Leaving Toddler with Family for a week

[Anonymous]

My husband and I are contemplating leaving our 19 month old daughter with family for a week while we go on vacation. We have not left her anywhere O/N without us but she is great with our family who also has small kids. I wondered if anyone else had any experience with this and this stage of toddlers. My biggest fear is she will be get really upset once we don't come back after a day or so. Thoughts on this would be most helpful!

[Anonymous]

I would try leaving her for a weekend first, in preparation for the week away.

[Anonymous]

good suggestion but not an option since our family lives across the country from us and no local family for a weekend trial. Other thoughts?

[Anonymous]

We just left our daughter for four nights with my family ( They also have small children and I think that made a huge difference ) without any previous alone overnight visits. She's 10 months old and did very well. I think you might be surprised at how busy she is while you're gone. Not that she won't miss you but that she'll be preoccupied enough.

Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Go! There is some separation anxiety at this age, but she'll be fine. We have left both of our kids at this age and haven't had any problems. I would try to put aside your worry and enjoy the time with your husband. The baby will appreciate that more once you get back! Just call every day and make sure everything is going ok.

Have fun!

[Anonymous]

Will your family be coming to stay at your house while you're on vacation? I think that's an easier transition for your toddler than if she went to stay at your family's house.

[Anonymous]

You mentioned your family is cross country and your toddler is only 19 mo. Has your toddler spent time with them before (like over the holidays or something)? Although the transition might be easier since she'll have other small children (cousins?) to play with and their toys (which might be very exciting for her since they're "new" to her) it might be a little rocky at first since she may perceive them as strangers. But if your family and your toddler are familiar with each other than I agree with the PP that your daughter will probably be too occupied to notice your absence too much. Ideally, it would be good to have a test run. Sometimes separation anxiety can be unpredictable (like the special moments that only mommy and daddy can do - reading a bed time story).

My sister left her daughter (17 months) with my other sister for a week. Since we all have children of our own there wasn't too bad of a transition except at night when things quieted down.

You might try getting your daughter excited about the trip and how much fun she'll have by talking about it a lot and mentioning all the fun things she'll be doing (I assuming the family she'll be staying with has activities and outings planned).

Good luck and have fun.