Leaving child overnight with one parent on med
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Anonymous
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DH has to take a medication at night that as a side effect knocks him out for 8 hours. Not taking is not an option. He can wake enough for one quick task (eg change a diaper) and can get functional in an emergency, but can’t just calmly stay awake for hours with a kid that needs comforting bc they’re sick or had an awful dream or something. In that situation he’d likely tell them it was ok and pat them for minute while falling back asleep himself quickly and if they continued to wake him he’d likely snap in frustration. He’s a very loving dad, this med just makes waking up or staying awake very difficult for him
Given that context, how old would you child have to be to leave them alone overnight with just him? Assuming they were health when you were leaving, at what age would you feel comfortable? My child is currently only 1 and when he unexpectedly gets sick at night he is desperate for rocking and comfort for hours so I don’t feel like I can leave without hiring night help just in case right now. But I don’t have any sense at what age a kids night needs become Very short and quickly addressable and everyone would be fine if illness / bad dream etc happened when I wasn’t there. |
Anonymous
| I would not until at least 6-8. At about 8, I think I'd be ok with my child being able to wake up Dad or take care of things himself (i.e. bathroom, get a bowl of cereal) but I'd be worried before age 6 and probably have someone there if he cannot go without the medication. |
Anonymous
| How often are you not there? If you travel for work and this is a real issue, I’d consider developing a relationship with someone who could sleep over when you leave, or getting an au pair to help out. |
Anonymous
| 8 or 9. Old enough to know when to call 911 in an emergency. |
Anonymous
| I’ve had to care for my infant and toddler children when DH was out of town and I was on medication that knocked me out. It’s not ideal, but it’s doable. You know the part when you said he can wake up in an emergency? That happens a little more easily when you’re solo parenting. The adrenaline kicks in and you become functional. If the child isn’t sick and you’re not leaving frequently, I wouldn’t worry much. |
Anonymous
| Rocking for hours frankly doesn't sound like a good idea even when sick. |
Anonymous
Are you kidding? |
Anonymous
NP I don't think I've ever rocked any of my kids to sleep for hours, sick or not. Especially, not a toddler. |
Anonymous
| I’m curious, what kinds of meds do this? |
Anonymous
I would leave a child that sleeps through the night as long as they were healthy. Aside from a 5 day bout of HFM when DD was 18 mos this could have been at any point after 6 mos old for us. I also would not rock a 1 yo for hours at night unless an extreme sickness. |
Anonymous
| I’d suggest talking to the prescribing doctor as your pediatrician. |
Anonymous
DP, but there are lots. I have chronic hives that, when severe, I add in hydroxizine to my usual regimen. It’s super effective, but for me, is also super sedating (it’s used as a sedative even though it’s an antihistamine) for several hours. There are all kinds of classes of drugs that are very sedating to some people. |
Anonymous
| OP, how old are your children? If they needed him to, would he be safe to cosleep in your bed for the night? |
Anonymous
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Probably from age 4 or so, depending on the kid.
Ours very rarely interrupted us in the night. We were quite strict about having them sleep in their own beds, unless they were pretty sick. I would do the same if I were you. |
Anonymous
+1 |