Clingy dd at 8months

[jofeb04]

My dd is 8months old, and will not allow me to leave her with anyone. She cries the minute my back is turned. I always say "I wont be long" etc, but its always the same. She is also like this with my dh.
However, I dont know what to do, at my wits end really, I think its more because my ds (now 2), was never like this.
How do you get anything done with a clingy baby?

Hi Jo. Ds is 8 monthstoo and is just the same. I believe it's just a phase/seperation anxiety thing but quite honestly it's doing my head in and i feel so guilty about it too.

I have mastered the art of doing lots of things one handed but still can't get much done.

No advice just lots of sympathy

Normal normal normal - so sorry! It's a phase that they go through, and there really isn't much you can do about it. At this age they've just realised that you're a separate person to them, but they don't yet understand that you will come back. The best thing to do is to give them the confidence that mummy (or daddy) is always there for them by not challenging them at this point. In a few months - maybe as little as one or two - you will be released again. Meantime, invest in a playpen or a ring-type sling so that they can be close to you whenever they need to be.

I'm not an attachment parenter, but think that some of the attachment stuff is very good, and this is one of the points at which I think attachment works better than strictness.

my ds2 was very clingy at that age. Ds1 wasn't at all.
ds2 is now 10 months and some days it is worse than others.
But it is getting better

you have my complete sympathy
i think you just have to grin and bear it- it is a phase!!

DS is nearly 10 months and is very clingy towards DH at the moment...cries when DH leaves him in nursery and cries when DH hands him over to me in order to go to work/cook/toilet! Makes me feel great! Cue guilt and anxiety about being a WOHM!

Thanks you lot,
Is it best to keep her close to me then, or just let her cry?

i just tery to keep him happy so i pick him up and carry him around as and when he needs it.
I try to distrct him and when his concntration moves away from me a bit i sidle of and do whatever...
it is hard and blinkin relentless tho'
but they do come through it

i also don't make alot of fuss of him if he gets handed over to me, i just hold him and carry on with what i am doing so it doesn't look like i am resucing him from the person/thing that wasn't me

I got a hip carrier - a star buy as dd was like a limpet at this stage. I reckoned (well, hoped to God) that if I let her cling as much as she liked she'd be more secur long term.

She's much better now at 15 months, being mobile helps, but still a bit of a mummy's girl (which I secretly like anyway!). Realised the other day that I haven't needed the hip carrier in WEEKS .

Sounds like you're doing all the right things!