Leaving toddler with grandparents for 3 days, yay or nay?

Miri7

Thu, Apr 28 2016, 2:25 pm

I think it's generally good for kids to have the opportunity to be away from parents, in a loving, warm grandparent (or aunt and uncle, etc) atmosphere. Of course the kid should know and be reassured in an age-appropriate way that parents are returning and will go back to normal.

Some people make a calendar for the fridge when one or both parents are away. Younger kids will count the number of "sleeps" until the parent(s) return(s). Some kids like to know, ok, I'm going to bubble's for shabbat, we will have dinner, then we will play with cousins for lunch. And have ice cream! Then we will sleep, and then we will have a zoo trip. Then we will sleep and then that day ima and aba come home and I will sleep at home with them that night. You can draw pictures on the "calendar" so they see shabbat candles friday night, then shul and ice cream on saturday, then animals representing the zoo on Sunday.

That sort of thing helps the kids visualize and understand that this is a temporary thing, and also re-focuses them on some of the highlights of the trip. You can mark off the events as they happen (except on shabbat, of course).

I do recommend focusing on the kid's trip to grandparents rather than the parent's trip away. Focus on the special things the child will do with grandparents rather than the fact that you're leaving.

dancingqueen

Thu, Apr 28 2016, 2:31 pm

The first time we left my oldest at my parents was when I went to the hospital give birth and dc was 1. They have a great relationship but dc was still traumatized and missed me a lot. I can't imagine being apart from any dc 10 days after birth as some posters here describe.