Leaving the twins with family overnight?

I am in a wedding in another city in November. Seeing as we won't know anyone at the wedding it would be quite difficult on my DH to take care of the girls by himself (they will be one by then) by himself seeing as I am in the wedding party. We have discussed it with my Mom and I think we have decided that she will come stay at our house for two nights to take care of the girls so we can go to the wedding. It is a 5-hour drive away so we will be staying in a hotel for the two nights. I am already emotional about it. Up until now the longest I have been away from the girls is for 2 hours maximum.

So, when was the first time you left your babies with someone else (other than DH) overnight? Any advice apart from trying to sleep in!

 

I left my singleton over night the first time at 14 months but she was still night nursing. My babes are 10 months and just weaned. I am very excitedly planning and one night get-away soon!

 

My boys were a month old the first time they stayed over night at a relatives. It was my mom and dad of course. They stayed there every Friday night up until she began working again. Then, when they were 3 months old, I was admitted to the hospital for exhaustion, and had to stay 3 days, my mom was out of town so the boys had to stay with one of my SIL's.

 

when they were very young my mom took one each on separate nights so I could catch a little break...she finally just took them again last weekend and took both - she was nervous as anything and I couldn't wait - DH and I are going to Hawaii in September and my parents are taking them for the week we are gone so I told my mom she'd better get used to the idea!

 

They stayed overnight at my parents when they were about 5 or 6 weeks old, I believe. It started with my dad coming to pick them up for awhile so I could rest and later we could go see a movie. When he picked them up I just bawled, I was so exhausted and spent. Then they offered to keep them overnight. They've stayed at my parents overnight I'd say about 5 or 6 times since the nuggets were born, so my honey and I could have some alone time for dates and sleep and whatnot, or when both of us bartended the night shift (happened once.) No, I take that back, that night my dad just came to keep an eye on things until I got home at 2am. I don't want the boys to become too dependent on me or freak out too badly about staying over at my parents so we do it every once in awhile, plus, my parents love having them.

Honestly, that first time I bawled when they left, the second time I felt kind of sad, and now when my dad comes to pick them up I do a no-baby dance!!! Sounds terrible, doesn't it, and I love my boys so much, but I also love some me-time, even if it is just to clean the house in peace, or catch a nap ... and my honey and I so rarely get time alone together that we love it when the kids are gone. I think about them a lot and miss them and hope they are doing OK and having a fun time, but I realize that I need that time to my/ourselves as well.

Go to the wedding and have a good time! Reconnect with DH and take some time for yourself to swim in the pool, order room service, whatever! You'll miss your kids fierce, but trust me, you'll have a good time too.

 

Not yet at our house and they're 32 months. They still nurse at night and family would have a hard time filling that role! If you're not comfortable with it, bring your mom and have her stay at the hotel with your babes while you enjoy the wedding. Good luck!

 

I'll be leaving my twins with my Mum and her husband in August - they'll be 5 months old exactly. I'm not crazy about the idea, but I just don't think the babies would be any fun in a hotel not to mention the 5-hour drive. They like their own bed, their own surroundings, and their own schedule. My Mum has agreed to come here and stay with them. I think it's better for the babies - and since I'm not nursing it's doable.

 

We just had our twins out of the house for the first time last week. My mom took one, and my sister took the other, as neither felt comfortable with both yet. I might be horrible, but I was fine with it. Granted, my sister lives exactly 1 mile away, and my mom about 20 minutes, so we weren't very far. We dropped them off around 7pm and picked them up at noon the next day. It was just for me and DH to go to dinner and basically get a full nights sleep. The twins were 7 weeks old. I say get used to it as early as possible, it's only going to get easier. And the twins slept great! It was the first time either of them slept through the night. They never did that for us, and they haven't done it since! I asked my mom and sis if they wanted them every night! haha ...

As for advice, try and enjoy it. I make a promise to myself that I would only call and check on them once, and my mom and sis would call me if there were any issues...

good luck!

 

Our girls are 7 months old, and just last weekend my parents took our daughters for the night. When I went to kiss my girls good-bye, I started to tear up and my mom and dad all but ran out the door with them because they knew I was about to back out of the deal.

