Please share with me your coping mechanisims when your DC do that whining, clinging to your leg thing.

[DustyTv]

DD is nearly a year old ( OMG I cant believe how qucik it has gone, my little baby is nearly a year). I feel like I am doing an okay job as a parent
IYKWIM.....but.....How do you deal with the whining/clinging thing that the DC do?

I try distraction, giving her extra attention etc but it doesn't seem to help. I try putting her down for a nap but she usually doesn't sleep.

DD is such a good child and I know we have been spoilt with how good she is.

WHat do you do?

I pick ds2 (a year old) up if he is being like that. It is a sign that he needs some comfort/attention/a big hug and so I give it to him.

yes, it can get wearing, but that's babies for you!
if I need to do dinner etc then I somettimes chuck him in a sling on my back, or let him empty out a kitchen cupboard to distract him.

but mostly we go with what he wants.

When I'm trying to get dinner done is pretty much the time it really starts to get to me, I do pick DD up and give her a cuddle, lots of cuddles.

I like the idea of letting her empty a cupboard, she does like to do that, but I tend to keep her out of the kitchen if I can.

I would love to use a sling but have a bad back so cant anymore now she is so big.

Is it a phase?, do they grow out of it or do they continue to do it until they move out

oh it's definitely a phase, and this age is a prime time for separation anxiety which may be why she wants to be with you all the time.

I def find it easier having him supervised in the kitchen than wailing at me behind the stairgate lol

Thank goodness

DD loves to empty the tin cupboard and open and close the door on the cuboards so I think I'll just let her do that.

Thanks for the advice

you;'re welcome hope it works

Ds has two cupboards and 1 drawer that he is allowed to demolish play in. I fill them with non-breakable things like tupperware, plastic plates, kitchen towel, saucepans etc etc.
Otherwise I put him in his highchair and pull him over so he can see what I'm doing as I cook. He seems to find that interesting for a while. I give him a wooden spoon and a saucepan to play with while he watches.

Bubba, have you got cupboard and drawer locks on the other cupboards and what not? If so where did you get them from?

wine

lol Ghoul

I sit DS in his highchair while I cook and let him either bang some spoons or chew on a raw carrot. Keeps him going for ages!

I TOTALLY don´t cope with it! lol Ds is 18mo and does that whining/clinging to my knees from about 3pm onwards if we are in the house. I do give him lots of cuddles and he also has a couple of kitchen cupboards he can empty but it does get wearying. About the only solutions I have found are to just get him out of the house and doing something or stopping what I am doing and play with him/ watch him. He seems quite happy playing away if I am just sitting with him, as long as my attention is ON HIM.

I think we do just have to grin and bear it, put aside all non essential tasks and wait for the phase to pass [weak smile] sorry that was probably no use whatsoever!

At that age, if he napped, I would prepare dinner and have it in the oven on a timer. Did also use sling or high chair with food and mummy constantly singing to him.

My DD started this about a year old too ... at 17 months she still does it. Generally happens when I'm preparing supper.
Wore her in a sling on back for a while but she moaned because she couldn't see anything.
Tried the sitting in high chair but she seems to get frustrated as 'trapped' in chair.

Letting her have her own cupboard to empty and destroy works to an extent, but in the end, I try to prepare everything in advance and even bought myself a microwave!
Oh ... and I think I've now perfected the art of cooking with one hand whilst holding a toddler in my other arm

Thanks for all the advice, looks like I have a while of this then.

Good idea about preparing dinner while she naps, will deffo do that.

You can get cupboard locks in pretty much any baby oriented shop. Try Mothercare. To be honest I just used elastic bands and pieces of ribbon at the mo!

Thanks, how do you secure the dorrs with ribbons/elastic bands? Do you tie them round the handles?

Yep, All the dangerous stuff goes into double cupboards with the doorknobs next to each other in the middle. Elastic bnads or ribbon tie them together. Otherwise put dangerous stuff up high out of reach (for now anyway!)

Bubbaluv, caution, my DS can break into tied cupboard handles very easily, so it probably won't last for ever.

Magnetic cupboard door locks are hard work to fit but wonderful once you have.

Oh, I know it's not a long term solution, but for the moment he's happy to just move on to the next cupboard which is easier to access rather then faffing about with the tricky ones.

Here it's excatly as Maveta describes - and still is now that dd's 3! It does get seriously wearing - it's the one thing that drives me barmy tbh.

I still can't leave the room or go to the toilet without dd. When will it end?? I also work 3 days/week and would go TOTALLY insane if I didn't.

What gets me is that DS seems to have a special radar which tells him when I am trying to move a boiling liquid from one part of the kitchen to another. It draws him like a magnet to my leg!