“Guide” to leave for MIL watching baby and toddler alone for extended period of time.

So we have a three-year-old and a five month old and we’re traveling out of state for my husband‘s holiday party. We will be gone 36 hours. It is the very first time that his mother is taking care of our children by herself. She’s never watched our toddler or the baby for a few hours alone, so does anyone have a guide or outline of what I should include as instructions? Other than the basics I’m worried about forgetting something. Also side note today she asked if she could take them to the movies while we are gone 👀 so feel like I need to set some boundaries

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Yeah…why would she want to take a 5 month old to the movies? Definitely set boundaries. I would leave a detailed schedule. Does she know how to get the 5 month old to sleep? Good luck!

@Maria well it’ll be her first time doing it…thank God this is only for one night

This is tricky. My MIL lives really close so she seee the baby multiple times a week. She knows her schedule and watches me feed, change play, etc so when it came time to watch my little one for date night she had it down pack. I made sure to pack extra of everything for her, pump enough milk, have extra toys, etc. even then it wasn’t perfect. I brought two bottles as my daughter had only tried size one nipple, but I was sure she would be ready for size 2. My MIL gave her the wrong bottle and she was so frustrated at the flow it ended up causing a lot of gas and she was crying for 30 minutes in pain. (I didn’t known until I got home.) I would set a boundary of not taking them anywhere unless you feel comfortable with. car seat safety is important and older generations don’t tend to get that. I would make sure your MIL knows to call or text if she’s struggling because if it’s her first time it might be a little rough but otherwise I wouldn’t panic. She’s raised at least one child.

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