Separation anxiety

[Abwab]

My 5 1/2 month old ds appears to be suffering from separation anxiety. He cries whenever I leave the room and sometimes if i just get up off the floor or move away from the cot etc. He is ok if he is totally engrossed in what he is doing but it almost feels like cheating nipping out of the room then. I would love for him to be happy with me leaving the room and confident that i will go back shortly. Mt health visitor says it will pass but does anyome have any ideas/tips to make life abit easier and make him feel more secure. He is absolutly fine when we are at other peoples houses when there is lots going on around him. Thanks

Almost every child goes through this and it's just a slight frustrating phase which will eventually pass. He has simply discovered he is a distinct person from you and this is frightening for him. With both my kids I just plonked them about the house wherever I was or positioned them so they could still see me. If I had to leave the room I found speaking loud enough so that they could still hear me would sometimes pacify them, but not always. My ds is 13 months old and still does this from time to time, but he can crawl and usually follows me, so that's not as bad. HTH

They all do it and I've found it comes and goes. Dd was very upset if I left her around the 9-month mark, then again around 18 months and when she turned 2 she used to go crazy if I even went to the bathroom and left her in the lounge with her dad!!! However, for us, each phase was fairly short-lived.

I don't have any advice other than what blinky already said except to say I wouldn't creep out when he's engrossed, that is a surefire way to make him feel insecure and even to be wary of getting engrossed! Always tell him where you're going and if possible how long you'll be. His irrational fear is that if you're out of his sight you won't come back so if you sneak off then he'll worry that if he takes his eyes off you you disappear.

Funny little things, aren't they?