. She's almost 7w but I'm still nowhere near ready. At this rate it'll be 6mo before I leave her with anyone. And even then it'll just be for a couple hours to go to dinner with dh.

AnnH74

We have a three year old and a one and a half year old plus our new LO. We really have maybe one person we like to watch the older ones and she might not be doing it anymore now either. Our options are rather limited. I wouldn't leave the new little one until he's maybe a couple months old and just for a couple hours. I don't plan to be gone from him for more than 24 hours in the first year. I've heard it can mess with bonding and trust.

LeggoxMyxPreggo

I'm panicking actually. We can't afford to have me stay home but the idea of a stranger touching my child before he can vocally communicate to me is, at this point, impossible.

I freaked out at,my,in-laws during the holidays when they decided to play hot potato with my son without my permission.

blended10

I left my first w/ my mil when he was 3 wks old to go to a hockey game & he was fine.
DD will be 10 days old on nye & I'm considering dipping into my neighbors party after I get both kids down for the night.
But I'm super lucky that I'm literally right next door & dd has been sleeping consistently 4 hrs at a time at night

Bombmom3

I had traumatic sitter and child care experiences as a child so am crazy anal about who and when I am comfortable leaving my kids with. My oldest is three and I just recently trusted using a sitter - as in someone I did not have a close personal relationship with prior to watching my kids. It was very important to me that my child be verbal enough to tell me if there was something wrong before I used a "stranger" to watch my kids.

Like everything else with child-rearing I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to when to have someone watch your baby. What is most important is that you as the parent are comfortable with what is happening and what situation works best for you and your child.

Alyssaerin996

DD (who isn't here yet- I'm just lurking around in my impatient state) will be in daycare 3 days a week after my 12 week maternity leave so my thinking is that ill want to dry run with a sitter at least once or twice during her first few months, but probably just my mother or sister. I might feel differently when she's here...but i can't imagine my first day back to work being the first time I ever leave her with someone that isn't me or DH . The anxiety of that is too overwhelming!

redfallon

I didn't get a sitter with DD until she was over a year old and that was for DH and I to go out for his birthday. All he wanted was for us to get a sitter and go to dinner. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving her with anyone before then. I would cry when he brought it up. I felt that I understood what she wanted and no one else would. 

I'm not sure how I'll be with this one. It may be easier since we've already been through it before and we have a great sitter we trust. She comes highly recommended in a local mom's FB group I'm in and we live in a very small town. 

flyingmombula

My boy was 3 weeks on Monday, we left him with my mom for a 5 HR stretch yesterday! We got lunch & some adult beverages (I pumped for the occasion) & went to see Star Wars at the omnimax! I might leave him with mil for a few hours this weekend for my cousins engagement party also.

redfallon

Leaving babies with family is a little easier than leaving with a sitter. We don't have any family around, so that's why it was difficult for me to think about it. MIL lives two hours away and had a stroke while I was pregnant with DD. If that hadn't happened, we would have left DD with her very soon, probably. I trust her immensely. 

pupsicle23

Our families are across the country, so I don't even know who would watch DD. Once she's older, I'll probably be comfortable leaving her with a friend. I also love and trust my MIL, and she's been talking about moving here and even helping out when I return to work. I'm crossing my fingers.

ammnam14

My mother and grandma babysat for a few hours yesterday while DH and I ran errands. I missed DD sooo much but it was nice to have some alone time with him!

groovylocks

I've been doing it since 1 week old but only with my parents. My mom is like the Einstein of babies though. No inlaws or randoms.. Ever, I'm thinking.

navyblueladybug

We went out for a few hours to see a movie when DD was 4 weeks old and left her with my Mom. I teared up a few times when we were out and I started thinking about her, but it was fine. The next day (Christmas Eve), I let DH take her all day to his Mom's house (I refused to go since she pissed me off the day before). She was gone with him for 12 hours! It's so not the same as a babysitter since it's her Dad, but still, she wasn't with me for the whole day! It was kind of nice to get a break

czirbs

My sister-in-law and brother watched our son last week (he was two weeks old) for a couple of hours so that we could go see Star Wars as their Christmas gift to us. They have a 15 month old and they've been our biggest support throughout my pregnancy and since baby was born, otherwise I don't think we would have left him with anyone for a while.

stephaniearthurs

I think maybe, I will let my sister in law watch him if star wars is still in the theaters in February. She's coming for a visit and has offered, but I will only do it if I still playing. Baby comes tomorrow so he will only be a month old. My family is going away in March to a resort in Florida, and my mom keeps talking about getting a baby sitting service in the evenings. I really don't think that's going to happen!!

kleshelle

I'm doing the same on New Year's Eve, my mother will be watching her. She will be a month old. Not too happy about being away from her but I need some time with my SO and a bottle of champagne.

ramfam2507

I left baby with my mom at ten days old to go out to dinner with DH. Left right after boobing him and was back in time for the next feeding.

