Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Ryan is nearly 18 months and it still makes me so uneasy to do anything that would prevent me from missing his bedtime routine. A) b/c I enjoy it and that's our time together B) I'm generally convinced no one will do it like I do

If we have an event (like a wedding) we've had DH's parents watch him for those occasions, and that I'm OK with b/c they have him on a fairly regular basis and I know he's very comfortable with them.

My mom has done it here and there but she has her own 4 yr old so I'd never ask her to leave her own kid at home so I can go out at night, just to watch mine. Sometimes she'll bring my little sister, but Ryan gets SO excited she's there, he is resistant to going to sleep/nap/whatever.

So, we'd like to get out for dinner a few times before #2 comes and I feel trapped. I have a few cousins who are responsible (age 15-16) that I could hire, but I still feel like I would need to do the routine and and then go out (8:30/9PMish).

Anyone else trapped in their house b/c they won't get a babysitter for bedtime??

ETS: I feel like the older he gets, the harder I find it to leave. When he was an infant and didn't really have a routine, I wasn't as nervous about it.

Message edited 9/11/2009 10:54:52 AM.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

DD is 17 months and I feel the same way. When visiting my mom I had no hesitation leaving her, but she did not go down as easily for my mom as she normally does.

I also want to go out with the hubby more before #2 arrives, but how I get around it is I like to go to dinner early-so we get home by 8 or 8:30 and then don't have to worry.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

We don't ever really go out so it's usually not a problem.

I think I would trust my mom, or ILs or sisters to put her to bed only because Kaydyn is pretty easy going and I don't think she'd really give anyone a problem.

My sister actually watched her in June b/c it was my nieces recital. I thought for sure she would still be up when I got home around 11pm because she was at my sisters and my nephews were there. Well lo and behold she was out cold on my sisters bed with my nephews.

I'm sure a couple of nights won't screw up his routine and it might be nice for you and DH to get out a bit. Why not try it one night and see how it goes and then you can decide from there?

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

No, it doesn't bother me at all! DD sleeps over at my parents house a few times a month.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Posted by Tine73

No, it doesn't bother me at all! DD sleeps over at my parents house a few times a month.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Posted by SweetCaroline

Posted by Tine73

No, it doesn't bother me at all! DD sleeps over at my parents house a few times a month.

I'm such a wuss.
DH's mom has asked a few times for us to leave Ryan there for a sleepover, but I haven't done it yet.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

It's not that I am hesitant to leave him with someone else in general, it's that he doesn't really know most of my family that well. The few times we have gone out, my sister has watched him, but he sees her more often than anyone else. We don't have grandparents or other family that is close enough or available to come to my house to watch him.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Posted by KateDevine


Just do it

Plus, you may want to do that once or twice after thenew baby comes and he will already be used to it, KWIM? Is that where he will be while you are in the hospital?

We miss Christopher when my parents have him, but its nice too,a nd he gets spoiled too

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

I too love bedtime, but if someone was offering me dinner and a movie, I would miss it quite happily!
I love it when I go to LI because my parents are so good at putting the kid to bed, and to be honest, Noah is a routine driven guy, but I always have to give him more credit because he does so well off routine also!

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Me! I can count on one hand the number of times someone other than me put DS to bed.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Posted by SweetCaroline

Posted by KateDevine


Just do it

Plus, you may want to do that once or twice after thenew baby comes and he will already be used to it, KWIM? Is that where he will be while you are in the hospital?

We miss Christopher when my parents have him, but its nice too,a nd he gets spoiled too

Kate - don't you know my ILs by now?
Nah, they'll be on vacation the 2 weeks surrounding my due date.
Right now we don't know what to do with Ryan when I have the baby. So long as I don't give birth in the middle of the night, DH will be home at night, and we'll have to sort out the day b/t my mom and whoever is our back up plan.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

I am. We're actually supposed to go to dinner and the NY Philharmonic tomorrow night and even though I have a babysitter 2x/week who DS really likes, my brother and SIL who live 5 blocks away and DS sees all the time, I wasn't comfortable asking either of them to watch (even though I know in my heart he will be fine).

I thought of not going even though they were very expensive tickets.

We ended up asking my mom to sleep over and babysit that night.

I know it's all me and that I need to start letting other people watch him but I feel exactly like you. I cherish our bedtime routine and my little mommy voice says no one else can put him to be like I do.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Jack goes to bed fairly early (7:15) so we usually put him down and go out after. There have been times that my parents do his nighttime routine and he goes down like a champ.

You should take advantage of this now before Baby #2 gets here!

Message edited 9/11/2009 12:40:59 PM.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Nope - no problems at all

Athan just stayed for 5 days with my mom (who watches him daily) while we were in Vegas and we leave him there 2-3 times a month since he was 1 month old if we have plans to go out, or if I have to work late, or if the weather is bad and I don't want to pick him up and take him out in it Yeah the first night back is kind of rough but my mom loves having him, he has fun being there, and we get time together to go out and just be a couple. But... I won't leave him overnight with anyone else but her.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Posted by Diana1215

Jack goes to bed fairly early (7:15) so we usually put him down and go out after. There have been times that my parents do his nighttime routine and he goes down like a champ.

You should take advantage of this now before Baby #2 gets here!

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Posted by Tine73

No, it doesn't bother me at all! DD sleeps over at my parents house a few times a month.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Posted by SweetCaroline

Posted by Diana1215

Jack goes to bed fairly early (7:15) so we usually put him down and go out after. There have been times that my parents do his nighttime routine and he goes down like a champ.

You should take advantage of this now before Baby #2 gets here!

The friends we were planning to go out with in a few wks offered to come to us and take-in, but I know I should actually try and leave the house!

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

Posted by SweetCaroline

Posted by Tine73

No, it doesn't bother me at all! DD sleeps over at my parents house a few times a month.

I'm such a wuss.
DH's mom has asked a few times for us to leave Ryan there for a sleepover, but I haven't done it yet.

Re: Anyone else with a toddler still hesitant to go out at night/leave with someone else for night time routine?

I don't mind missing the bedtime routine now and then, but we can't afford a babysitter very often and we don't have family nearby who can watch him at night. So when we do have a babysitter, I don't like leaving the bedtime to her since he doesn't know her well and gets excited about her being there. The last time we went out around bedtime he would not go to sleep for her, and we had a hard time getting him to go when we got home.

So, we either go out for an early evening before he goes to bed (which is nice during the summer), or we go after he goes to sleep.