At what age did you first...? (survey)

[MamaAllNatural]

I'm just curious to see how much of a difference there is between mainstream mamas and more natural mamas. I wanted to find out at which age you a)first left your baby (i.e. for a date, dinner, running errands, etc.) and b) first introduced solid foods. This is of course only for my own personal curiosity but I'd really love if you'd all participate. Thanks!

I'll go first (of course!):

Baby # 1 : I first left him @ 3 months and first introduced solids @ 5 months

Baby #2: I first left her @ 8 months & introduced solids @ almost a year

Baby #3: Still haven't left him (he's 6 1/2 months old) and don't plan on doing it for quite a while & I plan on waiting til closer to a year for solids.

[Ravenmoon]

#1 i left her around 18 months when i started working part time,introduced solids at 12 months

#2 left him around 24 months and solids at 8 months(he showed way more interest in food then #1)

#3 started around 20 months so i could go to the gym for an hour a day and introduced solids around 9 months.

I have always been super attached to my kids and i am stay at home with a very busy dad who isn't around much.With solids i let the kids tell me when they are ready.

[~Megan~]

When she was about 6 months old we left her with mil for about 20 minutes. She never took bottles so we didn't leave her for long. The first time she stayed with with anyone for a longer amount of time, about 1.5 hours, was when she was 14 months old on our anniversary.
We started solids a few days before she turned 6 months.

[oceanbaby]

Well, I only have one so far:

When he was 6 months old, I left him with my mom while dh and I went out for a quick 1 hour dinner. I was 5 minutes from our house. Previous to that I had left him with dh for 20 minutes or so while I ran to the store or something like that.

I let him try rice cereal mixed with breastmilk when he was about 6 months old. At first he liked it, and then refused all solids. He didn't want any again until 8.5 months (also when his first tooth appeared), and they weren't a real part of his diet until 1yo.

[mountain mom]

We have one dd

First time we left her was at 11 months for half hour then at 18 months for the length of a theatre movie. We are just now starting to take longer breaks away such as 4 or 5 hours. She is now 28 months.

First time I fed her solids was at 10 months, just a sample of yam, she didn't really start eating aggressively until she was about 18 months....Booby milk til then and still.

[wende]

DD#1 I left for a couple hours at 3 months, I think she got solids for the first time (rice cereal) at 4-5 months.

DD#2 I left for the first time at 5 months, solids at 6 months.

DS#1(or 3?) I left for the first time at 6 months, solids at 6 months.

DS#2 I still haven't left. He's about to turn 9 months old. I am going back to school at the end of this month and I am able to take all but my biology class online so 2 days a week I have to be away from home. I'm nervous. I've just started giving him bits of solids to get him used to something other than mommy milk so maybe he'll be ok while I'm gone.

[Wildcrafter]

I first left my babe at 18 months, with my mom while I got a haircut. In fact the hairdresser, whom I knew from high school didn't believe I had a babe because I didn't have his picture in my wallet!! I try to explain that I take him everywhere! It was kind of funny!

He's 22 months now and only been left a handful of times with either my Mom or dh.

Solids at 6 months because of dh's insistence, but ds wasn't ready and it was more like 8 months before he really wanted food, that was also when he got his first tooth.

Interesting to read this thread.

[MamaAllNatural]

WildCrafter, it's funny that you brought up the pictures in the wallet. I have my wallet jam packed with pictures of my kids but have never actually had the opportunity to show them to anyone because my kids are always with me!:LOL

Thanks so much for posting ladies. I hope more will continue to do the same. I find it interesting to read too. I'd say our average of the "when"s is at least triple that of the average American mother.

Do you all find a certain pressure from friends, family and so called "experts" to leave the baby at a really young age? I know that even with baby #2 who I first left at eight months, I was just down the street for a couple of hours but it still didn't feel "right" to me and I didn't leave her again for a long time. It was my birthday and everyone was telling me that me and my husband "needed" to go out and have fun. You can't really have fun when you're worried about the baby anyway though!:

With my current baby (who is 6 1/2 months) I don't feel ready to leave him at all yet and I'm not going to let anyone pressure me this time. I'll leave him when we're both good and ready!

[sugarmoon]

what do you count as leaving the baby? w/ dp or someone else?

I first left ds alone w/ dh when he was 10 days old, for 3 hrs while I had a root canal . Then not again until he was 3 mos old and I went back to work very part time. He would stay w/ dh for 2-4 hours once a week.

I started leaving him w/ my mom for 3-6 hours once a week when he was about 15 mos. Oh, I left him w/ my dad for 1 1/2 hours once when he was about 10 mos.... I still hate leaving him w/ anyone other than dh.

