How old?

This has probably been done before but was just wondering how old your little one was before you left them with someone for a while?

My little miss has just turned 1 and everyone thinks i've done more harm than good not leaving her with other people... I just haven't felt comfortable enough to leave her. I'm starting to try to talk myself into leaving her with someone for like 15minutes - half an hour so DP and i can go have coffee somewhere close so if she or i fret we can go pick her up. But i just dont think i'm ready to leave her...

Both mine were over a year old before I left them with anyone. it doesn't harm them staying close to their parents while they are so young.
Even now I don't leave them reguarly. I leave them at CC and with my sister but that's about it. DH wanted me to leave them with the ILs today but when I asked the boys what they thought Yasin said no and Imran cried so I didn't do it.

ROFL Brontide, can't say I blame him on that one ;)

My eldest was probably 7mths when we left him with anyone for the first time as we had a function to go to and he was better off being looked after than being there as it was a formal dinner with loud speeches (he loathes loud noises). If you don't have any need to leave her, or more to the point, don't want to leave her then that's OK. But if you aren't 100% ready then maybe wait a while, because when you do eventually do it, you don't want to spend most of the time on the phone to her carer making sure she is OK. And she wont suffer from not being let with anyone either.

Harry got left with someone for the first time in January just gone - so almost 3yo. I was staying at my mum and sisters and at this point in time, my family are the only people I trust with my kids.

Not done him any harm and he gave them no grief about mum and dad leaving. We were gone for about an hour tops for my birthday. I dont like leaving people with all 5 of my kids. It just feels like I am asking way too much of them.

umm my youngest was 7 months coz i went back to tafe so he was at daycare i remember for my oldest two but if you have no need then why would you...

dont feel bad you just have to do what you feel is best

DD1 was left for a full 12 hour day (FDC) from the age of 5 months when i returned to work 2 days a week.

DD2 started at age 8 months but my then i was back home not working and they both now only go 7 hours 2 days a week

Ive left them for 2 nights at a time when IL's came to visit and DH and i went away for a weekend.

I left DD1 with my brother for an hour when she was 10 days old! (he was 21) I have left DS from quite a young age with his older sister cause she is very reliable and sensible but not really with many people except his FDC (from 8 months) I have never left him overnight and he is nearly 3.

DD was 2 weeks old - she had a sleep over at BIL's house while we we removing mould in the house. She has been left numerous times with family over her 4 yrs.
DS was about the same I guess. MIL offered to take him over night so I could have a sleep in LOL (They live upstairs, our house is a duplex) I also leave him often with family when I have things to do which are alot easier without kids in tow.

My IL's offer to take them alot so I take them up on it. The kids LOVE it & it gives me some time to myself. I do miss them when they're not with me though.

Each to their own. I wouldn't change the way I've done it.

DS never been left yet.

He will be left for 2 hrs next weekend with a close friend of mine while we go out for dinner for our anniversary!!!! But i was very strict to DH that it would be my mum or this friend only (other friends i trust to look after him have own kids and to far away)

When DD was 6 weeks old, I left her with my parents for 3hrs to attend a friend's birthday. I figured if they managed to raise me then I could trust them ;)

I spent the entire party teary eyed and trying to avoid conversations about her so that I wouldn't completely break down. Of course, it was the first time I had seen a lot of these friends since giving birth so basically everyone wanted to talk about her.

At around 4 months my son was left with my parents for about 5 hours. I was amazed how little I worried about him. I thought I'd stress the whole time, but I didn't. I knew he'd be fine with them.... afterall they brought my brother & I up so they know what they are doing.

At 7 months he went to day care full time. I was very happy with my choice of day care so again didn't worry too much about him... think about him lots but not worry about him.

Thanks heaps guys, good to see i'm not as "crazy" as everyone is making out i am... if i left her it would only be with my mum or my dad

I only leave my DD and DS with my mum & Dad as they are the only people I feel comfortable with.
You need to be happy with leaving her or she will pick up on your vibes and be unsettled too! There is no rush you do it when you are ready and not a second before.
I love how people like to tell us what we should be doing, many people like to comment to me about only leaving my children with my mum and dad, but that is my choice to make as a parent and I'm sticking to it:)

I'm glad to read this thread. There are very few people I trust with looking after DS and my hubby can make me feel like I am little crazy.

