Family helping out

How much help do you get from family in terms of childcare at weekends or when you aren't working? Or do you try and always plan for do family things at weekends? x

My mum and dad are always happy to babysit, they are great. My H often works weekends but if I want to go out for lunch with friends my parents will happily have the boys, but do like a bit of notice.  is that what you meant?!

I only work 2 days a week and if H is working on my 2 days my mam has the kids.  PIL have them on a Sunday from 12-7 if they aren't away and my mam will watch them if we went to go out on a Saturday.  This week they slept on Saturday and Sunday at my mams.

I am very lucky in the fact that both my parents and my MIL are very hands on and live close as do our sisters (three in total).  They would all have both my girls for me anytime I needed them too as would KB3.  My parents and MIL to the bulk of my childcare in the week so I rarely ask them to have the girls for me, we perhaps go out four times a year on our own which includes birthday's, anniversary's etc.  all other activities/outings tend to include the children.

x

we don't have any family nearby and so have to used paid care for babysits. If one of us wants to goout in the day clothes shopping etc (something Luke wouldn't tolerate) we take it in turns to go out alone. Usually weekends are spent together at the park, supermarket, swimming etc. Is that what you mean?

Zero. From my side or H's side. Not once has any family offered to babysit, even just for an hour.

Big fat ZERO.

My folks are great at helping out with my boys. My Mum has C every Saturday, and will have J when he's a bit older.

My Mum also takes C on holiday once or twice a year. They're currently in Scotland, and again, once J is older, she's going to take him too.

If I need to go out, or ifI want to go out, my Mum is more than happy to look after them.

Not a lot as they moan about doing it. We are lucky to have good friends who will let us bring kids with us or watch them if need be.

My mum has L a couple of days through the week, so only tend to ask her if it's an event.  My sister will have him though if she is not doing anything.  Don't really tend to ask H's family that much.

My parents have C on a Friday, and generally if I have a hairdressers appointment or something so I try not to ask her too much.

ILs are very good at babysitting in the evening (they both work in the day) and have also had C overnight 2 or 3 times.  SIL has also babysat a few times in the evening for us.

My younger brother and his wife have had him one afternoon, and C is always saying he wants to go there again, so I'm sure we'll let them babysit another time! 

None. Our parents don't live anywhere near us. 

if we need a babysitter so that we can go out, we are lucky in that my parents or my aunt will look after C.  they'll do the same if for one reason or another she can't go to nursery in the week.

they don't do any routine childcare during the week though - C goes to nursery 4 days a week.

My mum is having p when I go back to work 3 days a week in a few weeks. Her and my dad have already said thud happily have her evenings/weekends etc whenever we'd like. As mum is having her so much in the week I will VE careful not to take advantage with it I think. In laws have had her fr an hour here and there during the day (my horse is at theirs so it's been wen I've been riding so not 'left ' her there as such. They'd be happy to babysit whenever but for various reasons I probably won't leave her with them very often.

Not got a baby yet but MIL made it clear, on the same day that we announced our pregnancy to them, that she wouldn't be babysitting. Not that we expected her to, not that we were going to ask her, and in fact it would be a pain in the bum and more hassle than it would be worth to coordinate due to distance/logistics (we don't drive), but there you have it.

My mum has offered to look after baby on Fridays. Again, this will be more hassle than it is worth, financially speaking, but it is clear that spending time with the baby is important to her and I am willing to have the inconvenience to enable them to spend time together. And she is planning to retire early to spend more time with the baby and any future grandchildren. I imagine this will probably include some weekends and school holidays. We were often sent to my grandparents during school holidays when younger and both my parents are already desperate to have baby to stay with them. Of course that would be on their terms as far as possible (am sure they would take baby in an emergency) and we'd happily use paid childcare otherwise. We may well also ask my cousins to babysit on weekends, when the baby is a bit older, and we'd pay them for that.

We already do mainly 'family' things on weekends, we see both the in-laws and my parents/grandparents almost every weekend and wouldn't want that to change. My grandparents have expressed willingness to babysit on weekends etc but they are in their 70s so I wouldn't want to impose too much on them as they already do so much for us (cooking dinners and just general emotional support etc). Maybe in a pinch I would.

Thinking ahead obviously but living away means day to day we will have noone. But when visiting 'back home' for a weekend we could in theory have a weekend without baby! My dad and stepmum already have everything inc. cot at theirs from my stepsisters baby, and are capable and happy to have baby. I also think my mil would be happy to babysit.