When do you stop waiting up for them?!

[Bungle1985]

Dd is 17, she’ll be 18 in March.

Quite and active social life at weekends/school holidays.

I can’t sleep til I know she’s home safely. Pretty tiring when I have to get up early for work or other commitments. If I know she’s coming home with a friend then that’s slightly better 🤣
She gets an Uber home if it’s v late.

Honestly, my mum still waits up to hear when me or my siblings get home (if we're out at night) and we're all in our 40s....
You never stop being a mum.
You always want to know they're home safe
❤️

My mum never waited up for me. It probably puts pressure on your daughter and stops her properly enjoying herself

About 18 but I ask her to text when she's in so if I wake up in that night I don't have to go in and check 🤣

That’s what I used to do. They’ve moved out now but still text me to tell me they’re home safely when they’ve been out. I don’t ask them to, they’re just in the habit.

I don't wait up on purpose. I go to bed and try to sleep, but I will really only doze until I know they are back home. I'd love to sleep properly. They are 21 and 24....

DS is 19, I don’t wait up but end up only dozing until I’ve seen he’s home on the ring.

He now works shifts and I’ve only just found myself able to sleep while he’s working.

I think it gets easier when they drive themselves and if they're of the 'do not drink' type of teen.

I found it hard at first but I just kept trying (to sleep before teen DS came home), and eventually I could. It takes practice and mental self soothing but it's not easy. As soon as I woke in the morning I'd rush to him room to check he was there! Annoying if you wake up for a wee, they're still not home and you have to do it all again 🙄

I live at home till I was about 26 and my mum still waited up for me 🙊 went to go stay at hers one night after a night out as it was closer…she waited up for me…I’m nearly 40 🥹 don’t think that ever goes away.

My son is 17 and I’ll go to bed when he is out but I never fall into a deep sleep until I hear his key in the door. As others have said I do ask him to text me to let me know he is home then I don’t have to get out of bed if I haven’t heard him come home!

I fall asleep if he's out but always wake up an hour or two later and check he's home. I couldn't stay awake until midnight/1am or whatever.

I saw someone say their teens had an alarm clock in their room and set it for the time they were expected to be back. As soon as back the switched it off. Sooo if it was silent parents could sleep easy knowing they were back. But also they knew they would be woken by the alarm if there was a problem and kids were not back when they’d expected to be.

When they are away at Uni!

😆 never! You don’t stop being a parent when they turn 18?? Mine are 23 and 18 and I still worry about them, wait up (or sleep lightly!) till they get home, check they got to where they’re going safely if it’s a long drive or flight etc. They’re my children, they always will be, and a mother is a job for life not just for the first 18years. In a strange way, during lockdown when they were all at home with me, I was at my most relaxed!

I was fine when they were at uni - didn't know they were out in the first place!

Do you actually wait up for them or just stay awake.
I didn’t stay up for mine unless I was giving them lifts as I’m awake late anyway and they were never doing anything that I’d have worried about. They knew they could always call if there was ann emergency and I’d have my phone next to me in bed.

Mine would message me when they got home from the age of about 16. I'd usually wake at about 1 to check.

I had a curfew of 11pm until I left home in my early 20s because my mum said she couldn't sleep properly until I got back and so it wasn't fair for me to stay out later 😒

I go to bed when mine is out but don't sleep properly until I hear the key in the door. I've found it one of the hardest parts of parenting as nothing really prepares you for it. I sleep well when they are at Uni though.

Ds is 18. I don’t wait up but I can never sleep properly until he’s home - 5am today!

However he was in Uni halls at 17 so obviously I had no idea when he got in then.

I don’t wait up but I don’t sleep deeply until she’s in and she’s 21 so I don’t think it’s goes away. She doesn’t know this of course!

I don't wait up, mostly because DS18 has been spending about 50% of his nights out at his GF house rather than here so waiting up would be pointless. I do ask him to message when he gets home so when I do stir in the early hours I can see he is safe but often he forgets. I comfort myself with the fact that by 16 I had moved out and since that day my parents have never known where I was or what I was doing so DS is considerably safer than I was at the same age.

I hear the front door close so I know she’s in. They’re not the quietest after a night out! 🙄

The pressure of knowing she's going home to a warm safe place to someone who loves her enough for independence but also to make sure she's safe

Poor kid there must be a link to her go find me out there somewhere

I think it's one of those things that you always do

My brother was out with his friends while visiting our parents the other week and my mum didn't sleep properly till he got back in

Think it's what good mum's do lol

I have DS 16 and 19. I always stay up til DS 16 is home, I might be in bed, but reading or whatever until he's in. His curfew is 11 unless at a party, and if at a party, I would be staying sober and available to pick him up if needed.

For DS 19, he of course has no curfew but I don't sleep well til he's in. It's harder to sleep when I have an early start as I seem to worry more, weekends I let him get on with it.
Love to hear the key in the door though.