bubs very clingy all of a sudden?

***noni*e*** · March 6th, 2008, 08:54 AM

dd is 5mths old and whenever i put her down she gets really upset.. its driving me bananas!!!
i left her with dp to go to the gym like i usually do and she just cried the whole time.. she dosnt want to be in her bouncer anymore or on her playmat shes only really happy when cuddling with me.. she will play for a little while if i am down on the floor with her but then she gets grumpy and wants to come back with me.. its just confusing because shes not usually like this its just recently and i am not sure what i should be doing?

**Trillian** · March 6th, 2008, 09:25 AM

Noni, about now is when they start to go through separation anxiety and this can last anywhere up to 12mths old or longer. Also they go throgh some huge developmental leaps at this age too - they are getting more mobile, maybe starting to crawl and are just not happy with their limited mobility - they want to do more and they want to do it NOW! Alister is exactly the same - needs to have people in the room with him nearly 100% of the time and is very demanding of our attention and often all he wants is to be picked up or sometimes he isn't happy unless he can see me. There isn't anything we can do to stop them from doing it though, we just have to ride it out the best we can by giving them interesting environments to play in, rotating where they are in the house, different toys to play with - sounds exhausting doesn't it? But it will pay off because giving them different things to do will also stimulate them more kwim?

**AnyDream** · March 6th, 2008, 01:20 PM

Noni, I agree with everything Sherie said, it's a real pain too when you're only 2 metres away and you're desperately trying to get some little thing done but you can't! We've started tag-teaming more, one of us holds E while the other does something useful, it means you're doing a lot more jobs in the evening instead of the day but at least they get done, KWIM? Also, plenty of variety. E goes nutso at home on her play rug, but if we're out and about and there are things to look at she can be quite happy for a couple of hours in her pram. I've also started parking her in different places around the house/garden so she can see whatever action is going on, and gets a regular change of scenery, and also introducing (safe) household items for her to play with...it'll pass in a couple of months once they are wriggling around/crawling.

***noni*e*** · March 6th, 2008, 07:36 PM

thanks guys..
shes driving me absolutely bananas lol i am trying my best to entertain her but sometimes all she wants is to be with me and into what i am doing which is terrible for getting things done lol..
i think it could be alot to do with frustration she hates being on her tummy but is desperate to move.. when i put her on her tummy she puts one arm out forward to start crawling but then tips over.. poor thing.. just gotta learn to be a bit more patient and hope it passes and soon lol

**AnyDream** · March 6th, 2008, 07:46 PM

Look at it this way, Noni, it's a good thing they're frustrated because it motivates the next lot of development, if they were perfectly content to lie on the mat with a toy they'd still be there at age 10!