Mamas Boy - Central Falls,RI

This is just separation anxiety and terrible 2's (and eventually terrible 3's) and transitions (dropping off and later when you pick him up, too).
It's a development stage and they all go through it in one form or another.
Even into school age some kids will cry when you drop them off, but 10 min later they are playing with friends and are fine while we worry about them all day long.
There's not really anything you can do to shorten it.
Continue to cuddle and rock him all you/he want (they grow so fast, he won't fit in your lap forever).
He's fine!
Try not to worry (although it's impossible not to).

Well, first of all, I'm sure he's picking up on YOUR anxiety about having to leave him.

And next, the phrase 'mama's boy' has such negative intonations. But how would it be a bad thing when a mother and son have a close bond?

It just the way it has to be. Mom has to work. Every child will be required to be away from his mother occasionally. If you are matter of fact about it, he WILL get used to it. More importantly, perhaps, YOU'LL get used to it! It should actually be GOOD for you both. MANY moms drop their young children at daycare for 40 hrs a week!

If you have reason to think the babysitter and her son are a poor match for you fella, well that's a different story, you know?

:)

This is so normal, i am currently a full time student so i have been home with my almost 3 year old and my husband is in the military and recently did a 6 month tour over seas. So our son went to day care 2 days a week for about 5 hours he cried so hard when i dropped him off and this went on for 6 months. He was so attached to me and prior to this is we could go to my parents and i couldnt walk out of the room and he started to look for me and cry. Just hang in there, dont change anything keep doing what you are doing if you stop or change it he is going to know that he won and will try this game in future also. I hung in there and like the last week maybe two weeks or dropping him off at school were just fine go figure! Does he take a blanket or bear that you could send with him? My son had a blanket that i sent with him to school and it seemed to help

Two-year-olds can be pretty clingy anyhow. One of my grandchildren was velcro-ed to her mama for quite a while. She did grow out of it, but she had to do it on her own time schedule.

I'm just mentioning this so you'll be assured that being a Mama's Boy, at this age, is not a fault. It's just an inconvenience at times. If he's a Mama's Boy at age forty, on the other hand, you'll need to worry.

I'm a tad confused; today will your boy be at your house, taken care of by someone else, or will he be at that babysitter's home? At any rate, he's old enough to miss you. Is there structure in his Sundays? Does he get along well with the sitter's son? Do you think the complete fit is to try to get you to come back and get him? Does he ever have meltdowns at home over one thing or another? Two is a prime age for that! I think part of it must have to do with a child's being grown enough to begin to wonder and worry about things, but not enough to be able to articulate what's on his mind.

You and the sitter need to be in cahoots for a while. If she can have something special (not expensive - just something to look forward to doing) planned for that day, it would be something you could mention to him as you get him up in the morning. In addition, you can tell him sometimes on Saturday, in a firm but friendly way, "Remember that tomorrow you GET to [not "have to"] go to Mrs. Smith's house. You'll get to play and to do [the special thing], and in the evening I WILL be back to pick you up so we can go home together." The sitter can also remind your son during the day that you are doing your job right now and that you WILL be there for him in the evening. Your attitude and the sitter's attitude can play a big part in this adjustment.

Hope this helps.

I think it's the age--separation anxiety.
(Unless, like Theresa said, there's a bigger compatibility issue going on.)
Maybe make him a little photo album of pix of you, him and you & him together that he can take with him.....and schedule a phone call or two during those 10 hours....good luck!

I'd say it's pretty much because of his age and the fact that it's only ONCE a week that you are away, just not enough frequency for him to get used to it quickly. If your sitter is patient with him, I'm sure he'll get used to this eventually.

When you leave, give him a picture of you and him together and assure him that you will come back to get him very soon. He does not know what 1 minute or 1 hour means, just that he fears you will never come back. My daughter used to yell in surprise: "oh mama, you came back!!" so she honestly thought I was not going to.
I made a necklace for her that was a picture of the 2 of us cut out in a heart shape and then laminated with a break-away string that she wore during preschool so she could look at it if she missed mommy. He just misses you, hang onto that love and cuddling as long as you can, before you know it he will be 14 and barely want to talk to you, lol!

I've found that there can be a few things that might help when dropping my kids off at daycare. First, although I'm sad too, I don't let them know that. I always have a positive attitude about their daycare. I am confident that it's a safe and fun place to be. So, when I'm leaving, I do say goodbye and blow a kiss, but then I just leave matter-of-factly with a smile on my face saying, "See you later! I love you!"

Also, it helps if the sitter can get them engaged in something - whatever their interests are. Sometimes it's a special puzzle, or instruments - coloring - whatever! I do try to say "goodbye" like I said, but if the kids are having trouble that day (it's usually my daugther - my son tends to be more mellow / easy-going) I might slip out quietly rather than disrupting the activity the sitter's got them engaged in. A lot of times, when I do this, my daughter will look up and smile saying, "Bye Mama!"

I find too that sometimes it helps to talk about what we'll do when I pick them up. Will we watch a special show? Draw a certain picture? Play outside?

And, finally, lately my daughter likes me to make her an "I miss you" card. I'm not sure where she heard of this, but we draw it together in the morning, and then I put it in her bag so she can have it for the day. Sometimes I make one for her the night before as a surprise in the morning.

Hope this helps. Good luck!