Worried to death!

Do it and enjoy it!! Worry is the name of the game as a parent or grandparent. I am sure it will be fine and you will be getting excited about teh next time you might be asked.

Inthefields you are already helping loads, if you are worried or feel that the night care is too much for you then its ok to say that to your daughter.

It is alot for us as we get older and it may be too much

My daughter & granddaughter lived with me for a year from when granddaughter was 18 months old. If granddaughter cried in the night I was alert like a sentry on duty even though my daughter was there in the same room with her. It took a while to get used to the fact I was not on night duty. Old habits die hard.

Don,t worry you will hear everything your radar will kick in again. You used to wake up for your own children didn't,t you so you,ll do it again. Baby monitors are great if you,re still worried. I wake up if my granddaughters stir in their own house and I am staying and I have looked after them overnight and it,s been fine and so will you.

I still check them in the night when I go to bed at my daughters and when her sister is staying as we'll there can be the three of us checking they,re ok one after the other because we can none of us sleep until we,re sure they,re ok. You never stop worrying but it,s so worth it!

Well that's a relief - I thought it was just me I had an attack of total apprehension when first baby sitting my GD on my own. I could remember all the principles and felt fairly confident (ish), but the sense of responsibility was daunting. Love these new nappies - with lions at the front so you don't get mixed up. Does anyone else remember folding Terry's in different ways for boys and girls ??? I still use the old nappy pins as fantastic stitch holders for my knitting ! And the old nappy bucket is the fire bucket when camping.

Also they not only have sound monitors , they install little cameras , and when they are out for the evening , can check on the child themselves .

How on earth did we manage , just relied on the babysitting circle ,
in our case .

But I do think that if you are worried about having the baby , you may need to say so and be honest with your daughter.

I know just how you feel! And it is so reassuring that I am not alone. We looked after both DGSs on Friday while their nursery had a training day and DD had to go into the school where she is currently on placement. I slept only fitfully the night before (we sayed with them) and found the whole day absolutely knackering! DH as some of you may know has health issues so isn't up to anything acitve with small children but there were times I just had to leave him in charge - e.g. so that I could go to the loo! I used to do it once a week when there was just DGS1 but both of them (nearly 3 and 18 months) just seemed a lot more than twice the noise/exhaustion factor/mayhem!
I do think familiarity makes a big difference and it had been some months since my last "granny" duty. Apart from the fact that I went to bed for 2 hours the following afternoon when we got home - I hope think I will feel less stressed the next time! I would like to say Don't worry - but you will !!

We have a monitor that beeps - and I find it quite reassuring.

Its very daunting to have the responsibility of looking after someone else's baby all night. My 1 year old grandson and my daughter live with me so I look after him every day but still get a bit overwhelmed about having him all night. I guess all I can suggest is that you keep to his routine as much as possible as he may well be unsettled if his mum is not there. Try and enjoy the evening with him, you probably wont get much sleep as you will be listening out for every little sound, but have some faith and confidence in yourself. You raised your own child/ren at one stage and that is a mammoth task. Have fun and try not to worry too much.

Great to read all your comments, but what about us blokes? My wife could not keep her eyes open if it cost her life, so when they were ill it was I who sat up all night. how many fags I smoked, how often I woke with two fingers burnt, dressing gown on fire, and then to work in the morning. But the worst I experienced was when I was walking by the river, or any bloody water, I would look one way , look back and they were in, ringing out my wallet was a constant event. the thing is they all learnt to swim like fish.

take it from me, you girls have always had it easy.

Oh yes!today I'm doing my frequent flyer act. Spent an hour trying to persuade the Internet to do what I wanted. Why can't there be a way of booking one flight out solo and a return with two children and luggage. DH flatly refuses to do either the Internet stuff ,the credit card stuff or the going to pick up the DGCs stuff. I know many would fly to the ends of the earth but its the logistics that try me.

And although I've had these DGCs from tiny I still wake at the least sound with my stomach churning frantic in case they are ill and might want their mummy. My own I would cheerfully shout be quiet, turn over go back to sleep. They remember it grudgingly.

For the first time my 2 DGDs are staying a night with me whilst their parents are staying over with friends. They are just 4 and 18 months. I can't wait I think it'll be great fun, but would I have been so relaxed it they were tiny babies? Whenever I go and visit I always try and shove their parents out for the evening so I can babysit. The first time my oldest DGD was about 18 months and I put her nappy on all wrong. They can be tricky. So big change of pj's and fresh nappy before she went to bed.
Just try and relax and enjoy it. I'm going to but then they are older so best of luck.

I looked after my week old GS as my DIL was quite unwell after the birth so i took over for a while. The first night I was terrified and thought OMG what have I signed up for - I did'nt sleep a wink, but by the third night I was able to sleep between feeds. You will be great, it does all come back to you! I realised though that infant care is definitley a young persons game - I was totally knakered by the time my DIL was well enough to take over. I wouldn't have missed it for the world though!!