First time overnight

[EddChinasVagina]

How old were your babies when you left them overnight for the first time? There’s an event I want to go to and can’t shake the feeling of guilt for wanting to go as it would mean leaving my babies with my mum overnight.

Oh and just to clarify, the event isn’t imminent - it’s next year.

@ShoeOnTheOtherFoot yes, without either parent. Sorry, I didn’t word the OP very well.

Go with whatever you feel comfortable with. It's absolutely fine to leave them with trusted family and friends but it's equally valid a choice not to go away overnight. I can't remember how old my older children were when I first left them - I think around 2 and 4. My youngest I might give it a go next year when he is 5. x

Mine was eleven months. I went to London with my sister for the weekend. He was left with his dad though, not the extended family.

Easier said than done but don't feel guilty. Whenever you feel ready is the right time.

Dd is 2y & 2m and we've not left her overnight yet. Dh has been away a lot with work but she's never been away from me overnight. We've got a night with grandma scheduled for next year when we attend a wedding.... I'm half excited and half dreading it!

It also depends how much you LO sees of your mum so how comfortable they are together and whether you are confident and she is.

My DD and her DH wanted to go somewhere overnight but it was only 20 minutes away. Baby was 5 months and EBF.

We did a dummy run when they went out a couple of weeks before and I gave DGC expressed milk and they came home at midnight.

We see LO most days so it wasn't a big deal. It went fine, DGC took the milk from me and slept four hours at a time.

DD and her DH turned up by 9am as they missed their baby and she was desperately uncomfortable despite expressing and throwing away!

They'll be with your mum, who they presumably know and are familiar with. Also presumably you're happy with her standard of care for them, so I'm not sure what there is to worry about or feel guilty about?

Thanks everyone. My boys would be 5 months old when the event comes. They’d stay with my mum who they see all the time, so are really familiar with her. Only feeling guilty as it seems too early to think about leaving them overnight but it’s quite a way away and would need to book tickets now. I’ll hate it as I couldn’t stand leaving my cat for a night the first time I did that!

My ds is nearly 8 and has only ever slept overnight with me or his dad!

DS is 17m and I haven't yet, not even with DH. He's still breastfed in the night though...

There's a conference I want/need to go go in 2 months though, so i'll probably leave him for a night or two then

My DS was 10 weeks and stayed with my mum, he has done every other week since. She only sees him once a week because we live in different towns so she wants the quality time with him and I'm happy for the night off! He seems to love it, gets very excited when he sees her!

@EmmaJR1 I’m quite glad I’m not the only person not waiting a long time, not that there’s anything wrong with the amount of time anybody else has chosen to wait but I felt like waiting only 5 months would be seen as too soon.

I guess it depends on each individual and there’s no right or wrong answer but good to see what others think

You have to feel comfortable- no point otherwise, you wouldn't benefit from the break. You'll only feel happy if your baby is happy so really the age of the baby isn't relevant. My sister really struggled with her baby and lack of sleep and pnd so my mum has him twice a week at least and one of those is over night and that's been happening since he was 3-4 weeks old. He is formula fed so it's easy to feed him and he ADORES my mum. He's 8 months now. Just see how you feel.

I left my DD with her grandparents over night at 6 months old

Mine was overnight with a maternity nurse (in a Granny flat in our house) two nights a week from 2-12 weeks.
Then the same maternity nurse stayed the weekend while we went to a wedding 3 hours from home when she was 8 months old.
We went to Barbados when she was 14 months and my parents came to stay and take care of her with the same maternity nurse.
Every time I missed her but the breaks also did me the world of good and she wasn't bothered at all

All mine slept out at grandparents after about a month! Purely so I could get a bit of sleep however they literally only live round the corner so could have come home at any point. My ds was born in the April and in the July me and dh went to Dublin for the weekend so I suppose that's the 1st time I left him were I was unable to go get him if needs be.
I suppose it depends on you and your baby . Luckily for me my babies all slept through the night from around 2/3 months and were bottle fed too so it was quite easy to leave them early on. Had I been breast feeding or they didn't sleep well it could have been a different story.
I personally don't understand why some donr allow their children to sleep over at grandparents, they have looked after a baby before and assume done a good job of it if we're alive to tell the tale. Now my children are older they regularly ask to sleep out at grandparents house they love it it's the norm for them

We left ds with my sister at 4 months. She saw him regularly, I trust her implicitly, hewas sleeping through and she only lives 5-10 minutes away. Me and dp went out and had a great time! Got less sleep though as I had 3 glasses of wine which rendered me pissed so I didn't pump when I got home and woke up at 3 am covered in milk!