Hi Tilda,

I feel your pain. While I didn't have a super clingly LO, I had a super cyclonic bundle of energy who would not and really could not play, or even just be, on her own, without her getting into some form of trouble, mischief, mayhem or actual danger. This period lasted from when she could crawl (9mths or so) until about a month ago. She's almost two.

Might sound like most toddlers - getting into everything, exploring everything, but she was worse than most, I know this from seeing other kidlets in our playgroups, our family, etc. She is so curious and just into anything. As an example - last year we went to my cousin's house, my cousin has 4 kids, aged 10yrs down to 2yrs. At this stage my DD was 18mths, the not-at-school kids were playing in the backyard (four of them) and I had relaxed assuming that with four kids of her own, her backyard would be pretty safe. Silly me. All of sudden my sister noticed her DD (8mths older than mine) and my DD were missing. We started looking - they were out the front of the house, in the garden (thank goodness). We asked them how they got there - they lead us back to a teeny tiny hole in the gate between the secure backyard and the driveway/front of the house, that they had squashed their way through - following the cat. My cousin lives just off a busy busy road. We can't confirm - but we are pretty sure that it would have been my fearless DD who took off after the bloomin' cat!!!

Anyway - point I'm trying to make is that for the better part of 18mths I have not felt comfortable doing anything while my DD was awake, unless she was playing right at my feet while I did dishes or something. She just needed to be constantly supervised, guarded, watched, you get it. A bit different to your DD, she doesn't often demand attention, but I still needed to be with her all the time. I could only shower if she was asleep or in the bathroom tearing up toilet paper or something! So I know what it is like.

I totally believe it is not your parenting style that makes them who they are. Their little personalities and how they deal with things and interact with the world is already built into them when they are born. You can shape, guide, teach, but at the end of the day, they are who they are.

As for what you can do - you can start a little task with her, like playing with some form of toy (blocks, dolls, whatever) then encourage her to keep playing and back away, saying something like "Mummy will be just over here doing xyz. Mummy can see how well you are playing, fantastic!". See if she keeps going, and if she does, keep praising her. Might help? Sorry... not sure what else to offer... other than she will most likely grow out of it, sooner or later!

My little cyclone has definitely settled down - she will now sit and happily play while I'm in another room and I am confident she won't kill herself, her brother, our flatscreen or the cat