Said It Here

How to deal with separation anxiety going back to work

Going back to work after months at home brings a painful mix of financial relief and deep mental distress over leaving a young baby. This emotional weight makes the transition feel overwhelming, leaving parents struggling to focus while trying to balance work expectations with the heartbreak of being apart.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    seeing a therapist regularly and anticipating multiple conversations about it
  2. 2
    returning to work part-time
  3. 3
    relying on a single income while struggling financially

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/Parenting2 people · September 2026

“Also, how did you handle your own separation anxiety?”source ↗

“I’m excited to be contributing financially to the household again but sad to be needing to leave my babies.”source ↗

ReferenceAware1053 · r/Parenting · 1 upvotes

“i have a 5 month old and am needing to go back to work and struggling so much mentally even tho its just part time.”source ↗

“i have been w my baby for almost six months and my husbands on me to get a job bc money is very tight w just him working”source ↗

Dangerous-Mistake-88 · r/Parenting

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised