"IS IT OKAY TO LEAVE OUR AP'D BREASTFEEDING 3-MONTH-OLD FOR A NIGHT?"

�I'm feeling a lot of pressure from my husbands parents and my mom. They think it would be good for us to leave our baby with them overnight. They even bought us a hotel gift certificate which expires soon. I don't feel comfortable leaving my baby overnight. She is a very high need baby. Our parents don't think we trust them but it doesn't have anything to do with that. Am I being overprotective? What is an appropriate age where a baby is ready to stay overnight? She is three months old and she sleep with us. I breastfeed. They offered to stay at our house while we stay at the hotel, but my heart aches thinking about leaving her.�

I have said this before� but some grandparents are so clueless when it comes to raising babies! Of course, they love their grandchildren and probably mean well, but times have changed. Sure, leaving a three month-old was probably encouraged 30 years ago, but today, most child development specialists would say this is too young. Most children that are being �attachment parented� MIGHT be ready between 2-3 years old. My children were ready to stay at a friend�s house before they were ready to stay at the grandparents. Regarding the gift certificate expiring soon: if it was sold in California, Connecticut, or Washington then state law says that it can�t expire. Many other states are considering laws like this, so most likely you will be able to use this certificate in a few years. Sure, mom and dad could use some time alone, but with a three-month-old, were talking about dinner and a movie