Back to work for 2 months now and ds is still having a very hard time with the transition

[Jelinifer]

I went back to work when ds was 11 weeks old and was doing FT from the get-go. My mother watches ds at her house and spent lots of time with him (some with DH and I there/and some shorter periods alone with him) prior to me going back, so it’s not like she’s a stranger. This weekend will mark two calendar months since I went back and ds is still having a horrible time with it all. He doesn’t nap for my mother for longer than ten minute stretches and drinks the bare minimum of bottles to cut the edge off of his hunger until I get back to him to nurse after work. Despite my spending a good hour or so playing with him and giving him the opportunity to nurse each morning at my parents house before I leave, ds always howls for a good half hour when I leave and is for the most part pretty fussy otherwise for the rest of the day. My mother and I have tried some different strategies to try and ease the separation anxiety (mostly leaving articles of my clothing with him so he can smell me, and making video tapes of me and DH reading that my mother can show him while we’re gone) but nothing has worked to ease the separation for him. I would love to go PT but don’t have the option due to my being our health insurance carrier and for financial reasons. I could really use any suggestions of things that could possibly help with the separation anxiety or even just some kind words to cheer me up. This is really breaking my heart as I know it’s so hard on my baby and I know it’s very hard on my mother to have her only grandchild get so upset with her every day when she’s providing great care for him.

[Hannah32]

I'm sorry. That sounds really hard. I also have to work FT, though I'm not back yet.

The only thought I had was: do you think he might do better if your mom could come to him? Maybe being in his home environment would make a difference.