Separation anxiety? 7Mo

[lannyshrops]

My DD is 7mo. She is a happy, sociable child, happy playing with toys on her own etc with me or her dad in the room. She has always been quite independent in nature, preferring her own space to go to sleep from very early on,will ask to get down off my knee to play on the floor or next to me (by squirming or grumbling) etc.

I interact with her quite a lot on and off (singing, playing peek a boo, playing with toys) maybe for 5-10 mins at a time every half hour or so. The in between times she happily plays with toys and tries to crawl while I potter about chattering out loud, sit and have a hot coffee. (Hopefully!)

Over the last week or so I have noticed that if I leave the room (just to go and pop the kettle on or something) or go further away than about 5 metres she starts crying, a lot! Real tears, screaming, hiccuping, the world is ending type crying. This stops the moment I return and pick her up. It doesn't happen every time, I've noticed that it tends to happen more when she is nearing nap time.

Does this sound like separation anxiety?
If it is, what is the best thing to do? Leaving her to cry doesn't feel right, should I take her with me for as long as I have to?

I have had a good search through previous threads and I can't find anything that helps, so forgive me if there is and I've just repeated something that was talked about a week ago or something! I don't have a mum to ask and none of my RL friends seem to have this problem yet.

Totally normal :) It can be annoying but as far as she's concerned you are her heart and soul and she wants to be close to you.

From memory with my 2 DC it peaks at around a year and settles a bit before 18 months.

I couldn't feel comfortable leaving my babies to cry, so I kept them with me and tried to reassure them.

One thing I noticed was that they seemed to be most anxious when they were going through a period of development - learning new skills like crawling or walking. Maybe that's the case with your DD?

I know it's hard now, but it will pass and you seem to be doing a good job

Thanks needles. I thought it might be it, she is trying to crawl at the moment and has had a perma cold for about a month. New skill and illness I guess have exacerbated the issue. I don't really mind, it's just par the course, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't rod and back making

It's also likely to be frustration. She can't move herself about yet and it makes her grumpy when the mode-of-transport-she-sees-as-an-adjunct-to-herself (ie you) goes off under its own steam. 7-9 months is peak grumpiness IME - they want to eat properly, move about and communicate and they can't do any of it.

Agree with needles. Totally normal, the peak has also applied for our two DS's. It is a rather exhausting phase when they always seem to want to be held but they do grow out of it. Enjoy the cuddles :) Do you have a sling?
And as you have noticed it is usually worse near naps and also meal times. I usually try distracting with toys and keep them near me if you're needing to get something done.
P.S. Hey needles from the Due in August group! We have been missing you over on the Facebook group :) x

Thanks for the thoughts. She does get frustrated zuleikaD when she is on the floor and people are moving about, it didn't occur to me to think it might be because we can and she can't!

I do have a sling. I've not used it much since she was tiny as she was so independent and after about 10 minutes would moan to get out. It could be worth a try again though. We have just been given a bushbaby back pack and are planning on using on holiday. We did a trial run today and she loved it so maybe she would be happier in the sling now. I shall try. I normally just sit and stay with her and play/sing/tickle etc, the chores end up waiting!

capecath greetings! I don't have a FB account, but I'm with you all in spirit Hope you and your Aug 2012 LO are both well.

I find I use the backpack more than the sling now - DS really likes the up-high view and it's much more freeing that having them on your chest. I had an Ergo for a while in order to back-carry but actually the babies seem to prefer something with more structure. Certainly easier to get them in and out of a backpack and you can usually carry stuff too.