Extreme separation anxiety 11 month old. HELP!

[LynseyH23]

Hi everyone,

My 11 month old started having separation anxiety 3 months ago and it has been getting progressively worse.

Myself and my partner are really struggling to cope with it and have a toddler too. She is at the point where she just wants to be held and carried ALL day long. If we put her on the floor next to us for 2 mins she screams...she won't go in her high chair she screams...she won't go to anyone else except us or she gets hysterical crying and doesn't stop.

It has affected her development and she just started crawling a week ago because she wouldn't be put down.

Every night we have to go to sleep at 7pm with her because she screams bloody murder when he moves and notices we aren't there.

We can't sit on the toilet without her screaming let alone make dinner. At the moment we are only barely managing because my partner is between jobs so not working.

It's causing us so much stress and exhaustion! What do we do?! Anyone been through something VERY similiar?

That does sound a bit extreme. Has something prompted her behaviour? Do you think she might be in a little pain? Have you tried her with a dose of Calpol?

That does sound extreme, and very hard going for all four of you.

Any signs of teething or other pain/illness? I would agree it might be worth trying a dose of calpol. That said, both of mine had pretty fierce bouts of separation anxiety, and it was 'just' separation anxiety, nothing physical.

Do you have a sling or carrier that does a back carry position or a hip carry position (preferably both)? That can be a way to carry her that is easier on your bodies and also frees up your hands to get things done. A hip carry can be almost like how you'd hold them on your hip, so very cuddly, but I preferred a back carry for things like cooking dinner, no worries about them suddenly reaching out and grabbing the knife/hot pan/etc.

Have you noticed any changes now that she's crawling? I think it helped mine when they were independently mobile because they knew they could come over to me themselves (and did so, a lot). If you sit on the floor, will she sit on your knee and play?