We did solids at around 6 or 7 mos

[velcromom]

This thread is making me feel much better!! I have only left ds with dh twice and not til he was 9 months old, only gone one nursing interval. I didn't even run to the store 5 min away til ds was almost a year. I still have never left him in the care of anyone other than dh. I'm trying now to find a sitter who will come watch him while I do a couple hours of work on the computer at home.
My mom said to me once when he was about 6 months, 'You need to get out once in a while.' At that point I still had no desire to leave him for any length of time at all. It's only in the last month that I can finally say I do feel that I need to get away now and then without him. He's 15 months old.
I still wouldn't leave him overnight, he nurses too much at night to go for that!


I offered him a taste of solids at 5 months and he wasn't impressed, after a few weeks he'd had enough and didn't gain real interest in solids again til he was able to pick up food on his own at around 10 months.

[rareimer]

just a few days ago, and she just turned one today. we did leave her for a very short period (less than 1/2 hour) with grandma when she was about 5 months old...but the only real extended time was a few days ago. we left her with grandma for 3 hours while we went and saw a movie. it was nice...but weird!

[3girlsmommy]

With both girls I left them for the first time around 6 months. Both times we were within 5 miles of my mom's house with our cell phone.

My first had her first taste of solids at 4 months but didn't "really" eat them until closer to 8 or 9 months.

My second grabbed a banana out of my hand at 5 1/2 months and occasionally nibbled on solids until 9 or 10 months when it became a regular thing.

[polka hop]

*

[MamaAllNatural]

Gus'sMama, I do mean just leaving the baby with anyone besides yourself. Sorry to hear about your root canal BTDT. Hated it! (and the guy who did it was mean to me on top of it!)

VelcroMama, I'm glad this thread is making you feel better. I feel the same as you with my baby - If I don't have to leave him and I don't want to leave him, why should I? So, (with him being my third and last) I'm not going to until I'm good and ready. Besides, having a five year old and a three year old I know a time comes when you actually REALLY WANT to get away from them! So, I figure let's just let a good thing last while it can.
:LOL

[AnnMarie]

I don't really remember with my older two, but with my younger two I know I did wait a little bit longer (6 months or so). I never gave them baby food either, they had whatever we had. I did try the rice cereal with my older son, but he didn't like it. I never gave it to my younger son.

Sadly my first spent her second week of life with her paternal grandmother because I was too sick to care for her. I don't remember how old my second child was when I first left her. My two sons were almost never left with anyone for very long when they were infants because the first time I tried with my older son he screamed the whole time I was gone because he was hungry and wouldn't take a bottle of BM, and with my younger son he never had a bottle.

[Myethpio]

I first left dd #1 at past a year old... she pretty much went everywhere with us. I had to take small separations with my dd #2 since about 6 months due to various situations...

I first introduced solid foods with DD #1 at 6 months, she hated it, and started up again at 9 months when she showed interest. With my second DD I started at about 7 months and she was much mroe enthusiastic about it so I just let it go with the flow...

[eilonwy]

The first time I left Eli he was about 7 weeks old. Mike and I went to see The Two Towers and went straight back to him. ("Would you like to get something to eat?" "No, grab a sub at Wawa and hurry up, I want to nurse!") I actually pumped twice during the movie, once when Eli would have nursed and once when a baby started crying in the film and my milk let down. :LOL

He first had solid food at 5.5 months, and that was with me doing everything I could to hold him off. Finally I gave him a turkey bone which I dipped in my chicken soup so it would have a flavor. He loved it .

[ChiknGirl]

Dd is 10 months and she has gone everywhere I have. I do leave her occassionally to check the mail which is about a 5 minute walk but that's the extent of it. She started solids at 6 months beacuse she was very interested but she rarely had them more than 1 or 2 times a week. We are only just now getting to where she eats dinner with us every night. Her interest has definately grown now that she can feed herself.

[NoraB]

We only have one little one so far. She's 20 months.

DD was over 12 months before she was separated from me. DH took her out to the grocery store for an hour. Since then, she has stayed w/ DH for a couple of hours on occasion and w/ my mom for a couple of hours. She's never freaked out w/ those separations. I strongly feel that was b/c we waited to leave her and only left her w/ ppl she saw all the time and was completely comfortable w/. She does still rush right into my arms when I return, though.

We introduced solids at 6 months. DH was just too excited to try it. She got a taste of banana and seemed interested. After that thouhgh, until about 11 months, she refused more than a tiny taste of solid foods. After 11 months, she rapidly went from eating some "baby food" to finger foods and self feeding. Now she'll eating anything that isn't nailed down and can't run away. :LOL

[Firemom]

a)first left your baby (i.e. for a date, dinner, running errands, etc.)
#1 & #2 started back at the health club at 6 weeks, brought them with and checked them in the nursery. Went back to work at 3 1/2 months

b) first introduced solid foods.

4 months gave a taste and then waited until closer to 5 1/2 months with #1

#2 waited 6 months and she really didn't eat anything until 10 1/2 months