Baby cries when we take her out of the house

[Nmcgre1]

I’m just looking for a bit of advice or reassurance from some other mums who may have experienced this! My 5mo cries whenever we take her out of the house around other people or unfamiliar places. At home she is happy and coming on great in her development, and she loves going out for walks. But when I take her to other houses (example my parents or in-laws), or when I take her to baby classes or even to the shops she gets inconsolable and so worked up and I can’t calm her down. We always make sure she is fed and has had a good nap before we take her, but nothing seems to make a difference.

We go to baby sensory class and it’s 50/50 if she’s going to cry or not - today I took her to a new class and she screamed throughout the entire session. I took her outside and managed to calm her down, but as soon as I tried bringing her back in it all started again! I felt terrible for her (and for the other parents) - I got so stressed that I wasn’t able to calm her down. I assumed it was teething pain as she has a few teeth breaking through, but as soon as we left and put her in the car she was fine - we got home and she was smiling and playing away!

Sorry for the long post, I just really don’t know what to do. Anything I look up online says it could be separation anxiety, but that doesn’t seem right because it happens when we’re with her! Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks in advance! :)

This happened with my baby. Baby slings are a godsend, wherever you take your baby take her in the sling. When at someone home or baby class face baby forward. If baby gets upset turn baby back around and gradually baby will get better and you will be able take baby out of the sling even if it's for a few seconds and then back in and gradually baby will stay out of the sling for longer. Don't worry and try and stay calm m when baby is crying because if the baby thinks you are stressed they will cry more.

Hi there. I completely understand what you're going through. My daughter just turned 5 months old. One day we went out with her after we set to run an errand and she cried hysterically. Ever since then she cries most of the time we go out anywhere. She's fine when we go for her monthly check ups to the hospital but anywhere else it's non-stop crying. Were you able to find a solution. I don't know if she gets over stimulated outside or what. Looking forward to hearing back from you. 🙂

Hi @SamiraB - I’m so sorry you’re going through this too! It can make even the quickest errand feel so stressful. In the end I persevered with the baby sensory classes (didn’t go back to the massage class though - far too embarrassing after her first meltdown!) and she did start to enjoy it after a while. I think she was uncomfortable with the strange environment at first, but it became part of our routine and she started to love the classes! It took until she was about 8 months old before she was comfortable in other peoples houses, and now she’s 14 months old and is becoming really sociable and much happier being out and about! I think the main issue we had was colic combined with a baby who really wanted to be independent but obviously couldn’t be at such a small age! Now she can walk and is starting to talk, she is much happier! I would say try to persevere, as hard as it is - most likely your wee one will grow out of it 🤞🏼 I found having her dummy / bottle / favourite toy to hand was a must and it helped most of the time, and trying not to get stressed myself in case she was picking up on that! Hope she settles down for you soon! 💖