The Boy has been away for 3 days (2 nights) again, because of work, returning home tonight, yay!!

Again, I was anxious about being home alone with the Little Buddy, especially because he’s far more aware now and very attached to Daddy. I thought it was slightly less likely he would wake up in the middle of the night, but there was a higher chance that he would wake up early (before 7), and/or be really clingy, weepy, and fussy with me in the morning (before I sent him to nursery), in the evening (dinner, bath and bedtime), and that he might take a longer time to go to sleep.

So this time, one day before the Boy left, we started telling Baby-Ao that Daddy was going to be away for a couple of days, so he wouldn’t see him for a while, but Daddy was coming back. Both the Boy and I took turns telling him, and emphasising that Daddy loves him and would be coming home after that.

In the event, it went pretty well.

Baby-Ao was more difficult with me in the morning – I would need to chase him around the flat to get him to change his clothes, also in the evening – removing his clothes for bath time, and he was definitely very difficult with nappy changing – he would scream, wail, wriggle and twist himself until he rolls over and ends up on his belly, bum in the air, as I would try to wipe his bum as quickly as possible. He was also a bit more clingy, weepy, and sobby, when I pick him up from nursery, and in the mornings. But that meant I got to carry my Little Man a bit more, whereas usually he’s too cool to be carried by Mummy.

But, he ate quite well during dinner time, and was very cooperative about bath time, and went to bed easily. The first night, he cried a bit (a couple of minutes) when I first put him to bed, but the second night, he just went off like a light. And he didn’t wake up when I transferred him from our bedroom to his cot in the living room either. He stirred slightly as I moved him, but then went straight back to sleep. Score!

What is annoying about being home alone is that there’s no back-up when Baby-Ao is being fussy. Like when he dropped some food on the floor (semi-accidentally, because he tilted his spoon vertically when he was self-feeding) at dinner time, I wouldn’t be able to get the Boy to sit with him while I take a break or time-out to manage my frustration. Instead, I have to try to breathe slowly to calm myself down, while continue to encourage him to eat, and clear up the mess at the same time. And in the morning, I had to get Little Buddy dressed up and drop him off at nursery before returning to the flat to shower and prepare for work. There’s no way I can shower while Baby-Ao is in the flat without supervision – probably because we’ve never had to deal with that, and he’s also more anxious with his Dad not being around.

But overall, I think it wasn’t too bad at all. I think letting him know in advance what was happening and managing his expectations were important factors in reassuring him and minimising his acting up. I’m constantly amazed at how much Baby-Ao seems to understand. For example, when he is being uncooperative, I would tell him to please be nice to Mummy because Mummy is all alone today and she’s having a headache from work, and he usually improves. He’s also sweeter to me, probably because he knows that he only has me for the moment, so he’d better be in my good books. 😉

Update:
When Daddy came home and wanted to hug Baby-Ao with open arms, Baby-Ao acted really cool and didn’t approach Daddy. Instead, he just played and ran around the flat without approaching Daddy. It was only after what seemed like a long time to me (15-30 minutes), that Baby-Ao warmed up to Daddy, and was laughing with glee as Daddy tickled him.