Visiting Dad unsettles my son

My husband and I seperated at New year. He didn't see our son (18 months old) for the first 6 weeks of the year but since then he's seen him most Saturdays. When my son comes back to me after his time with his Dad he seems really unsettled- he doesn't want his bath, he cries when I put him in his cot for bed and so on. I'm sure it is unsettling for him not to see his Dad for very long and he's not able to communicate that so this is his way of showing me that he's not happy but I don't know what to do to help him.

My husband works away and I'd been staying in various hotels up and down the country with my son and husband since son was born so he's used to disruption and not seeing his Dad much. In the 6 weeks that he didn't see his Dad he started to sleep through the night, went to bed without crying and was generally happy and settled (all for the first time since he was born). Since he started seeing his Dad again that's all changed.

Has anyone else experienced that and does anyone have any advice about how to help him deal with this?

My daughter was the same sometimes about that age up until about 3 years old. She saw her dad every weekend but only for a few hours at a time.... the maybe once monthly over nights with him she always come back a bit more unsettled than usual.

Good luck hun, I hope you guys work through this ok

I think that at the moment it is something you need to bear with. Martha's Dad left when she was 3 and since he has moved in with his girlfriend, she has had to get used to 'sharing' him with her son, and now she is adjusting to a new baby arriving in a few week. All you can do is be a constant and be there for them - I'm sure once they are older they will appreciate this