Help, my 4 year old is having trouble leaving the house?

Question

My husband and I have seperated and now my two boys have become very attached to me. My four year old is having an especially hard time with leaving the house. He used to spend Fridays at his Auntie Lynnies house and Sundays at Grammys. Now he gets there and an hour or so later makes someone drive him home, once they get him home, he wants to go back to their house again. I can remember having this happen with me when I was younger, but not to this extent. It's becoming very hard to understand what the root of the problem is. I am afraid he thinks I will not be here and be gone like his daddy is...so he feels he has to check on me to be sure I'm still home.

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to help him enjoy his time with his relatives and friends again?

Thank you so much for your time.

Answer 1

if he stays at his auntas house then sent a "special time" for him to call you when you know you will be able to talk to him. Give him a special stuffed animal he can sleep with like a build a bear u build together. and for granny's house if she doesnt live to far meet them for dinner.

Answer 2

Give his some kind of special thing to hold on to. Tell him you want him to keep it for you until he gets home. I don't know why it works but it did for my nephew. I told him to hold on to my cell phone when we drove in seperate cars and he was glad to give it back to me. It makes coming and going less stressful. Good luck. Also tell him he can call you anytime.

Answer 3

let him know that he can call you and you should try calling him just to talk to him and for no other reason. it will ease his mind and yours if he still doesn't want to go or stay don't force him if you don't have to, this could make it worse.  if he wants to stay with you and there is no reason why he shouldn't then let him, it is just a phase and he will grow out of it mine done the same thing.  just let them know your there no matter where they are at.

Answer 4

that's a normal stage children go through.  My son would hug my leg and scream whenever i tried to leave him at daycare or with a friend or relative.  once he was there he'd want to come back home quickly too.   I found that calling him on the phone, or having them help him call me helped a great deal.  it rebuilt his confidence and showed him that even if i wasn't there in person he could still reach me and talk to me.  after a few weeks of phone calls he was fine and usually was too busy then to talk on the phone :)