Would my baby be better off if I didn’t spend so much time with her on my days off?

Childcare

My husband and I work full time jobs. I am the default parent and grandma takes care of baby when I work. My work schedule is 7 days of work followed by 7 days off. My shifts vary from 8-12 hrs each day, so so some days the only time I spend with baby is during her bedtime routine and during sleep since we cosleep.

When I am off, I try to spend most of the time with baby, not only for baby and me, but also to give grandma some rest as I know taking care of baby all week can be exhausting.

During my days off baby lives in my arms, we play all day, contact nap; literally the only time she is not with me is during the time I shower, use the restroom, or walk the dog. We (as in grandma, baby, and me) have a lot of fun! We go grocery shopping, go to the park, go for dessert together, we try to make the week as fun as we can…. But when I go back to work, at least the first day of my work week, is very rough for baby. She is fussy, doesn’t want to eat. Grandma says she cries all day. It breaks my heart that she has to go through it each time and makes me wonder if I am undoing the bonding she forms w her grandma during my work week.

My heart tells me to give my baby all the attention, cuddles, and enjoy this very privileged schedule of having 7 days off in a row to enjoy her, but after seeing her cry today and immediately calm down when I held her, it made me wonder if I am making it harder on her by “spoiling” her so much during my week off? Would she benefit from a more balanced time between me and grandma?

As I type this I know this sounds like “baby misses me, am I a bad parent?”… but I dont know, I just wanted to ask for other people’s experiences and thoughts. I know some of my coworkers w similar schedules still use daycare for some hours a day during their days off, but they dont count w the support I get from grandma for cooking and other chores.

Thank you in advance

Posted Feb 25, 2026, 8:57 PM UTC

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