Gingermom15

I agree that I couldn't leave him with a stranger right now, I don't think I ever could really. I couldn't imagine needing to leave him at a daycare center especially before he can talk. My sister is babysitting while I go back to work and I trust both mine and SO's family with Henry. I feel 6 weeks is so young to leave with Grandma overnight and I will miss him so much, but I could use a little bit of a break and Grandma could use some spoiling time. My parents have 8 kids and 5 grandkids. They have 32 years of experience under their belts, I'm cool with them.

kdoak2015

Kudos to you mommies.
I can't imagine anyone watching her at such a young age. I have no desire to leave her. I took the dog for a 20min walk this week and DH watched her but I don't plan on anyone watching her until I'm ready. I don't even know when that will be.

suchaglencoco

My mom has already been alone with our twins for an hour or two a few times. She has been a great help to us. She took shifts when they were in the nicu, then when one came home she'd stay with her so I could visit the other one in the nicu, she's been staying over for a few nights in a row to help with midnight feedings so dh can sleep for work and I can take naps in the day, it's been great.
DH's dad and step mom are coming next weekend to watch them for a few hours to spend time with them and to give us a night out. I'm very excited for that.
Honestly, I thought I'd be more "no one is watching my babies" but with how everything turned out, we definitely have needed the help and mental breaks.

That being said, no way would I trust a non family member with my children right now. Also, I am not returning to work so I don't feel like my time is limited with them to 6 or 8 weeks.

lwebley

We waited until almost 6 months with my first and we will probably do the same this time. We don't have family in town and I didn't go back to work until 6 months, so I think that changes things a bit in comparison to others. We did take him everywhere with us starting at 1 week old, so we still did a lot, we just brought him with us

beccabeeee

Luckily I'm EBF so that's my first and most important excuse for not leaving her with anyone especially this soon lol We won't be introducing the bottle until around 4-5 weeks. And second being that I'm just not comfortable with someone else watching her for more than an hour unless it's my husband and even then when I'm just running to get some food or cvs I rush home because I hate being away from her

taysun

I let my mother take her overnight at 3 weeks. I needed the break and SO and I were both sick. I'm pumping and supplementing so it was easier to be away from her. I missed her terribly but I felt really refreshed afterwards.

angelicac06

My mom watched my son for almost 2 hours while I went to get my nails done at 2 and a half weeks. I was so desperate to return to him that I avoided conversation with my nail lady to not prolong it lol. By 3 weeks she watched him while my spouse and I slept for a couple hours Christmas morning (we stayed the night at her house.)

momotheflyinglemur

MIL and hubby's godmom came over yesterday. Hubby was sleeping off taking care of baby all night and I left for an hour to get my hair cut. ONE HOUR, and I was mentally freaking out in the salon chair, checking my phone every two seconds, even though I knew that his dad was there and they were only "technically" babysitting. 

mbecca11

We left DD with my parents for about three hours the other night while we went to see Star Wars. We enjoyed ourselves but I was freaking out the whole time. Other than that the only other time I've been away from her is to run to the grocery store once, and I left her with daddy that time. I miss her everytime I'm away from her, even if we're just in different rooms. As tough as the nights are I think it'll be a good long while before I leave her overnight anywhere. & I definitely couldn't see myself leaving her with anyone else besides my family or SO's family.

Edited bc words are hard.

JulieK79

I would be fine having my mom or MIL watching DD (she's 5 weeks) but I haven't given her a bottle yet so I need to try that out first. DS is 2.5 years old and we haven't had anyone watch him except family. Some day I'll be okay hiring a babysitter but just not yet.

ColoradoHiker

We left DS with my in-laws at less than a week old do we could do some errands, and I could get out of the house. I had zero issues with this.

redfallon

@mbecca11 Before my 2-year-old dropped her naps, I'd miss her while she was taking her long afternoon one, even while enjoying the time to myself. Sometimes I'd sit and watch the monitor waiting for her to wake up.

mrsduncan32

I have no desire to leave my lo and he's currently 5 weeks and 2 days. I had quit my job during pregnancy due to high stress and knowing the hours I'd have after maternity leave wouldon't be worth what I would be making for the time away from our lo and now I'm not looking forward to finding a new position and have anxiety just thinking about leaving lo. I know he'd be in good hands with my mom but I am so not ready to be separated from him. My husband has said I could he a stay at home mom but I don't know if I could put that much pressure on my husband knowing he's the only bread winner.

KRH6829

My husband and I are going on our first date night in months tomorrow!!! We are having one of the teachers from my sons Montessori school watch both him and DD. DD will be going to the same school starting at the end of March. If you have already found a good school/daycare that you send lo too, you should if any of the staff there babysits. They have already passed background checks and are trustworthy.

Magnolia+Mama

I asked MIL to watch DD #1 for 2 hours around 7 weeks so I could ride my horse a couple days a week. MIL is amazing and is still the only person we trust, outside of our daycare providers, to babysit for us.

eliseandbaby

I let my mom watch her for s few hours when she was 4 days. But I'm struggling with ppd and couldn't be home

BellaM110

I left him at 2.5 weeks with my parents so my husband could take me out for my 30th birthday. I missed him the whole time!
Other than that one time I have had no desire to leave him.

He is a month old now My MIL on the other hand will NOT stop asking me to watch him and I keep telling her I'm not ready to leave him. Idk how many times I have to tell her no before she stops asking but it's driving me nuts.

Court11152325

I feel a little bit like a terrible mother, but I really don't mind leaving DD for a couple hours everyday. Granted I get to leave her with my mom. The only issue so far is that my mom is still trying to get pace feeding down, so we're trying out different bottles that work for her.

Having a little time to myself and to get work done makes me a better mom when I'm home. And I don't actually l leave everyday, but I do try to get out of the house by myself or with DH once or twice a week.