clingy 8month old

[crazycat88]

Hi guys.... Just looking for some advice, my daughter is nearly 8months old and has always been very clingy from age of 4months and I mean clingy in the sense that she hates been held by others, she is perfectly fine with me and her dad but when family visit she hates been near them. Now I've tried everything apart from leaving her with a family member, I've been putting it off and off as it kills me to hear her scream, but now I feel something needs to be done as I need to start looking at nurseries with going back to work. Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

I had one like that, weirdly he is the most confident of the three nowadays! He would cry if I even looked like I might stand up and leave the room!

At this age, simple games like hide and seek and peekaboo reinforce the concept that things still exist when you can't see them, and that when you leave you always come back. You could also try playing with her with family members around and gradually progressing to you stepping back a bit, then leaving the room for a bit, etc. Our nursery do a couple of home visits before the child starts there to show to the child that they are people that you trust, so you could ask if the ones you are looking at do the same. Nurseries are geared up for this sort of thing so they should be able to set your mind at rest. The bottom line is that children sometimes need to go through this to understand that it really IS all right to be cared for by someone other than you. As long as she is safe, and cared for, don't feel guilty.

See she is fine with me leaving room when we're on are own, fair enough she whinges sometimes but I just carry on talking to her. I've tried the whole playing with family bit, she's not too bad at that, she'll most times happily sit next to them on the sofa it's just holding really. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and leave her with my mum for a few hours, I just feel so bad, plus they live in a different city, I think I just make all these excuses not to leave when in fact I have to for her own good. ??