Parents- do you think one parent should always be sober if you have young children?

[Tattted123]

I have a general view that one parent should be sober when there is young children at home, preferably no drink on board in case of an emergency. My brother think that’s ridiculous and thinks nothing of getting drunk with his wife while the kids are in bed.

What’s your views on this?

I don't take risks with my kids but I also don't live my life around "but what if they need to go to A&E?!". I don't drink much anyway, but I do sometimes take my kids hiking or camping, there is no phone reception there. Sometimes we've been on holiday to other countries where medical treatment isn't as good as at home, or is a boat ride away. Flying on a plane, same thing, you could be hours away from medical help. That's just life.

Yes agree OP. Fingers crossed we haven't had many late night A and E trips but not being able to get help because I was drunk would be horrific and I would be utterly ashamed.
There are probably loads of high functioning alcoholics people who say they can't relax /have fun etc without alcohol and people like me are wet but I give no fucks. I'm not bothered about drinking so don't miss out and my family have a layer of security knowing that they are looked after and we are available 24/7.

I think one (both) parents should be capable of making a sensible decision I.e. calling cab or phoning a doctor, but I don't think there's any need to spend your children's whole childhood stone cold sober.

I don’t see the problems with a couple of drinks but I do with passing out drunk. Taxis, the tube, asking a friend or neighbour to drive are perfectly acceptable if you’ve had too much to drive and need to get to hospital. The reality is, it’s very rare to need to take your child to hospital after they’ve gone to bed for the night unless either your child is already unwell or your child has underlying health conditions and then I would always avoid drinking to be able to drive.

If it’s enough of an emergency that you need to go immediately to hospital, then it’s also probably enough to call 999 to assess if an ambulance is required.

Someone needs to be able to drive or deal with an emergency so yes, really.

We never did this - its not like either of us ever gets very drunk, but if it was that big an emergency there'd be ways around driving given we're in London and taxis/Uber easily at hand. Might be different somewhere more isolated.

It was my policy.

Yes, unless you've made other childcare arrangements. Even if you get a taxi it would be embarrassing at best to turn up in A&E drunk in charge of a sick or injured toddler.

I'm a single parent, should I never have a drink?

I don't get drunk but I absolutely have a couple of drinks at the weekend and have always done since I stopped breastfeeding. I don't own a car so that makes no difference. If there was a medical emergency I'd call an ambulance.

@Hummingbirdcake

Someone needs to be able to drive or deal with an emergency so yes, really.

So people who can't drive can't have children (or babysit)?

We’re not big drinkers so not really an issue here. I’m happy to have a few drinks, like on New Years eve we had friends over & had a few drinks. But we weren’t “out of it” and would still have been able to deal with DC if they had woken up.
I definitely wouldn’t get hammered while responsible for DC, but then I’m past that stage of my life & so is DH thankfully !

Tipsy and merry absolutely fine in my book! Passed out or totally incoherent, which we haven’t really done since uni, is totally different and it should pretty obvious that both parents shouldn’t be in such a state at the same time. Stone cold sober sounds ridiculously OTT, if anyone in RL actually does this I’m yet to meet them. And I’d get a taxi to the hospital if required, we live in London so there are always taxis.

YABU of course there is a happy medium between completely sober and black out drunk.

Me and DH often drink on a Friday or Saturday night. No one gets blind drunk, just a bottle of wine or two. DC aren't very young, don't get up at night etc. I don't necessarily agree someone should always be able to drive?! After a baby sleeps through the night and is no longer being breastfed I don't really see an issue to be honest.

Not sober but in a fit state to act and react properly to any situation or emergency.

I wouldn't drink if my child was already unwell but an occasion where they got so ill overnight that they needed medical attention is quite rare. I wouldn't deliberately get so drunk I was sick or passed out but that would apply with or without children in the picture.

Agree 100%