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?

From about 2 weeks. My sil would call round and take baby out in the pram and go to the coffee shop or park for a walk so that I could have some sleep and rest.

Well no one ever offered so it didn't happen. I think my stepson took my 5 year old in to town once.
I'd have been totally happy to let family take my kids once I stopped breastfeeding!

I wasn't lucky enough to have GPs / family members who ever offered in truth, but I wouldn't have been resistant to it at any age.
I mean, I do remember Grandma taking dc1 for a walk round the block in his pram at a couple of weeks old.

I suspect though, if you have "been resisting" it, there must be some concern about the abilities of the people offering to keep your dc safe ?

Like most things though, there is usually a compromise or way of building up to something like this. Have they babysat for you when your dc is asleep ? Or gone out on a trip / visit somewhere with you ? Or just taken them to the local park on their own rather than a whole day ? Would those thing hel convince you they can be trusted?

Not as early as some but I was breastfeeding, my mum probably first took my daughter out when she was 2.

Can’t remember but still baby age - 10 months or something.

what’s the problem?

Same, packed her off with a little bag and bottles, happy as Larry

at weeks old if I recall correctly

3-4 months for a couple of hours.

7ish months for a whole day.

3 is quite late, do you not trust them?

Both babies breastfed until 18 months so they didn't go too far without me until they were confidently eating solids so probably 9 months for more than 2+ hours away and I expressed

At 3 I'd be like 👋🏼 byeeeeeeeeee

Much younger than 3. I was there when my parents parented, lol, I wish I was as good as them at it!

I can't remember exactly but he was under 1.

Oh wow, wasn’t expecting this to blow up.

I should state that he is my only child, and he was born just before the first lockdown so we had him by ourselves for a long time.

I’m not sure why it makes me feel uncomfortable or if it even does any more. It could just be unfamiliar to me, and I think I will always find it daunting initially.

I don’t mind the idea of leaving him at his grandparents house for a few hours without us, but big days out worry me. We haven’t done either though!

My own family are abroad anyway so it would just be DP’s family.

You're all so lucky to have supportive family and friends around you,

My parents have never taken my kids to the park or even bought them a sweetie at the shop.

I’m not sure why it makes me feel uncomfortable or if it even does any more. It could just be unfamiliar to me, and I think I will always find it daunting initially
Why not just start off with a few hours and let them take him to the park or something. It is good for a child to socialise with family members and be familar with them.
It stuck in my mind when I had DS1 that I had a close relationship with both sets of grandparents and mum and dad could drop us off there anytime without a fuss from us- it was home from home. This came in usefull when my mum became ill when I was about 4 and she was in hospital for a long time. All the family mucked in to help dad out and because we had stayed at nan and grandads so often it was comforting. We had our own bedrooms there and pjs and toys so it was familar.

The longer you leave it, the longer it will take to have that relationship.

It was alway nice when my kids had been out with their nan and grandparents and they would rush back to tell me what they had been doing. At 3 it was usually jumping in puddles and kicking leaves although they did come back with nice cakes sometimes!

@notacooldad Sounds lovely!

We do take him up every week, or a couple times a week and his nan takes him off and they do their own thing together, just never off the property!

I will try something like you say.

Almost as soon as they offered, for our daughter she had been home about eight weeks when Grandma started taking her on short walks etc.

I love it when my sister takes my daughter! She was over 6 months cos she was Ebf till then... maybe 8?

And that's overnight too

With my now toddler, he was probably about 10 days the first time his grandparents took him out for a walk. The COVID hit so he didn't really go anywhere for a while but he would have spent time with them regularly. When he was 8 months old I went back to work and my inlaws had him twice a week and so took him all over the place from that point on, and still do. They also had him overnight from about 6 months.

About 8 months to go out, but they'd had them either at their house or ours by themselves around 3/4 months.

My mum looked after the children from a few weeks old and I have had my GD overnight every week since she was born.
Never an issue and everyone has benefited.

Eldest from about 1yo, second was almost 2 as I was heavily pregnant and needed some child free time. DD is 2mo and is going out with MIL on Friday for a few hours

Mine was a real handful at that age - so I only allowed my mum to, because I knew she would watch him very closely

My 6 month old went out for the day with his Auntie and Uncle at the weekend, he was happy going and coming back and we had a few hours out with friends . I’ve been leaving him with grandparents for a few hours since he was a couple of months old and they often take him out on walks. Only do it when you’re comfortable though.