Time away from baby.

[NIE]

Can I ask a few questions?

How many hours have you been away from your baby since they were born?

I have only been away from my DS for 2 1/2 hours and he is over 6 months old.

Do you think this is something to worry about?

I am returning to work in September, 10 hrs a week and I am starting to worry that I won't be able to cope with being away from my son.

Thanks. x

 

[KJ]

the longest I've been away from Asher in one go is now he's at nursery. So 8am till 5.30pm.

Before that it was probably more like 3-4 hours. We would have a babysitter every few weeks and go to the cinema or something.

He has been ok at nursery, but very quiet and withdrawn. He's gradually getting better but the staff tell me he's been very clingy and wants cuddles all the time and hates being left to play on his own. Guess he just beeds to feel secure now that mummy's not there all the time.

How often have you been away from your LO? Do you mean 2.5hrs in total or that's the longest you've been away? If it's in total, I'd try to get out a little bit more and see how he goes. Can you leave him with a parent or trusted friend while you go out for a few hours? Just so you know how he'll be without you.

K.xx

 

[Xena]

I've had about 4 hours away from Alex - a couple of times.

 

[NIE]

Sorry, I meant 2 1/2 hours in one go. I think I have been away from him maybe 10 times in total to do some food shopping.

The big problem is that he just wont settle with anyone else, even if I am in the same room. x

 

[Sherlock]

Hmmm let me see if I can add it up Galen is 6 weeks old

How many hours have you been away from your baby since they were born?

Probably about 16 hours or so total. Maybe a bit more. That's actually either myself going out for a while or him being taken out for an hour by my Mum. I've also left him with my Mum in our house, him sleeping in his basket downstairs and my Mum keeping an eye while I went and zonked out upstairs and had some time to myself. Longest I've been away from him at one time was about 5 hours as OH took him to work (not as bad as it might sound and LO was 4 weeks old then)

Do you think this is something to worry about?

For me, nope I'm happy to go out for an hour or two and leave LO with OH or my mother. It will become longer as he gets older. Building up to half a day or some such by the time he is 6 months old. OH taking him to work one afternoon was a one off but we were both happy with him doing so.

For you, its what you feel comfortable doing tbh. If you know you have to go back to work its probably best you do have someone else look after him a bit so he has time to get used to it.

I personally belive that its healthy to have a bit of child free time when LO is small and trust my mother (or a couple of other people once he is a bit older) to look after him. If it happens from when very small he'll be well used to it and all being well there won't be issues as he gets older and I have to leave him to go back to work. Hoping he won't be clingy or anything and will be settled with it all.

 

[Full of hope!]

I've been away from Ja for almost 24 hours We were having a BBQ for hubby's birthday so my mam took Ja to stay at hers for the night. By the time I picked him up the next day after clearing the house and garden from the party i'd left him for almost 24 hours!

I did miss him and was so excited to pick him up! I gave him loads of kisses and cuddles and didn't put him down for over an hour!

How many days are you doing your 10 hours over? How many hours are your shifts? You will probably miss him loads but if your busy at work the time will fly by and you'll be back with him before you know it

 

[DebbieM]

No more than 45 mins at a time when bathing/showering etc..... Never left him with anyone at all and wouldn't!

 

[Redshoes]

The first time Isaac was left with anyone other than his Daddy was when I had my 12wk scan with this baby, and I found it terribly difficult to leave him even though he was well over 6months. I do believe its great to have time away from your LO but not at the expense of it being uncomfortable. I also think it can make LO clingy if they aren't left, but LO's can also suffer seperation anxiety, which can happen despite how many caregivers they have as well as parent/s. If you are going back to work I think you do actually need to start letting others watch him, starting with short periods that get longer as he gains confidence in your not being there. Very best wishes

 

[Sabrina]

Perhaps you could do like RedShoes said and phase yourself and LO into the separation. How long will you be away for at the most? Build up slowly to that amount of time.

I'm back to work on Tuesday. Full time George will be with his Dad, my mum and the nursery one day a week. I have had 10 days in work during my maternity leave so I feel ok now about leaving him. The first few days were hard though. Especially as everyone wanted to ask about George and I was better off not really thinking about him too much coz I got upset if I did.

Good luck with your return to work. Hope it goes well. I'm sure both you and LO will benefit from the time apart in the end.

 

[LisaJ1986]

20 mins total! I was out with my sister and she needed to nip somewhere and borrowed my car while her youngest and Angel were still in it. I stood watching out the window til she came back. I'm BF so no one can have her. But i dread the day i have to leave her!

 

[Jade&Evie]

I left Evie with my mum from 3pm on Saturday afternoon until about 12 on the Sunday morning. She's also spent from 7am-4pm at my MIL's house. We also get my mum to babysit when we do our food shopping because then we can do the shopping/unpack it at home without having to worry about Evie needing a feed/change

I miss her like crazy when she's not around but I enjoyed my night out with OH and when my MIL had her I had to go to a funerl and then came home and did my housework because I was still in a bit of a state.

It's up to you though- I trust my mum and MIL with Evie and because she is bottle fed; and a VERY contented baby I don't worry about her. I don't think I could leave her with anyone else though

 

[Kimbo]

I left Evie with my mum from 3pm on Saturday afternoon until about 12 on the Sunday morning. I trust my mum and MIL with Evie and because she is bottle fed; and a VERY contented baby I don't worry about her. I don't think I could leave her with anyone else though

im the same.
my mum is the only person i trust with her

 

[floppit]

1 hour! I'm still BF'ing though so I don't know if it counts... I don't 'stick' to Freya though, she's often in a different room to me (as long as she's happy) while I get on with stuff round the house and she spends alot of time with other people. She shows no sign at all of being clingy and seems to enjoy new loving faces.

The 1 hour was when I had to get our dog to the vet.

 

[rachie29]

up until Holly was about 4mths old, I think I left her a grand total of 2hrs when she was awake. Once with my in laws when i had to take the cat to the vets and once when I had a night out, she was with her dad for an hour before he put her to bed.

I have had nights out (not many) when she has been here with her dad but I always put her to bed first, I was also b/f but she has slept 12hrs since she was 9wks old luckily

A couple of weeks ago she went to my in laws overnight and then last weekend I was away for 2 days in Spain on a freebie trip with work. She was with her Dad all weekend. I felt like I was missing a limb!!!

She's now doing her nursery pre-visits as I am back at work next week. I hate being away from her though but it is getting easier now because she is settling really well at nursery and we have found a really fab one. At home I wouldnt leave her with anyone other than her dad, my folks or in-laws yet though... dont ask me why