It's something that my nephews caretakers do. He is less than two years old right now. There are a couple of people that the kid is extremely attached to which I think is normal. If they have to leave, they do it behind his back when he is distracted. I asked an LLM if this was a commonly used method and it said it's called "slipping out" but it's an LLM so...
Maybe I am being naive and sentimental but I don't know how to feel about it. It is convenient for sure. Taking care of a child is challenging as is. But at a basic level it just feels like a bad thing to do. Lying to a child and leaving behind their back. The child is showing a behaviour that I think could be a side effect of it but it could also just be normal. The child gets upset if one of the aforementioned people that he is overly attached to, for example, go to the bathroom to take a piss. And it's worse when only one of them is at home. They to go take a piss behind the kid's back so he doesn't notice.
Any of you all have experience with something like this? I guess it's natural for a child to get attached to certain people but oftentimes the most convenient way to deal with an issue is not the best one.
I once tried to trick my son into ending bathtime by letting the water drain and the bewildered heartbreak at the water suddenly being gone haunts me.
Now whenever someone or something he likes is about to go away I give ample warning ahead and tell him to say bye-bye and we wave bye-bye. He doesn't enjoy it any more for it, but he braces for a goodbye and understands much more quickly that something is over or someone is gone and accepts it much sooner.
Yeah it feels a bit callous playing ruses on children. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.