Finally, the baby is old enough and you feel comfortable leaving him/her with a babysitter (or a family member). You are excited and nervous at the same time: How is your baby going to react? Is the baby sitter a reliable one?
To ensure you have a good night out, plan ahead. If you don’t have a reliable baby sitter already, check online nannies services. There you can choose a nanny that suites your exact needs plus most will have their references checked before joining the provider.
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ext thing is to book the nanny ahead to ensure your preferred date and time. Don’t forget to book the restaurant, too! If your child is older, you might prepare him/her by explaining that parents are going out and how the evening will go for them. Reassure your child that you are coming back, as some kids might feel insecure when parents leave them with a nanny for the first time.
The evening you’re going out, ask your sitter to come over early while you are getting ready. The sitter can spend that time with the baby getting to know him/her before you leave. Refresh him/her on your baby’s care, such as feeding and bedtime. Exchange the phone number and or the address of the place you are going to. You might choose a restaurant or cinema close to where you live or stay for a shorter time for the first night out. If the night runs smoothly, you might go to the movies and have dinner too next time.
Finally, you are out having a delicious meal in a nice restaurant – all alone with your husband! Enjoy the moment, you have deserved it! If , however, you find that you can’t relax and are worrying about the baby and missing him/her, call the sitter and check how it’s all going at home. Once you hear that everything is under control, try to shift your thoughts and have some quality time with your partner.
The Parents View
Parents are under a lot of pressure nowadays. Whether you are a working or stay at home parent, taking care of the children takes a lot of time and commitment. By the time the kids are ready for bed, so am I. My partner and I don’t have any quality time together; we hardly have a conversation without our children interrupting, wondering what were we talking about after each pause. It’s about time for us to have a parent’s night out.
While we are out, I’m wondering what the kids are doing, are they behaving or destroying the house, listening to the sitter, going to bed on time, did they take a bath and brush their teeth. However, I choose not to call. If there’s anything wrong, the baby sitter would call, so I carry on with my dinner and enjoy a nice conversation with my husband. We needed this night out badly and we came back home refreshed and relaxed. The kids were asleep. The house was tidy and in complete order. How nice to skip the chaos of dinner-bed time-cleaning-up routine for one night! After saying goodnight to the sitter, we finished our night snugged up on sofa, promising to each other we would go out on a regular basis. We have since used the same sitter and planning our nights is something I look forward to.