What age did you let family take your child out?

[Whathefisgoingon]

DS will be 3 soon and so far he has never been on days out with anyone without either myself or DP.

He does go to nursery 3 times a week so has time away from us too.

Grandparents and aunties/uncles are keen to take him on days out by themselves to “give us a break” and I’m sure spend some quality time, but until now I’ve resisted.

What age did you start this?

Had my kids abroad but both my parents and MIL looked after them occasionally for a day or over-night from a few months old. I remember my mum had my oldest for a day when she was 3-4 months and DH was working and I had a job interview in a different city.

I have atively encouraged my kids to have strong relationships with grandparents and aunts/uncles, I think it makes them feel more a part of a bigger picture/family. Not sure why you would keep them from forming individual relationships with others as long as you know they are not dangerous.

Ps my dd has autism and my mum is the only one who willingly looked after her, school i don't count as they have too!

I looked after my goddaughter when she was 2 when her parents went away, so not only did I take her out I also had her overnight so that Mum & Dad could have some fun. I drove a 500 mile round trip to do it, so they could have a break. Absolutely nobody thought this was odd, so I looked after her often after that, inc trips to the theatre, staying in London etc. She's now grown up, and we still have a good relationship.

Wow, we have barely any help but would love it! My parents can’t cope, they get too tired. They’ve had each of our older kids individually for a couple of nights, a couple of times, they’re 7&5. They can’t cope with them both so we have the other one at home, so not a break for us (they’re lovely kids, it’s not like they’re particularly hard work).
I used to go to my grandparents’ for a week or so at a time and they were older than my parents are. I used to go to my other grandparents’ for a night every week!
DH’s dad tried to take DS1 out for the day at age 2 ish a few times, but he is psychologically unstable so didn’t work and I wasn’t comfortable with it really!

Waiting for the drip feed for why you trust strangers over your family.

From birth. No issues as long as it was practical and I trusted the person. By age 3, my parents were taking mine on holiday for a week.

DD1 probably from about five or six months? DD2 will probably be about the same.

Nursery isn’t “strangers” for heaven’s sake, it’s qualified and regulated childcare. She’s not saying “No way to grandparents but yes to that random man spitting in the bin by the bus stop”.

For a full day when solids were really well established (about 11/12 months) then overnight was around 18 months.

What on Earth. Like a few weeks old my parents regularly take the kids for a few hours or the day. If the help is there accept it.

From 6 weeks. By 3/4 they were taking him on holiday for a week. Friends had him over night pretty regularly too.

No one ever offered or seemed to want to. So it was when they were in reception aged 5 the odd day during school holidays when we had to work. Prior to that they'd been at nursery when away from us.
I'd have killed for it. Or a sleepover. Never had those either.

My mum did the occasional day of childcare from about 1 year (12m). My parents probably took my eldest for a day out (I.e. fun trip, not because we needed childcare) from about 2/2.5 because we lived further away before that so it was trickier. With my youngest it was probably from 18m or so.

Ds is 11 and dd is 3, I'm still waiting.

DD is almost 4. My parents took her for walks on their own so I could rest from as soon as she was born. She wouldn't take a bottle so that was as long as we could push it at that point. Once she was reliably eating solids they would take her out for a few hours.

Covid messed up anything more for a year or more. She would then go on day trips with them and had her first sleep over at about 3 and a half. I'm sure it would have been younger if covid hadn't got in the way.

Apart from my parents though she doesn't go out much without us. DH's parents will take her to the park for an hour or so, or babysit when she's in bed but that's as far as they've been comfortable so far. DH's sister also had her for a few hours on her own recently for the first time and that went well. She lives a long way away so only see's DD a few times a year so this felt soon enough.

I think if covid hadn't been a thing she would have been out and about for longer with my parents much earlier.

It's all about what feels comfortable for you though.

A full day - not until ds started school at 4.

But I didn't trust ex's family and mine were too far away.

I have had my grandchildren from pretty much time they were born, just for a couple of hours between feeds at first and once they were no longer breast fed they stayed overnight and my home became their second home as I gave up my job to provide childcare.

9 months when I returned to work.

I never have (DD is 5) however an oft repeated story from my mum is that when my (older) brother was about 6 or 7, he was skateboarding outside the house, fell and cracked his head open. Rang the doorbell, my mum took one look at him, screamed at the sight of blood all over his face and in a panic slammed the door shut in his face. Luckily a neighbour was over at my mum's for coffee at the time and she sorted him out. My parents think its funny but my poor brother. I figure if they couldn't cope with an emergency when they were in their 30's they probably wouldn't cope now that they're in their 70's...

Eh? My mum cane to stay for a few days and took ds2 out, when he was a week old. Came back for a breastfeed. Do you have trust issues re mil, or chronic anxiety?

From very young, my family is quite close. Pretty sure had my niece from about 6 months

so many on here don't let family have them till 4+ which i can't imagine!

I had my DGS to stay with me when he was seven months old, so that my daughter and her husband could have a break.

I’ve been taking my dgc out since he was born, at first just walks so my dd could rest but now we go everywhere. I love spending time with him.