One night we had a neighbour girl look after him. It was easy- we put him to bed and all she had to do was sit and watch telly in case he woke up. When we came home, the lights in his room were blazing and he was up in the lounge with the sitter! I freaked out. DH was like "oh, she just needs to learn how to do it". I practically screamed "well, she's not learning on my child!!". DH really made me feel like I was over-reacting....maybe I was, but it just confirmed my opinion that I really only like my mum looking after Peter. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Guys, you all really arent crazy. Seriously. Stop sweating the little stuff. Everyone has their own way of doing things - and that is within their comfort zone. Our way needs to be in our comfort zone too.

DH is well aware of the fact that my comfort zone with our kids is us or my family - and I wont leave them all with my family unless they have offered and the occassion warrants it - then it wont be long.

They are my babies. I had them. They are my responsibility. I have to keep them safe, I have to protect them. I am raising them because that is what I chose to do. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and my kids are not suffering because of it. They have school and Harry has a tuesday play group - that I go to with him. He is interacting, he has had mum go off by herself, and dad go off to work. So when we both left, and he loves his grandma kav - there was no problem at all.

Never let anyone make you feel like you are doing the wrong thing by being responsible for and protecting your child. Ever!

My DS is 20 months and he hasn't been looked after by anyone besides DH and I.

I am thinking I might have to leave him with mum for a bit soon though so it isn't a shock when I have to go to hospital to have the new baby.

The first time DD was left alone with someone other than family was for a couple of hours just after her first birthday, so DH and I (and my parents, who would have looked after her if they weren't going as well) could focus on DH's mum's funeral rather than wrangling our energetic toddler. We dropped her off at a close friends' house (DH's best mate's partner, who I became very close to during our pregnancies - she has a little boy 8 weeks older than DD and they're good mates so we spend lots of time together and she's comfortable with them) and I had no problems with that as, like I said, we have spent lots of time together since being pregnant at the same time, I have seen and quite approve of the way she parents her little one so my only concern was that DD would be a PITA and drive my poor friend up the wall!! (It was all good though, DD had decided she wasn't going to eat that day and my friend was really worried when we came to pick her up that she had missed a bottle, but DD does that often and just makes up for it later - especially when she's too busy playing, as she would have been with her little friend lol.)

But, long before that, DH and I lived with my parents when DD first arrived and I would often leave her with mum and/or dad for a few hours (or 'overnight', mum would pop DD's bassinette in their room and let DH and I get some uninterrupted rest, DD was on EBM and formula, so mum could do feeds no problems) to either get some sleep or to get out and about on my own... I think the first time I really 'left' her with mum was when DH and I drove up to Rocky for the afternoon (about an hour away from where we live) to go get new tattoos lol, DD would have been maybe 2 or 3 months old? No problems there either, I knew DD was quite comfortable as we all lived there, all her stuff was in our room/the fridge so there would be no emergencies, and I trust my parents to not screw up hahah :D

So I've been comfortable with leaving DD from pretty early on, I don't think I would leave her with a stranger (eg babysitter I don't know personally) yet and she's now 22 months, but I have always felt fine leaving her with my parents, my mum is more like Mum #2 rather than Nanna sometimes lol... I'm okay with leaving her with friends but I do worry that it's inconvenient for them (DD is a 'handful' on a good day lol) so I have only taken that option once or twice, when I was truly, truly desperate. She goes to daycare one day a week and I'm quite happy with that, too, as it allows her to interact with other kids her age.

But, if I didn't feel comfortable doing things the way I do them, I simply wouldn't - I don't think there's a right or wrong way to feel about it. Whatever you feel good about is the best thing for you, kwim??

I've rarely left DD and usually someone has come into our home so she has been in a familiar environment.

It is/has not done her any harm at all. Infact, DD is very outgoing and is not scared of strangers at all so I don't fall for the line that they have to be left with people to get used to new people for socialisation.

DD is mega-friendly and has been handed around on trains, toddles up to people in cafes, waves to people walking past us in the street, insists on playing peek-a-boo with every checkout chick, ran back down the footpath yesterday to give the next-door neighbour a kiss, runs into other neighbours' gardens who she's never met and starts dancing for them etc. etc.

^ Lol mine's the same, I think that's part of what makes me more comfortable about leaving her for short periods of time - I know that she is really outgoing and isn't terribly fazed when Mummy isn't around, provided she's with someone she trusts. All kids are different, and if DD was a bit less outgoing chances are I'd feel much differently about letting other people look after her - her little mate (my friend's son) is very shy and hates it when his mum so much as leaves the room when his grandparents are at the house - he's just not happy to be away from his mum and so she tries to avoid leaving him with anyone other than his dad. Horses for courses lol, we all find out what works for us and for the kids and go with it :)