Preparing for First Night Away from 6-Month-old

Consider taking her with you in a carrier. She'll probably sleep most of the time, and if she does wake unhappy, you'll be able to soothe her right away.

We took our newly 1 year old to my husband's reunion and it went perfectly fine. There were other little kids (I think ours was the oldest) there as well and nobody thought or said anything about it. At six months old, both my kids also were held or carried most of the time. That's what they needed and was absolutely the right choice for our family.

If you really want to leave her, then one thing you can try is having your husband soothe her and offer her your milk every night between now and the reunion. That should give her some time to prepare, but she also may become more insistent on you during the day. She's right at the age of seperation anxiety.

Another option to consider is for you to not drink (I don't assume that you will, keep reading) and then if you are needed to rush home to baby girl, you're in a position to be able to and then still go back to your husband and the reunion. It might be terribly inconvenient for you and your husband, but it might be want she needs.

I just read through the other responses and can see that mine is much different. What is your gut telling you is the best approach? You're the mom and what your gut is telling you is probably right.

I don't know that you can really prepare her, but I would prepare your in-laws. It could be a long 16 hours for them, but you never know....things might go a lot more smoothely than you think.
The main thing for you to realize is that your daughter won't be scarred for life if someone else has to comfort her for a 16 hour time period.
She's been used to things a certain way, but something different won't harm her.
She's not going to be mad at you or hold a grudge. She will be happy to see you when you get back.
You have two weeks. Let your husband take a bigger role in the comforting thing, before and after your outing, and go and have a great time.
I'm sure your daughter will be in capable hands, she'll be in her familiar surroundings...I know she'll be just fine.
It will likely be harder on you than it is on her.

Best wishes.

There isn't much you can do to prepare her to be away from you b/c she's too young to retain something long enough to "remember"!

However, make sure that your in-laws are prepared so that they don't think that it's something that they are/not doing. If you wear a perfume, have your mother-in-law spray a little on when she's with the baby- smell is a very powerful sense. If you have a certain routine, write it down so that they can follow it- we did this for my parents and it was very helpful.

Just an aside... you probably should try putting her down more often. She is old enough to start soothing herself! This may be a good "starting point" for you in general- let her play (supervised) on a blanket by herself. Have her play in a bouncy seat for a while so you can do dishes. If she gets fussy, talk to her, but try to not swoop in and pick her up right away. It's tough b/c you know that it will immediately relieve her distress, but there's also a good chance that she's just "checking" to see where you are and if you'll come!

Have a great time at the reunion and try not to stress too much! We left my son with my in-laws for a night to go to a wedding. The morning we were supposed to leave he had a low-grade fever- took him to the doc and it was just a mild cold- no meds or anything specific needed. My immediate reaction was to cancel our plans to which my very wise doctor asked me why I would do that. He asked if I felt that my mother-in-law could cuddle and play with him, yes. Can she feed him his bottle and change his diaper? Yes. Will she sleep next to him if he has a hard time at a different house? Yes. Go-have fun and remember that you and your husband have a relationship and a life too- it was good advice!

I would start by not wearing or holding her most of the time that she is awake - at 6 months, she can start to play on her own, on the floor, and develop some sense of independence. I think that your in-laws will be able to handle one night of difficult sleep, as will your daughter...the milk is probably a bigger issue - if she barely drinks out of a sippy cup, and won't drink out of a bottle...what will she be eating while you are gone?

I don't really think there is any way for you to "prepare" her. At this age, behaviors and new skills are learned from repetition...unless you're prepared to go away for a night several times over the next two weeks, you're not going to have the desired effect.

I would suggest having grandma and grandpa come down a full day and night before you need to leave. Let them take care of her as much as possible during that time. Make sure they can use the carrier/sling/wrap with confidence.

Install the car seats for them so it can be ready to go if they need to drive her around to calm her down.

You'll be amazed...once you're out of the proximity, she'll have her moments, but they'll all be fine. Even better that it is two of them. One can take night duty and nap while the other manages the day.

I'm a single mom and travel for work...I took my first trip when my daughter was just a few months old. Granted, she was quite used to daycare at that point, she was still nursing at night. She did great and continues to take my business trips in stride.

My son also only wanted me for a time. We made a point of having my husband comfort him. Sometimes I would walk away because he would just reach for me. It was a bit stressful to know that he wanted me and that I could immediately stop his upset, but it was also really important for my husband to be able to soothe him. (I travel for work). We did this for a couple days that whenever my husband was around, he was the comforter. My son is now 2.5 and although there are still mommy moments, if my husband was alone with him, he could comfort him without a problem.