Does your DH take your 15(ish) month out alone?

[taIao]

If so, where does he go and how long for etc?

DH has never taken our DD out without me, manly because I’ve always been breastfeeding.

However, it occurred to me the other day that DD obviously manages a full day at nursery with some expressed milk so surely I could send DH out with the same!

Just to give me a bit of alone time to catch up on some household jobs that have needed doing for about 15 months haha.

Looking for experiences as to what others do? Thank you.

Yes DP often takes DD to soft play if I have things to do, he’s taken her to carnivals and air shows in the summer and even just to the shops if that’s what he needs to do. Parks in the summer.

Yes, from when they were tiny (and I’ve had two that were breast-obsessed until at least 2).

He takes them wherever I would take them. Park / museums / soft play / shops.

At over one they don’t need constant access to you!

The park, walks, the supermarket, frequent trips to B&Q - anything! I was breastfeeding until 15 months but it really wasn't an issue once she was eating solids.

Yes, to the in-laws mostly!

He would take them wherever he wanted to. Sometimes it’d be the park or soft play, sometimes it’d be the supermarket. He basically did whatever I would do when I was with them.

I think it’s so important for parents to have that time alone with the children. We still make time for it now that our girls are older.

This is INSANE! Apart from the fact you absolutely should have time to yourself, they will never develop a good independent relationship if you are always there. That’s not fair on either of them and is what often results in Dads feeling shut out.

To answer your question, with both my DC, I went back to work when both my DC were 9 months old and my DH then had 3 months paternity leave with each one (public sector employer). I breastfed before work and before DC bedtime and they had either expressed
milk or water the rest of the time. DH has a great relationship with both DC, and neither of us has ever been the “default parent”.

They have an absolutely fantastic and loving relationship together and I love seeing it develop.

Ok thanks all it seems I need to get this thing on the road! I will suggest it today!

DH was doing a day’s childcare at that age whilst I was at work and yes, I was BFing too. They’ll be fine

No not at that age, we'd go out for trips as a family every weekend but I never asked him to go out without me and I was happier maximising time spent together. He would have gone out with DC if I'd asked.
DC wasn't in nursery at that age and was still breastfeeding and I didn't express. I got jobs done in the evening while they were asleep (and I put off any big noisy jobs until they started nursery at age 2).

Ah, DD is a contact napper so I’ve never been able to do any jobs while she sleeps!

Despite being breastfed for 17 months (DD1) and 2.5years (DD2) DH was able to take them out independently from a few weeks old. Just timed it around feeds.

My husband took our little ones swimming. I hate it but it’s a practical skill they both needed to learn. They all had a lot of fun (he was limited physically but a good swimmer and much more mobile in the water).

I was back at work at when ds was 6 months and dh looked after ds 1 day a week. I was out the house 8am -5pm so yes

DH started taking DS to a Dad's stay & play group that our local children's centre run every other weekend from around 10 weeks old (& DS was EBF - I fed before they left, worst case scenario was that DH would come back early if he was hungry but it only happened a couple of times). DS is 3.5 years now and they still go regularly.

My biggest tip is to make your DH responsible for getting ready & packing the change bag before any solo outings too - he'll probably forget wipes or something at some point (as we have all done!) but muddling through & finding a solution made DH more confident in his abilities to manage in future. My DH has ADHD so we had a few "forgot something" moments but nothing insurmountable.

Yes he's been working 4 days a week with one day off to be with DC since DC1 turned 1, also did 3 months shared parental leave when DC2 was 9-12 months. I fed in the morning, when I was back from work, bedtime, night time... Also usually had one bottle of expressed milk when they were younger. They ate lots of food!

In terms of what they do, similar to what I would do - play area, bus into town, library, soft play, swimming, Dunelm cafe (kids eat free), garden centre, zoo...

Thanks all. We will find some time in the week for it!

My DS is 16 months and because I had to go back to work at 6 months (we live abroad, mat leave is 4 months), I've fallen into the trap of wanting to spend every minute outside of work with DS which is wrecking me. I have started sending DS and DH out every weekend early morning for a walk so I can have a coffee in peace.

My husband took my children out within days of birth . Maybe only for a couple of hours but it saved my sanity .
SIL took newborn over to his mother’s house in the pram to give my daughter a rest ,just for a short time regularly.

Surely he can do the same as you if you take DD out alone.

I BF both of mine until 3. DH took them out as a newborn between feeds to give me breaks. He would walk DD around and around to try and help settle her on sweltering hot evenings. At your DCs age he would take them out on errands with him, on the trike, to the park etc to give me a break and would take days off with them whilst I was at work. I left them overnight with him from 2ish.

Also, breastfeeding doesn't have anything do with it at this stage, surely? I'm still BF my toddler too but it's a morning/evening/snack thing, and they can go without.

Yes, DS was breastfed until he was almost 2, but once he was about a year old (probably even younger) DH would take him out quite often. He fed at reasonably regular times so we were able to work around that, and by then he was able to have regular milk or water the odd time anyway, and he was eating, so he’d take yogurts or something a bit liquid so that drinking wasn’t a huge issue.

They’d go to a park or something usually; when he was a bit older they spent a lot of time in B&Q because DS was obsessed with lawnmowers and would spend ages looking at them 😂

He did, most often the pool.

DS5 is 4mths and breastfed and DH has gone out with him in the sling DS 4, 21mths, in the buggy and the 2 10yr olds leaving me with DS3 who's 9 as he's not feeling too good - which is understandable when you eat a block of ice-cream for breakfast🙄
He's gone to the beach which also has a playground beside it that they love and will pick up coffees and pastries on the way home.

Of course, and it’s actually a very strange question. Of course one and either of the two parents can and should be taking a child out on their own, and should have hundreds of times already.