I only ever go out VERY rarely, and on those occasions I try to shift DD2's routine forward an hour (or two if I can get away with it!) throughout the day so that I can put her to bed early and go out and enjoy myself. Last time DH and I went out, it was just to a friend's house for some quiet drinks, we said we might be late as we'd be putting DD2 to bed before heading over and they were fine with it - they don't have kids but their housemate does and so they know a lot about the limitations that being a parent puts on one's social life, and as they're looking at starting a family sometime soon they're always asking about how I do things and so they're learning more about gentle parenting methods etc, which they haven't been exposed to before, and they understand that it's not just a matter of 'so let the babysitter/grandparent put them to bed, so what if they cry, big deal' kwim?

I haven't been to a wedding/social function or anything like that since I had the kids, tbh, so I'm sorry I don't know how to handle situations like that... luckily we have our parents nearby so when DH and I want to go out, my parents come over/the kids go over there so they're with someone familiar who I know can get them back to sleep, kwim?

Hope you can work it out But if you can't... it's only for a short time. They grow up so fast and before you know it, your social life will be back and bigger than ever, as bub will become more independent and will go to sleep all on his own!