For all couples, it is inevitable to send children to grandma or grandpa. However, it doesn’t mean that every time is always fine.
You ought to find that “When is it ok to leave baby with grandparents?” before doing that.
This thing is more important than what you can think about it. Because if you don’t choose a proper chance, there are a lot of babysitting disasters that can occur.
To avoid as many as possible, come with us to find the answer to this question.
When Is It Ok To Leave Baby With Grandparents?
For Babies
1. First Three Months
For babies, you need to care about their age first of all. We will discuss the first three months old. This is not an ideal time for you to let kids stay with grandma and grandpa.
Firstly, the mother and father should be the babysitters for newborns. Thanks to that, babies will always be warm and close to their parents.
Also, babies’ health and immune system is not so good, and breastfeeding is required continuously.
After that phase, it may be hard for you to reject leaving 3 month-old to go on vacation. But please remember that babysitting a 2 month old or babysitting a 3 month old is not simple for the older.
So we advise you to stay with the babies for at least the first three months, when they know how to hold their own bottle.
2. After Four Months
The next stage is after four months. Many people think that from four to nine months is ideal to leave the child with grandpa and grandma. But it still depends on many other factors.
Normally, 4-month-old kids start weaning, so they don’t depend on breastmilk too much like before. And if your kid can quickly adapt to eating solids, it will become easier to send grandchildren to grandpa and grandma.
Besides, you ought to help kids and their grandparents meet and play together before that. This helps them be closer, and you also have a chance to guide them about how to babysit a 4 month old baby.
After a few times, babysitting a 6 month old baby or babysitting a 9 month old baby will also be simple like that. And they also have fewer difficulties or problems when you need to let them stay there.
In all, at the first stage, you should let babies with grandpa and grandma only when it is really necessary or help the kids get to know their grandparents.
Also, keep it a short period because leaving baby with grandparents for a week or a long period regularly is not good for their development.
For Grandpa And Grandma
1. Ideal Time
How about their grandma and grandpa? What should we care about are things such as their age and health. You can see that they have more free time than parents.
Moreover, they are also more stable about emotion. So leaving babies with them is a great idea to help kids develop emotionally.
But it takes a long time for them to remember how to babysit a newborn. And with the health status of an older adult, taking care of an infant will be quite difficult. That is the reason why you ought to let babies get a little older.
2. Not Ideal Time
So which is the not ideal time? It is when they are too old. Things are even worse if they have some problems with health like reducing hearing ability and eyesight, some diseases related to the heart, lungs, or dementia of the elderly.
You should not send the baby with them in this case because a lot of dangerous accidents can come with both the kid and your parents.
Instead of that, you can let the infant visit them more regularly without leaving them there for a long period.
3 Things Should You Care About Before Leaving Baby With Grandparents
The Grandparents’ Mental and Physical Health
The first thing is their mental and physical health. It is certainly a real challenge for them to babysit a baby if they are suffering from those diseases.
So you should make sure that their health is stable and able to take care of babies. You cannot leave the kids with grandparents who have heart diseases, high or low blood pressure, shaking hands and feet.
At least, they can walk in a normal, healthy way, without any sudden illness or disease. If so, make sure you have medicine on hand at all times. From that, they may become a good baby caretaker.
The Relationship Between Babies And Grandparents
We probably don’t need to explain why. No parents want to let their kids stay with someone who doesn’t have a strong bond with their little ones.
But you don’t need to worry a lot. Almost all grandpa and grandma extremely love babies and show all love for them. Just need to ensure babies love that; everything will be ok.
How Long Will You Leave Baby There?
The last thing you should pay attention to is “How long will you leave the baby there?” Different time frames have a big difference. Besides, it also relates to the age of the baby.
It will be normal for an infant to leave them with their grandparents for some hours. And leaving toddler with grandparents for a week is simple too.
But it can be a problem if you leave an infant there overnight or a toddler in some days. Hence, remember to pick them up on time and as soon as possible.
What Should Parents Do Before That?
Help Grandparents Get Used To Taking Care Of Babies
The most important thing is helping them get used to taking care of babies again. You can let the kid visit them more before that, and show them how to take care of some hobbies, habits, etc. These things will help them look after the kid better.
Build A Nice Relationship Between Grandparents And Babies
Make sure that they are close-knit. This thing is so easy, and you need to give them many chances to meet, talk, and play together from the early days.
Announce Them Before Leaving Baby
Another thing you have to do before leaving the babies with grandparents is to notice them.
This way, you will be sure that they have free time to schedule a good plan to look after their grandchildren. At the same time, you’ll give them a chance to prepare more carefully.
Help Baby Not Miss Parents And Cry Much
Leaving baby with grandparents first time is the most difficult because the baby can miss parents soon and even develop separation anxiety. Mother and father also miss and worry about them too. To improve it, you can try to test the water in a short time first before a long period such as overnight or some days.
Summary
And that is all the answers for someone who has the question: “When is it ok to leave baby with grandparents?” This issue depends on many factors, so there is no clear answer. But it’s better to leave your angel with your parents after 4 months old.
Hope that all the information we share above can help you choose the best time to leave babies with their grandparents. Thanks for reading. See you soon.
