I have a question… i am staying at the NICU with my baby who was born premature. But my youngest is only 17 months old, so I’m worried that he may start to forget me or our bond will change when we get home. It’s looking like the new baby will be in the NICU for about 10 weeks, I am fortunate enough to be able to stay at the hospital with her and go home a few times a week. Do any moms have any insight on how the time away affected their young children? We FaceTime and talk every day… I’m a worried mama and I don’t want my toddler to feel any different towards me.
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Your toddler will be okay just keep doing what you are doing . When my daughter was in the NICU I would come see her very early till lunch then go home see my other kiddos and then go back to the hospital till it was there bed time . My daughter was in the nicu for 57 days. It was hard . Just have a good support system and it will help you get though it
My mom wasn’t allowed to see me the first 2 weeks of my life. I was premature, she had 3 operations at once & it was the 1950s. Therefore she could not breastfeed me. I had no problem bonding with my mom. Maybe spend a bit more time with your toddler as newborn will not remember this time.
We have a new baby a toddler a 7&6 year old they all seem to be adjusting we try to give all our kids extra attention and cuddles especially our toddler since he can’t really understand why he’s not the baby of the family anymore
While I’ve never experienced this, I would suggest trying to see him for at least an hour or two every day or every other day and face time as much as possible. If possible have someone bring him to you at the hospital with lunch and spend lunch with him and have someone else stay with baby in NICU during that time. Make it a priority when you come home to plan individual time with the toddler so he doesn’t feel left out. I have a 3 and 1 year old so I try to give my 3 year old my undivided attention once or twice a week where it’s just me and him doing something. It’s very hard to split your attention and make sure both feel loved. You’ve got this though 
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If you are keeping contact and going home every so often and explaining things, your kid will be fine.