Unhappy and clingy baby

[nessmay]

My dd is 7 months and for the past few weeks has been very clingy. Despite this she was still happy to go for a walk in the pushchair, but for the last week its been a different story. She will sleep for about 15 mins (normally she'd sleep 1-2 hours) and then wake up being very whiney, this then leads to a hysterical crying fit / scream. This morning she didn't even sleep, we just got screaming for 20 mins until we arrived at our baby group. She had worked herself up so much that it took a while to calm her down.

I'm wondering if she gets so upset because the pushchair only faces away from me. This has never been a problem before and she loved it to begin with. Does anyone else have experience of this? I'm tempted to buy a buggy 2nd hand, but not if this is just a phase which will end in a few weeks.

I stop walking and go round the front so she can see me but she just carrys on screaming. I also try singing or talking to her but she's so loud I'd need a megaphone. Getting a bit sick of people's disapproving looks :(

Could she be teething?

and if it's not teething, could she have an ear infection? TBH if its been a week I'd have her checked out at the GPs anyway.

She only does it when she's in the pushchair, she's fine at home. Plus she's not pulling on her ears or showing any other signs.

Could you borrow a baby carrier and see if that helps?

Hi, nessmay, DS1 went through a similar really clingy phase from around 6 months to 8 months. He hated being put down, so I had to carry him everywhere if I didn't want to hear howling all day, and the worst was the pushchair - he would scream from the second he saw it till he came out, even if it took an hour are more

I think it was because our pushchair was a forward-facing Maclaren (I so, so wished during those two months that I'd splurged on a bugaboo), but this is apparently a developmental phase that a lot of babies go through, when they realise that they are actually separate entities from their mother. They fear that if their mother puts them down she might not come back, and they have to work it out for themselves that no, it is only temporary, and she will pick me up again soon.

So I think it's normal (but so tedious and awful), and it will pass in the next few weeks, but if you are worried about her health, see the GP as JJJ suggests just to put your mind at rest.

And the next time you get a disapproving look, give a glare back. I learnt to do that pretty quickly, otherwise I'd have ended up an agoraphobic wreck.

Thanks JJJ, I might ask round to see if anyone has a spare. Hopefully I won't need it for too long.

Thanks also ttalloo. Hopefully it'll pass soon, I just feel so sorry for her. A few other mum's I've spoken to have said their dc's are being clingy at the mo, but they don't have a prob with the pushchair. Surprise surprise they all have rear facing ones!

nessmay I don't think you would have to splurge to get a pushchair where she could see you. I've got an old M&P one that faces either way. Maybe you could get something like that from ebay or an NCT Nearly New Sale?

You could try giving her something that smells of you to hold in the pushchair. Like a t-shirt you have slept in. Something to reassure her while you are out and about that you still exist.

Maybe also try playing peekaboo while you are at home, cover her eyes and look for her. To help her grasp that things are still there when she cant see them.