Can you part from your baby for a few days?

I was coaching a mom recently who wanted my advice around separating from her infant son for a few days. She and her husband have to go away for a few days on business. Her son is six months old and just recently weaned. Their options are bringing him with them or leaving him at home with her mother. The children would be spending some of the time with their nanny and some of the time with their grandma.

Leaving an infant overnight in someone else’s care isn’t easy. We worry about the caregiver having to deal with things like inconsolable crying and feeding issues. It’s also really hard emotionally to leave a baby overnight because we’ve just bonded with them and have become accustomed to being physically close most of the time. Also, we’re in tuned with them in a way that others are not. Your baby becomes a part of you and the thought of leaving them feels like that part of you is missing. Mothers especially feel that way. I know I did for sure.

I explained to my client that given the option of bringing her son with them on their trip and leaving him in the care of her mother and nanny, the latter would be the most practical. I told her he would be fine and it would much harder on her than on him. True, he might cry a lot in the night and there may be some challenges but he will be well looked after and the two people who will be in charge love him to bits. He will also have his sister with him who he’s used to. I think all my client needed was my assurance that she wasn’t being a bad mother by leaving her six month old for a few days while she went away.