When DS1 was born my mum came to visit for a week to help out and seemed really interested. When DS2 was born I called her to let her know then didn't hear anything from her until I called her 5 days later. She just seemed completely uninterested, said she couldn't come and visit as she was dog sitting. Now DS2 is nearly 1 and still no visit from any of my family. If we didn't make an effort to visit them the children wouldn't see them at all.
We live about 4 hours drive away, but we still manage it with 2 children in tow, one being potty trained.