8 great at home date night ideas

9
stay at home date night ideas for tired parents

Mas & Pas

9 great stay at home date night ideas for knackered parents

Before you had a baby nights together were probably plentiful. All those evenings going to the cinema or out for a meal. You may have gone to parties with friends or enjoyed long, lazy Sunday brunches.

After your baby arrives all these things seem like a dim and distant memory and an unattainable dream. And yet it’s important to enjoy SOME time together as a couple.

If you are able to get a babysitter over and have the energy to enjoy a night out on the town then grab the opportunity! But many new parents don’t have this option, or at least not for regular date nights. If this is you it can mean that you never get a bit of undistracted time together.

So with that in mind we’ve put together some great at home date night ideas that are achievable no matter how knackered you are.

 

Prep for your SAHDN

It feels a little mechanical and unromantic but, realistically, the only way to make sure that date nights actually happen when you’re a parent is to plan them into your diary. If you don’t then date nights may well keep getting put off and never happen. So agree on the date, write it down, remind each other of it as something to look forward to!

On the day of your date do all you can to get the kids to bed nice and early. Wear them out in the day. Take them swimming or make them run around the park. Avoid long afternoon naps that may mean they will want to sleep late. Set challenges for them to run up and down the landing in races so by the evening they are tired. And put them to bed as early as possible.

Then switch off your phones and dedicate the rest of the evening to each other. Here are our 8 great at home date night ideas!

1

stay at home date night ideas for tired parents
1

Enjoy a grown-up meal together

Put the kids to bed and enjoy a lovely meal together. With proper grown up food.

If you love cooking and have enough energy left over at the end of the day, then make a special meal yourself. If not, order a nice takeaway.

But do take a little time to set the table, dim the lights and dress up to make it feel like an occasion.

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stay at home date night ideas for tired parents
2

Netflix and chill

Snuggle up on the sofa and enjoy the latest boxset. Wrap yourselves under a cosy blanket and cuddle.

You might be too knackered to do the ‘chill’ bit but sometimes it’s just nice to be together and snuggle up without the pressure of it going anywhere further.

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stay at home date night ideas for tired parents
3

Crack open the board games

The couple that plays together stays together.

So whip out your favourite board games, crack open some wine and snacks and enjoy an evening challenging each other to board games.

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stay at home date night ideas for tired parents
4

Double-date take away

Sometimes company can turn a ‘meh’ night into a ‘yay’ night.

Ask friends to join you after the kids are in bed for an evening of food, fun and board games. If you both have very young kids then your friend’s baby could come over and sleep while you enjoy your evening.

If not, arrange babysitters so you can all enjoy a fun night together.

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stay at home date night ideas for tired parents
5

Get talking

It’s amazing how long you can live in the same house with someone without having a proper conversation with each other.

Does it feel like all your conversations lately have been based around all the millions of jobs you have to do? Or do you always end up talking about work, or money worries?

Clear some time to sit down and have a stress free conversation. Maybe it’s over dinner, over a drink or just around the kitchen but during that time ban any ‘work’ moans or ‘jobs that need doing’ talk and chat about anything else. Maybe you’ll hear about each others’ day, or tell each other about something funny you read or that happened to you.

Before you know it you’ll remember what it was like to just hang out with each other.

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stay at home date night ideas for tired parents
6

Romantic bath

Who said date night couldn’t be relaxing?

Make bath time special by treating yourself to some nice bath bombs or bubblebath. Run a steaming hot bath, turn out the lights and light scented candles. Maybe even put on some music and pour yourselves a glass of wine or a tea.

Enjoy a long soak in the tub together.

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stay at home date night ideas for tired parents
7

Massage?

If you feel a bit out of sync then giving each other massages is a great way to reconnect.

Line up some oils, download some soothing music and spend the evening massaging each other.

With so much touching your evening might end up with even more intimacy than you set out to achieve. But then that’s never a bad thing.

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stay at home date night ideas for tired parents
8

Make a den by the fireside

There’s something so romantic about snuggling up together by the glow of a real fire.

Grab your duvet and set up camp in front of the fire together.

You can chat, listen to music, watch a film or just cuddle.

So take your pick and get back to dating again!

Whatever you choose to do for your stay at home date night, as long as you spend a little undistracted time with each other doing something that you both love, then it will be a great night!

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