Two weeks in Europe - what to do with 28-month-old?

Could you arrange for grandma to have some help - not fulltime, but a babysitter for some hours during the day to give her a break? Maybe grandma knows someone, or could ask her friends for help finding a good person.  It is hard for anyone to take care of a toddler full-time, solo, for more than a day, I think, but with a good amount of help, it seems do-able. 

To me that seems a better option than having someone totally unknown to you take care of your daughter for two weeks while you are thousands of miles away. 

I would not worry about the bad habits.  At least in my opinion, even if all she does with grandma is watch TV, eat Twinkies and pee in her pants, there won't be any long-term damage.  You may have a few issues on re-entry, but that's the tradeoff for a two-week childfree vacation.    If you really want to control how she's parented during that time, you need to bring her with you.

I second the responder's suggestion to see if your parents or in-laws would be willing to watch your daughter with some extra help during the day.  But I would also strongly encourage you to consider rethinking a whistle stop tour (if you are without your kid, don't you want to relax a bit?) and reconsidering taking your daughter.  

We took our kid to Switzerland and Italy for 2 weeks at around the same age.  We had a blast.  Travel with children is different.  It is true that you cannot see 32 countries in 7 days but I've found that people, both tourists and locals, are actually much more social with one another when kids are in tow, which makes for a more enjoyable experience.  You are sometimes limited in where you can eat and how long you can spend at the museum, but in a way it forces you to prioritize what is really important to you to see, and gives you permission to let go of the urge to check every box. 

A few suggestions, if you do take the kid: (1) consider upgrading your seats to economy plus for the international flight so she cannot kick the seat in front of you (pricey but much less stressful), (2) try to stay in each town at least 2 nights, and ideally 3+ nights, (4) try to keep travel times to 1/2 day or less, (5) bring a carrying pack and leave the stroller at home, (6) plan to stay near a park or some other public area where she can run around, and (6) be flexible (if you plan to do 3-4 things in a day and only get to do 2, you have to be okay with that)

Whichever you choose, I hope you have a great trip!

I agree with the suggestion to find help for grandma, perhaps substantial help if needed.  The idea of leaving a 2 year old with someone new for that long a time concerns me---just think about how s/he might feel.   We took our son to Europe at 6 months, 14 months, and later, on a regular basis since my husband is French and somehow it worked.  The Germans and Italians were wonderful with him; the Dutch, not so much.   I think that 2 weeks is a long time in a 2 year old's world to be apart from parents.   

I know this is a difficult choice, but I don't advise leaving a child this young with anyone for that long.  Find childcare where you travel and take her with you.  It will be a different trip, but at least your daughter will not experience separation feelings.

That's my advice, both as parent, grandparent and clinical social worker.

I think you should try to revise your trip and take your toddler along. It’s a rare two year old who wouldn’t be pretty traumatized being left for two weeks with someone other than their primary care givers. If grandma lived local and saw and cared for your child all the time it would probably be fine but if they live in Texas I’m guessing they don’t play a daily role in your kid’s life? How scary for your baby to be left. Scarier if you hired some sort of service to watch them:(. I’d redesign the trip slightly and look into some trusted baby sitting services in Europe that you can utilize for some child free time.

If you’re worried about superstition anxiety, leaving her with strangers for two weeks is an absolutely terrible idea. Why not take her with? Europeans are wonderfully accommodating with children (way more than Americans in my experience).

Perhaps you could arrange for childcare to help grandma with the toddler? Someone who could come in during parts of the day to give her a break? Personally, I would say that leaving a 2 year old for 2 weeks is a very long time to be separated, and I would expect regression and potential behavior changes no matter which route you choose. I would take her with me if I were you, and if she is an outgoing toddler, try to arrange some childcare in Europe to give you breaks and time away.

Obviously if you bring your child, it's a completely different trip. I took my then 17 mo. by myself (what was I thinking!) to Munich for a wedding for a few days.  It was a blast- now- I had friends I was meeting there (wedding), my son was mellow (friends wanted to hang out with us), and people bent over backwards to help a man and his child.  If you do leave your child with the grandparents, it might not be a good idea to FaceTime/Skype with her- I did that and my son started crying badly.  I agree with the first poster- spring for a baby sitter- who can come say half day, and maybe the evenings- say 5-6 hrs/day.  I take it your toddler might still nap?  Running after a toddler is a LOT of work for grandparents. As a toddler, my in-laws took our son for a weekend; we got back from the hot springs, and they put themselves to bed for 2 days.  Now our older son is 6, my in-laws are more than happy to take him for a week later this month.  

And thanks to 2nd anon for travel w/kids advice!

Is grandma comfortable with a shorter time period? If so, can you shorten your trip?

I would take the daughter with you to Europe and scale back the whirlwind level of the tour to something more amenable to a toddler. The long flight is doable. We did a two-week trip to Europe when our son was that age and it was totally fine. It helps if they can take their afternoon nap in the stroller.