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kptrs
Guest
For those of you who have had or currently have 5-year-olds and/or 2-year-olds, what’s the longest you’ve left them in the care of grandparents/trusted babysitters? One week? Ten days? Two weeks? And how did it go?
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pensmama87
Guest
The longest with grandparents has been about a week. They spend shorter times frequently, anywhere from an afternoon to 1-2 night stays. And we see them a lot without any babysitting, so they’re very familiar to the kids. The only problem has been grandparent fatigue - my in laws are in very good health but they are not young anymore.
We’ve had the kids stay overnight with another family just one night on two occasions, but we’d be comfortable with longer. We’re very close to them and they have similar aged kids. We’ve discussed swapping long weekends away but it hasn’t happened yet.
We’ve had the kids stay overnight with another family just one night on two occasions, but we’d be comfortable with longer. We’re very close to them and they have similar aged kids. We’ve discussed swapping long weekends away but it hasn’t happened yet.
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Allegra
Guest
I’ve never been comfortable leaving my kids with anyone overnight. (Other than my husband, obviously.) The only time either of my children have spent the night with my parents was the night my son was born, in which my husband spent the night with me at the hospital and my daughter was with my mom for the night, and when my daughter was seriously injured and my son went home with my mom to sleep while my husband and I spent the night in the surgery waiting room.
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Elizabeth3
Guest
One night and that was rare.
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Xantippe
Guest
Our big kids have done a night with grandma and grandpa at their hotel (pool!) when grandma and grandpa were visiting, but that’s been it. We haven’t had the opportunity to leave kids with grandparents much. It’s not that I’m opposed, it just hasn’t been an option. It’s our 20th anniversary this year and we were hoping to leave the kids with grandparents and go someplace fancy, but a) no money and b) the grandparents (or at least grandpa) can’t really cope with all of the kids.For those of you who have had or currently have 5-year-olds and/or 2-year-olds, what’s the longest you’ve left them in the care of grandparents/trusted babysitters? One week? Ten days? Two weeks? And how did it go?
I think my mom started allowing overnights when I was 4, and when I was school age, they’d not infrequently go for weekends or even a whole week away. I or we occasionally wound up in some pretty random locations. Nothing bad happened, but looking back and counting up all the different people I stayed with, I realized that my parents had A LOT of weekends away.
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TheLittleLady
Guest
As a kid, we would go spend a couple of weeks with extended family on the farm, mom was once hospitalized for a couple of weeks so we stayed with family friends (dad had to work).
When DS was little, we wanted him to have a close relationship with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents so it was not a big deal for him to spend a weeked or an entire vacation with them.
When DS was little, we wanted him to have a close relationship with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents so it was not a big deal for him to spend a weeked or an entire vacation with them.
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tafan2
Guest
When our oldest children were little, we would let them stay 3 or 4 days with our parents. Then we decided it took them a while to adjust back to normal each time, and we pretty much stopped. Perhaps a few times through the years. Then once we had older kids grown, college age, we thought little of taking a short weekend vacation occasionally and leaving the young ones in the care of the older ones. Now, with older kids out if college, married, living in another town, it’s great to let the stay at their older brother’s and sister’s home for 3 or 4 days.
Just seems to work better with older siblings, than aunts, uncle’s, or grandparents.
Just seems to work better with older siblings, than aunts, uncle’s, or grandparents.
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CelticWarlord
Guest
The longest we ever left our kids with gramma or auntie was one sleepover. One night, that was it. Even when they were older a single night was all they ever wanted.
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Paul71
Guest
When we had children around those ages, I think maybe twice we left them with grandparents for two nights, or maybe once for three nights. I’m almost certain we never did longer than that, and leaving them overnight with grandparents was a rare, once-in-a-while event. I think that anything longer than two or three nights would have been difficult for our kids and for the grandparents. (But everything went pretty well on those occasions when we did leave them with the grandparents.)For those of you who have had or currently have 5-year-olds and/or 2-year-olds, what’s the longest you’ve left them in the care of grandparents/trusted babysitters? One week? Ten days? Two weeks? And how did it go?
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Phemie
Guest
We left our first with my parents for a week when she was 18 mo. old. That’s the longest we were ever away from the kids at any point. When we’d go home for holidays she’d often spend 3 or 4 days with my husband’s parents while we stayed with my dad with the other 2. Those houses were only 6 miles apart. She loved that time spent with “Grammy & Grampy” by herself. It made her feel special.
She was their first grandchild and only granddaughter so they doted on her. To be clear, they doted on all three of our children but we were a military family and were posted close to them for 3 years from the time she was 10 months old so they knew her better than they knew her brothers who grew up far from them and whom they only saw once or twice a year while we were on holidays. The boys preferred to be with us and my dad in the country than with their other grandparents in town.
She was their first grandchild and only granddaughter so they doted on her. To be clear, they doted on all three of our children but we were a military family and were posted close to them for 3 years from the time she was 10 months old so they knew her better than they knew her brothers who grew up far from them and whom they only saw once or twice a year while we were on holidays. The boys preferred to be with us and my dad in the country than with their other grandparents in town.
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Rosalie
Guest
The longest I’ve been away from my toddler is 3-4 hours, and I only leave her with my husband or at the church nursery. I wouldn’t WANT to leave her for two weeks. We have agreed that we won’t leave her unsupervised with either set of grandparents due to trustworthiness issues/exposure to their genuinely toxic marriages.
blackforest
Well-known member
We don’t have this luxury because we don’t live near any family.
It’s very much an it-depends kind of matter. How much will they miss you? How much/how long can the caretakers handle? Have you considered an overnight practice run to see how they do without Mom and Dad?
It’s very much an it-depends kind of matter. How much will they miss you? How much/how long can the caretakers handle? Have you considered an overnight practice run to see how they do without Mom and Dad?
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hoping4more
Guest
2 hours. Then the adults come back with long faces, as if they just finished the hardest job in the world and deserve a metal.
I take that back. Overnight when our youngest was born the twins stayed with mimi and papa, but we knew we couldn’t stay at the hospital another night.
I take that back. Overnight when our youngest was born the twins stayed with mimi and papa, but we knew we couldn’t stay at the hospital another night.
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Sunflower98
Guest
About 2 1/2 days (think long weekend) with my Mom. We probably could have left them for longer periods…the kids didn’t seem to have any separation anxiety…DH and I always did!
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