I'm interested in hearing some gentle solutions too as Kynan is starting to experience this I think.

I have him in the hug a bub a lot but it's not always possible to do this. This morning I was doing some cooking so obviously couldn't have Kynan near the stove so he happily sat in his rocker & played with some toys at the other end of the kitchen. If I need to leave him for a few minutes, like if I'm going to the loo or to put a dirty nappy in the laundry etc, then I tell him where I'm going & that I'll be back very soon. I give him something to play with whilst I'm gone and if he starts to get upset I keep talking to him when I'm out of the room, tell him what I'm doing, so he knows that I'm still there and haven't disappeared completely. He can still get hysterical very quickly even then but I figure if I keep gently explaining things to him like that then hopefully it won't take too long for him to figure out that Mummy hasn't gone away forever. I also hide behind the curtains on his activity gym thingo and play peek a boo with him which seems to help a little.

I've also read that getting bub to leave you, rather than you leave them, can help get them used to being away from you (eg. get DH to take bub for a walk... wave goodbye as they leave & then talk about all the exciting things they did/saw when they get back).

Good luck!!