To ask if you take your children out alone

[ijustdontcareifhedid]

I don’t mean to the park or soft play, more big days out.

YABU yes

YANBU no

Similar ages and similar problems! Can’t get one in the pram but also refuses to walk - joyous!

Pre-school yes I did for the oldest and youngest. The 2 middle ones not so much.
Oh, I misread. I thought you meant one on one. Still not that often. Sometimes though.

It's just practice. We first went for a "big" day out (zoo and farm park) when my oldest had just turned two and my littlest was a week old. And have been doing it regularly ever since. Pick somewhere you know relatively well and don't worry if things go pear shaped. You've got all day to get it back on track x

Luckily our jobs mean we are off work at exactly same times so we tend to go out as a unit but my OH goes abroad each year in their own so I do half term by myself
both my kids are hard work with additional needs so it is always nice to have additional help

why do you ask ?

It depended on their age and the activity. For example, I didn't take 3 children under 5 swimming alone, but I did when they were all over 10.

I used to take my two out for the day, holidays in the UK and abroad. All on my own. Didn't occur to me not to.

I mean, mine are teens so obviously yes, but Indid when they were tiny too. Maternity leave would have been hell if I had never left the house!

At this age I'd just do whatever is easiest for you. You're in the trenches, so don't feel pressure that you "should" do anything. If the trips out are enjoyable or easier than being at home then have at it, if you find it stressful then don't bother and just become very well acquainted with the local park.

Yes lots, I worked pt when the kids were young so always out and about the 3 of us, sometimes with a friend and their kids, sometimes alone, soft play, beach, pool, muséums, hiking, cycling, skiing, holidays and flights.

I think if you always do it then you just adapt, we had little techniques to manage for example if I had to go to the toilet and couldn't find one that would fit à pram, I would stand the kids outside and we would sing together - annoying for other users but I could hear them and knew they were safe and it's just à minute to pee.

The only problem I ever had was at Gatwick airport. Youngest was a baby plus 4 year old. I was carrying the baby a changing bag and 2 large cabin bags, 4 year old walking and I fell down the escalator, ripped all my jeans and leg underneath, 4 year old was at the top of the escalator crying, me, ds and bags in a heap at the bottom and people were just stepping over me!! After that I took only one small backpack for the 3 of us, everything else in the hold.

Yes, usually (three of them). My husband is much more introverted and often prefers not joining.

Er, yes I was a single parent for about six years so if I hadn't done we'd never have left the house.

When my children were little - 18 months and up I used to take them out to the Huntington botanical gardens, Getty Center, Kids Space (a children's science centre), parks, the Queen Mary, and museums regularly. The only place I found a problem was restaurants because I couldn't leave one in their seat while I took the other to the toilets, and if I took both I was worried the waiters would think I was skipping without paying the bill. We got around that by going to cafes where I paid for the food up front or we took picnics.

There’s only me, so always have done - days out, theatre, restaurants, mini break and hols - we love them and why would you not go?

Yes, all 3 on regular camping breaks and days out to the theatre in London etc😄.
One is autistic. You just have to be organised and fairly good at setting and maintaining some rules.

Yes, all 4 of them.... isn't that normal?

DH’s business operates mostly at weekends and during the summer (wedding related), so when mine were young I had to.

The YHA, and tents, were my greatest friends!

Have confidence in yourself OP, is someone telling you that you won't manage?

Yes, husband is sometimes away at the weekend. I have two crazy boys under 5 so I caveat this by saying I have to make sure I get a good nights sleep and get myself ‘in the zone’ to manage it though!

Yeah I do all the time

toddler and baby

we have a Merlin pass and I only work 4 days so we go to all sorts of attractions when it’s quiet on a midweek day

I’ve taken them both on 2 separate trips away alone (once to Dublin and once on the Eurostar to Paris)

was determined not to waste my maternity leave sitting at home

I think I’m lucky that my toddler is really good and never runs off and has no issues sitting on the buggy board and listens to instructions and knows to hold the buggy or my hand when I say

this might get more difficult when the baby is walking though

You get used to it. And the kids get used to listening to you, if you are the sole adult (SEN excepting of course). I had five kids, was a lone parent, two with degrees of SEN (one a bit prone to wandering off) and I took them out a lot, but I tailored the locations. When they were small we didn't go swimming for example but would go for long (to the kids!) walks in the countryside with a picnic.

Of course. My DS is an adult now but when he was younger, we took different time off during school holidays and both took him out to various places on our own.

I took him to Harry Potter studios, Whitstable and Beaulieu while his dad was at work and they went several places without me.
In fact, they did quite a few football away trips and I stayed at home. It’s pretty normal I’d say

I have a 2 and a 4 year old and I pick the places I take them if I'm on my own. They are both a bit rogue and will run off, grab things they shouldn't, not do what they're told etc. 2- year old will refuse to walk a lot too. It's too much and not enjoyable to manage this outside somewhere contained like softplay, park, museum. So I do that kind of thing with them and do days out as a family, I do hope when they're more like 3 and 5 they will be a bit more reasonable and we can be more adventurous when it's just us.

People are odd. I'm retired and get praised for being 'brave' just because I travel alone and independently with my backpack!

There are just a lot of very anxious people around who can't imagine coping with life on their own.

Of course I do.

I’m always baffled by adults that have never taken their kids out alone and wouldn’t dream of going somewhere even like shopping without someone else with them.

Depends where. I have a 5 year age gap between my two so for theme parks etc we really need an adult per child. Now that my older one is a confident swimmer, I'll take them both to bog standard swimming pools by myself - I can stay with the toddler and have the older one in sight. But I won't do water parks for example without an adult with each child. Most other places though I'll take the two of them - they amuse each other and the older one is quite helpful so it's often easier with both.