Not all babies go through stranger anxiety and some won’t even mind when you leave them with a sitter, or at a daycare center. Most babies do experience some form of baby anxiety when their primary caregivers take off though.

First off, this is a good thing, and perfectly normal. It shows your baby has a healthy and loving attachment to you. It’s typical for babies to miss their parents starting at around six months. Knowing that it’s normal though, is not much help when you look at their little tearful faces, is it?

The best thing to do is to start a goodbye routine when your baby is little and continue it through the toddler years.

Do: Offer a replacement friend. A blanket, stuffed toy, or favorite wooden truck that always gets to go with your baby can be soothing to him.

Don’t: Drag out the goodbyes. Hanging around trying to sooth your baby is not going to help, as soon as you stand up to go, you’ll be back at square one, and maybe late for work. As a six month old - two year old, Cedar hated when I’d leave him at the daycare when I was in college. It killed me to leave him crying, but the daycare assured me that minutes after I’d leave he’d chill. To calm myself, I’d hide out to make sure they were telling the truth. Sure enough, 90% of the time he was calm within five minutes of me leaving.

Do: Always say goodbye. Even if your baby can’t understand you, he can be comforted by your voice, and the routine of it all. I used to tell Cedar, “Goodbye, I love you, (kiss & hug), I’ll be back later.” I kept it the same each time and then left, to make it easier for him to follow the routine.

Don’t: Sneak out. This is easy on you sure - get him playing and happy, and sneak away. But how mean is this to do to your babe? It is mean and sneaky, and it teaches your baby that one, he can’t trust you, and two, he can’t know what to expect. This is really unsettling for little ones. Always say goodbye, even if it’s hard on you.