Baby & Toddler

Will lunchtime video calls unsettle a 6 month old once I'm back at work?

quiet_bottle_4385

My leave runs out at the start of June and our caregiver will have him through the day. I'm already planning to call home at lunch, partly for him and mostly for me. My partner thinks a call in the middle of the day will remind him I'm gone and make the afternoon harder for the caregiver. I think at six months he barely registers a phone screen. Neither of us knows. If you went back to work around this age, did the daytime calls help, make no difference, or set off crying after you hung up?

4 comments

  • juniper_sketch_7575

    we did calls for the first few weeks of daycare. he'd look at the screen for a bit and then at the ceiling fan. i don't think he minded either way. i minded when i hung up though

  • mellow_rain_9072

    This goes back fifteen years, so take it with that in mind. My partner called home at lunch every day when our daughter was small, and after a few weeks the caregiver asked her to call during the nap instead, because the crying started the moment the voice stopped. Would your caregiver feel comfortable telling you if the calls were making her afternoons harder?

  • maple_balcony_8145

    It was different for us with each child. With the first, calls were fine until about nine months, then he started looking behind the phone for me and crying when the screen went dark. With the second we switched to voice notes that the caregiver played when she judged it was a good moment. Less satisfying for me, easier for everyone else.

  • indigo_marigold_7034

    our daycare asked parents not to video call during the day at all. annoyed me at first. by the second month i was glad someone else had made the rule

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