Easing Separation Anxiety, Age-by-Age

It’s a scene many parents have lived out: You’re having a good morning, sipping coffee as you drive your happy, babbling 8-month-old to the babysitter’s house on your way to work.

- Malia Jacobson

Armed with the diaper bag and your baby’s lovey, you bundle her into the sitter’s warm, welcoming home as you’ve done dozens of times.

But this time, when you hand her to the sitter, things go sour. She throws herself back toward you, seemingly trying to leap from the sitter’s arms into yours, unleashing a guttural scream as her face turns crimson. Your heart drops. You offer a few soothing utterances before turning to leave, your stomach and mind in knots as you reluctantly walk back to the car. Though separation anxiety in children developmentally is normal — even healthy — it can be confusing and upsetting, too. Here’s an age-by-age guide for facilitating smoother separations from babyhood through adolescence.

Early Years

Keep Calm