The first few times being away from your baby is definitely going to be difficult, regardless of who your baby is with. You'll be afraid that they won't know how to soothe your baby, to get them to sleep enough, or the worst could happen and your baby gets hurt. As a new parent, you won't trust hardly anyone with your baby in the beginning. In three months, I've only been away from my son three times, for only 30 minutes to an hour each time, and I was beyond worried.

I breastfeed my son, so it's already harder to be away from him for a long time. I pump and he can take a bottle, so he doesn't have to be with me all the time, but it's definitely something I worry about. I was the only one who was able to feed him for a little over a month, before we gave him a bottle, so feeding him was something that I became very attached to; it was our own personal way to bond that no one else could have. Of course, other people do give him a bottle; mainly his dad and grandmas. Being away from him and knowing that he will have to be fed by someone else was one of the things that I had to get used to in the beginning.

One of the bigger things that I worry about is that when I'm not with him, someone will go against my wishes as his mom. For example, my son has never had a pacifier, not by choice, he just never showed signs of needing or wanting one; but I don't want someone to give him a pacifier if I'm not with him. I'm also concerned that they will try to feed him foods he can't have yet, which has been done in front of me already. There are certain ground rules that are laid down as a parent, and it's hard to trust that all of your wishes will be followed if someone feels they know better or wants to do something different.

There are rare occasions when my son gets fussy and won't calm down easily. He'll fuss even though he just ate, has a clean diaper, has been laid down, held all different ways, and nothing is wrong with him besides he simply wants comfort and attention. Usually when this happens, since he doesn't get a pacifier and is breastfed, I'll just nurse him and he'll usually fall asleep. I worry that he may get fussy with someone while I'm not there with him and they won't be able to soothe him. I always imagine I'll get a call while I'm away from him because he's started crying and they can't help him; or that they may not call me if something is wrong with him and just let him cry.

I know that these things are just because I'm his mom and want everything to be perfect for him. He has only been left with my husband and my mom, and I trust them with my son and know they won't do anything I don't want them to do. He is the focal point of my life every day, so it's hard to be without him and switch gears back to being me without him.

If you don't stay at home with your baby and go back to work, then you'll have to consider babysitters or day-cares. This is even harder and more stressful of a task because if you don't have any family or friends that are able to babysit your baby, then you'll have to consider people you don't necessarily know to watch them. Hearing all of the horror stories of babies and little kids being mistreated in day-care settings is definitely going to make it harder to find people you can trust. Of course, it'll get easier over time, but there will still be days where it'll be hard to be away from your baby.

Whether you're going to be away from your baby for only a few days out of the month or if you'll be going back to work, being away from your baby is going to be stressful and worrisome. Every mother feels this way at first, but it will get easier.