How To Have A Night Out After Baby

Date nights… remember those!? It’s time to make date nights happen again now that sleep is a thing in your family! 

If you’ve been a part of any of my programs you know I make a girls night out, date night, or a “just because” day to hire a babysitter a top priority! Why? Because you’re not just a mom. You’re a friend, a wife, a partner, you’re YOU!!! It’s important for our own mental health and relationship health that we take breaks and enjoy a night out. 

Not only is it possible to enjoy a night out, but it’s also *easy* to do when your child knows the drill! 

Whether you’re going out for your anniversary, Valentine’s Day, or just because (🙌), I want to share suggestions for 3 types of situations to make your evening out as smooth as possible!

1. Enjoying a date night out without kids
2. Staying late at a friend’s house 
3. Going out to dinner with the kids

Let’s celebrate your great sleeper and make a PLAN for bending the rules to enjoy a night out!

 

ENJOYING A DATE NIGHT OUT:

First of all, get a babysitter who you are confident will do what you ask!! Share with them in great detail how you do your bedtime routine and specifically share how baby can fall asleep independently.

How can you do this? I’ve made it really easy for you with my FREE Babysitter Checklist! 

 

>>> Click here to grab your free Babysitter Checklist for stress-free nights out!

When our girls were 3 & 5 years old, I remember asking the babysitter to put them to bed and when we got home she said, “It was like magic! The clock turned red, I left the room and they just went to sleep! I was expecting them to get up and come out of their room. They didn’t!! They just went to sleep!” << To which I replied… “You know this is my job, right?” 😂

When the girls were younger I preferred to do bedtime routine myself and live a double life. Chad and I would do bedtime routine with the girls like normal, say goodnight and then hand the monitor off to a babysitter! Our girls never had a clue and slept peacefully the whole time! Easiest babysitting gig in town.

It’s so freeing that we can enjoy a date night out without having to worry about anyone calling and asking us to come home quickly so we can rock the baby back to sleep. It’s so amazing! Freedom really does come after your sleep training consistency. 

 

STAYING LATE AT A FRIEND’S HOUSE:

If you’ve been invited over for dinner with friends or family, it IS possible to stay late and enjoy the evening with everyone! No more having to dine + dash!

This strategy works best if you have just one child who is a baby or young toddler. 

Before you go, ask the friends or family members if you can bring a pack ‘n play to set up in a quiet, dark space. Maybe a closet? Guest room? A room where you can set up the SlumberPod? I bet they’ll say yes! 

So when you’re at their home for dinner, simply slip away for bedtime routine! Do a sink bath or a wipe down, offer a feed for baby, put on PJs, read a quick book, say goodnight and lay down in the pack n play. Leave the room, and viola!! Baby goes to sleep! Pretty wonderful party trick! 

Now, whenever you’re ready to leave (hours later) simply go into the room and pick up your baby. Stick them in the carseat and drive home! When you arrive home pick them up, go into their room, say goodnight again, and they’ll go to sleep again!! 

Sure, they may wake between this- but it was just a little interruption! Not a big deal, and you got to enjoy an evening with friends!! And baby slept!! Cheers!!

**hint-hint-wink-wink: tell your friends all about Little Z’s when your baby goes to bed so easily 😉**

 

GOING OUT TO DINNER:

Can’t find a sitter and want to turn your night out into a family affair? No problem! There are definitely times where you can take your kid out and go and enjoy these dinners together, and you might get home 30 minutes after bedtime! Here’s what I want you to do:

Skip the whole bedtime routine. Just do the essentials! 

Get home, wipe them down, put on PJs, offer a feed, turn the lights off and get them down for bed!

Have an older child who can communicate with you? Use my favorite phrase with them:

”Tonight we’re going to be a little flexible!” 

On times or on nights where we have people over or we’re going out, and we’re not going to put them to bed right on time I will tell the girls, “Hey, you know what, tonight’s going to be a little bit flexible. We are going to get in the car and go to a restaurant. We’ll order food, talk and eat together and it’s going to be a lot of fun!! And then we’re going to come home and it’s going to be after your bedtime. So we are going to skip bath, and just brush our teeth, put our PJs on, and we might even skip the book (because we had such a good time at the restaurant). It will be late and you’ll be tired! We’ll get into bed and go straight to sleep.” 

And you know what? They love these flexible nights! They understand why we skip their two favorite parts, bath and book. And times when life happens and I don’t plan on it being a late night, they know the “flexible” routine!

 

CONCLUSION

Ready to have a night out to celebrate your anniversary, Valentine’s Day, or just because? When sleep is a thing, YOU CAN!! 🥂

I don’t ever want you to feel like you’re in a bedtime jail. You cannot be bound to rules 24/7 and you absolutely cannot stress yourself out about sleep.  

So here’s what you can do to make it happen:

1. Enjoy a night out – without the kids! Click here to download our free Babysitter Checklist and make this as stress-free as possible!
2. Stay late at a friend’s house and put the baby down in a pack n play! Transition them right to bed when you get home with just a quick disruption in between.
3. Go out to dinner with your kids! Prepare them ahead of time by saying, “Tonight we’re going to be flexible!” and make those memories as a family!

If you are feeling defeated every night, like bedtime is a battle and the idea of hiring a babysitter is unbelievable, I want to help you take the next step with one of our Sleep Programs. Click here to find out which program is right for you! 

Then, put a date on the calendar to get a night out soon and celebrate all the hard work you’ve done to make sleep a thing in your family!

Now go, enjoy bending the rules, ya’ll!! 

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