8 month old addicted to mum. Is this normal? Anyone else?

[dewmeadow]

my 8 month old is mostly bf and co-sleeps with us. Shes always been v petted on me, but lately I cant give her to anyone else or even if I go out of view for 1 second shes crying. I know its probably just a stage but Im back at work 1 day a week and she is wrecking it at the childminders all day. I feel so guilty at leaving her like this, but I need to work for (a) my sanity (b) positions in teaching here are VERY rare and I cant lose this one.

completely normal
it is just a phase
do you leave her with things that are familiar to her - a cuddly toy that smells of you etc

she has a blanket, but I must try putting my scent on to a cuddly toy as well

completely normal.

8/9mths are the age they suddenly realise that they are detachable from their mum, and so react in the way they know how.......by crying.

tis hard.....really really hard....on us mums when they hit it, as each and every time we leave them and they sob, our hearts break a teeny bit.

you just have to learn the mum manta....'tis just a phase, tis just a phase'...will help lots, over and over again too as there will be a whole new phase once you get thro this one.

and try not to fret once you have left her, tis rare that they sob for the entire time once you are gone. normally is maximum of about 10mins before they settle down again.

thanks! Im getting a lot of "shes so attahed bacause you're bfing - how are you going to get her off?" Thing is - apart from feeling a wee bit tied now and again, and the leaving guilt, I love my bond with my baby!!

oh never ever ever listen to people who say it because of the breastfeeding. Makes me so angry as it makes us have yet more 'mother guilt' when it is just utter nonsence.

breastfeeding gives a lovely bond, as does bottle feeding, and each baby that I have ever known, be they bottlefed or breastfed have been like this at about the same age. tis all just their growing awareness of the world around, and their growing awareness of the fact that mummy isn't always in eye distance!

Separation anxiety - v common , it does pass (some sooner than others) pita while it goes on though. Bugger all to do with bfeeding, some just do it however they are fed, sleep and so on

It's the separation anxiety phase - happens to all babies (regardless of how they're fed) and also handily coincides with the time when lots of mums go back to work!

Things you can do to help the baby understand separation:
Peek a boo. A timeless favourite that gently and playfully introduces the idea that people can disappear and be there again. Lay the baby on your lap facing you. With a soft cloth cover your face or the baby's and then let it slide off - big smiles and the right noises are of course essential You can also do this by taking their legs and blocking their view of your face then opening them again so that they can see you.
Hide and seek. Lay your baby in the middle of a room where he can see you moving around. Then play Hide and seek behind sofas etc after you have hidden, talk to him or her, then show your face again. You can also put favourite toys out of sight and then find them together.
Practice what bye bye means. Say bye bye and wave then go out of sight and quickly come back.

www.panic-attacks.co.uk/anxiety-separation.html

I am ff my 8 month old and he is very clingy at the moment, so nothing to do with how they are fed or sleep as he has his own cot.

I have been told to play lots of peek a boo and just reassuring him.