8 Month Old Staying the Night at Grandma/pa's House

Hi C..
The sooner you spend a night away from your daughter, the better for the of you in the long run. My daughter began staying the night at my mom's for one night a month around six months, and now at 18 months, they've got their routine down and she just loves going to visit Grammie.
On the other hand, I nanny for a 20 month old who has never stayed a night away from her mom, until just recently. Honestly, the little girl did great, but I think it was harder on the mom. But at the older age, it would easy for her to play on her emotions not wanting mom to go.
As far as when you leave her, I would kiss her goodbye while she's awake, make sure your mom is aware of her routine... and leave. Let grandma put her down, so she is not anxious waking up and seeing grandma, and wondering where mommy is. You'll miss her like crazy and it will feel very strange going to bed with your daughter not under the same roof, but call a million times if you need to and in the long run you may be able to do it again and enjoy a much needed night to yourself.
Good luck!

I left my daughter with my parents when she was 9 months old so that my husband and I could go on vacation - I ended up calling home twice an hour for the first day we were away, worrying about her. Like your daughter, mine had spent most of her life seeing them almost every day, so she was comfortable with the environment - turns out, she didn't mention mama or dada ONCE while we were gone. My mother said she had SO much fun doing new and interesting things with them, and they let her stay up nice and late so she was ready to drop by the time bed time came around.
I found myself proud that she was so well adjusted, but sad that she seemed to care less that we were gone. When we returned home, she was like "hi mama, hi dada" and that was it. No huge loving welcome, no nothing! LOL. Needless to say, my husband and I are able to go on a vacation by ourselves once a year for 3-5 days, and my little girl SO looks forward to it. She will be FINE, I promise you. Its going to be much harder for you to leave her than the other way around - just like we need a moment to ourselves sometimes,Im convinced our children appreciate a change of venue and loving caretaker once in awhile too.
She is still really young to explain "mommy will not be here tonight...." so just drop her off like usual, and leave it at that. Hopefully, she wont even notice you didn't come around because she will be distracted with new things. Have her take whatever "lovie" she has, be it a binky, a blankey, or a stuffed animal and have your mother follow more or less the same bedtime routine that you guys do at home .

I breastfeed my daughter and would want to put my daughter to bed if possible. My husband wants me to leave her overnight for a wedding in two months (she will be 6 1/2 months old) and I really don't want to leave her. It would be much easier if I could put her to bed, then leave. Good luck and do what makes you most comfortable!

What always worked for me is dropping off the boys' give kiss/hug right away and walk out. They didn't have a chance to cry becuase they would have a toy or their pet there or something distracting them. Good luck ~

I had a hard time with this subject too. It all depends on your child and how well she adjusts to change and if she needs routine or does well outside of her element. I would guess by what you described above that in your situation it will be much harder on you then on your daughter. She sounds like she has a great relationship with your mother and that being with grandma is nothing new. If at all possible for the first overnighter at 8 months though I would recommend your mom come to you and stay at your home so the baby can sleep in her own bed and everyone can get a good night sleep. If that is not possible though I don’t think it will harm anyone for her to have her first overnighter at grandmas. Maybe this is a good time to break the ice!

I think that your mom should put her to bed in case she wakes up in the middle of the night. Your daughter should realize and see you leave rather than be suprised when she wakes up in the night or the next morning. I just left my daughter at 11 months old and I thought she would freak out, but she actually had a lot of fun and I think my parents enjoyed it also. Plus you can get a full night of rest, which doesn't come often.