Anyway, it was great!! Although, I had to leave the house for a while right after they left. My hubby was still at work and I found myself going in and out of the girls' room not knowing what to do with myself. Shopping for a few hours cured that! We had a great time, and we will definitely have my parents take them again. I suppose for all involved, the first time will be the hardest and it will just get easier from there.

When my parents came to drop the girls off, I told them that we can do this every second weekend if they were up for it. My dad (looking totally bagged) said, "maybe every third."

~Jacey~

 

May 24th, 2007

My dh and I went out for our anniversary. They stayed at my sister's house overnight. We paid for it for 2 days because they were so off schedule and cranky. But that is okay, dh and I had a good dinner and the twins had fun with Aunt Silly and their cousins.

 

Unfortunately, it was when they were one month old. I had been sick and went to the emergency. I was admitted with severe pneumonia and stayed there for 10 long days. I freaked when they told me I was admitted. My first thought was "what is DH going to DO!??" Not only did he have the twins to take care of, but our 2 year old as well. It was just an awful situation. Thankfully, my sister in law helped quite a bit, but DH did manage somehow on his own. We don't have a lot of family, so it was difficult. Honestly, I was so sick that being away from them wasn't that hard, I knew I needed to get better. I think it also helped because now I've already been through the separation and know that we all survived, so it will be easier in the future, hopefully under less stressful circumstances.

Also, when I got home from the hospital, a good friend of mine watched the boys on 3 separate occasions for me overnight. Now *that's* a friend.

 

We had a wedding to go to when they were 3 months old and my parents took them overnight. About two months ago DH and I took an overnight trip into NYC to catch a little break and have some fun and DH's parents took them.
We took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Annapolis last month and took the babies with us for the 3 day trip and they did great on the car ride and in the hotel. Sleeping was a little funky, but they did better than I thought they would.

Have fun at the wedding, I think leaving them is harder on us moms than it is on the babies.

 

K&K were two months old when they first started sleeping at Nana's. They have gone one night a month since then with only one month exception (they are 5 1/2 years old now). You have some time, I would probably do some trial runs between now and then so they are used to it and so are you so you can actually have some fun at the wedding with DH!

 

We left our guys with my sister two weeks ago. They are 6 months. I really felt good about it! She had kept the boys before so I knew that she could handle it! Now I have to admit I did call quite frequently to check on them. Leaving them is really not a big deal for me. They were in the NICU for 9 weeks, so I was used to leaving them at the hospital. Plus I work during the day so I leave them with my MIL everyday. Maybe between now and November you try and take evenings with your DH and leave them with a babysitter. See if that will help get you adjusted

 

we left the babies overnight last sunday for the first time, with my parents. we went out for memorial day with friends and went home and got a little extra sleep...but since i'm bf i had to get up and pump anyways...i missed them, but the babies did really well and i hope we can do it again soon

 

They stayed at my mom's right before they were 4 months old for 2 nights. DS was admitted to the hospital and DH had to work so we had no choice. It will be a LONG time before they stay overnight without me again. DS stayed overnight with my mom (we lived with her then, so he still had his own bed and everything) when he was 2 1/5 months old. That's when DH and I got married and we stayed the night in a hotel. He didn't stay anywhere overnight again until he was at least 13 months.

 

Dave started sleepovers when he was 3 years old.... Emma and the twins have yet to sleep over at someones house. I can hardly find someone to watch my kids during the day let alone someone actually volunteering to watch them at night.

 

Hi Tamara...we actually did it at about 3 months old...I really needed the break. We've done it about 4 times in total. The only time I'm really nervous about is the weekend after Canada day...we are going to a wedding and my in-laws are taking them to the cottage for the weekend...2 hours away with no phone. My in-laws haven't had them in ages so they are spending the night with them next weekend for practice. Perhaps you can do some practice sleep-overs for the girls to get used to having nana look after them. Honestly, I miss them like crazy when they are away, but I love having some time to myself and not rushing around!

 

We left them for hours at a time every time someone can to town. We never had the opportunity to go anywhere overnight until they were 1.5 years old though. I'll admit there were a few times when I got a little homesick for them and I called about twice a day to check on what they were doing but Paul and I had a good time. And we slept in.