On this page we want to include your experiences of coping with the process of separation from your children, including leaving your children with family, friends, childminders or at nursery, preschool and school.

"In my head I knew that the crying and clinginess was just for my benefit but it didn't stop the sick feeling in my stomach and the guilt of leaving my child" "I don't think it ever gets easier to leave you child. I've have left my son with other carers since he was 4 months old, grandparents, a child minder, play group, nursery. He's now coming up to four and I'm finding it harder than ever. He can now tell me doesn't want to go to nursery, so on top of the crying and clinginess you hear your son telling you he wants to stay with mummy. I believe it's just the parting that he find difficult so I try to settle him the best I can, ignore the sickness in my stomach and leave to find something to distract me from the guilty feelings." "As a child minder I used to know that every child I'd looked after stopped crying as soon as mum or dad had left. As a mum I became one of those paranoid parents who keep phoning to check that their child is OK." "The day I left her with the childminder for an hour I cried the whole time. This was completely out of character, so much so that my husband, who was working at home thought I was putting it on! I wished I had grandparents to leave her with but we didn't have this option. Now I know my minder much better the whole situation is much easier to cope with, but leaving your precious child with a virtual stranger felt very strange at the time."

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