I'm not enjoying this age...

DD is 8.5 months and I'm not really enjoying this age. It just seems like a boring stage of her development. I know its all very exciting the crawling and learning to walk stuff, but the clinginess is drving me insane! I have to rock her to sleep every sleep and while I love her dearly, she doesn't sleep for long enough to give me a break. I'm lucky to get 45mins out of her. And it seems hard to get out of the house with her, or have a shower or sleep past 5am...I get squawked at if I'm out of sight.

Is it just me?

Oh no enjoy it hun! Once they hit toddler town you'll be reminiscing about these days!!
This is a great age to watch their little personalities grow!

It's hard when they are so clingy isn't it? I get screamed at too for leaving to go to the loo.... even if she's with DH at the time :rolleyes:

I wouldn't say that I'm not enjoying this stage, I love every stage of DD's development it's always fun but ever so demanding as she gets older..... lately I've been feeling overwhelmed with her lack of sleep :(
She only sleeps 45min-1hr for each day sleep too and if she does sleep longer than that's a great sleep for her!

Night times are our problem at the moment :( She will not let us put her back in her cot after her first wake up of the night which can be anywhere from 1hr up to 3hrs from her first going down.... so she ends up in bed with us and co-sleeps rest of the night.....
wakes 1-3hrly still too..... I'm sooooo sleep deprived it's not funny..... I too don't feel like I get a 'break' at night.... can't even remember the last time I slept longer than a 2hr block.

I needed toothpicks for my eyes today.

But other than that, she's adorable and I love her :lol: AND they are only little for such a short time.....!!!! Do enjoy it!!!!

Hugs babe!

DD is one now (WOW!!) and she is going through SO many changes and she is just about walking - its very exciting BUT she is Always on the move! She will not sit for very long and she is always doing somthing or into something!! Its an awesom time as she is talking and interacts on a whole new level and its awesome... BUT some times I wish it was back to the times when I could sit her somewhere and she STAYED there!! LOL

Sleep is an issue here too.. she is sleep crawling AND getting her first molars so sleep is a bit hit and miss here too..

I just figure that its just what I gotta do so im rolling with it!

Sorry not much help hun! Hang in there! They do get heaps more indepandant and will want time apart from you.. and they they go through another change (like molars) and just want their mummys again..

Hugs

Kate

Oh hun, its hardly surprising you're not enjoying it when you obviously feel very drained by the incessant demands on you. Its SO hard when they need you ALL THE TIME and you can't seem to get a breather at all. It really does take away from the joy.

I would love to tell you the clingyness passes, but at 18 months, we are still very much there. Constantly wanting to be picked up, following me like a shadow and banging on the loo door. Sigh.

For sanity, I make my hubby look after him one afternoon on the weekend and I go off and do my own thing. I also work a few days a week, which I must admit is nice in that I don't have a small attachment hanging off my every second. So I guess I am saying, it sounds like you could use a break- is there any chance of getting some time off? Does you local gym have a creche? Can you do half a day of occasional care here and there to get some time for yourself?

Big hugs. It doesn't sound unusual at all. No-one can be needed all the time and not get burned out by it.

I too found this stage really challenging with the ultimate in velcro babies. DS' sleep was always pretty ordinary, and he literally wouldn't let me put him down for quite a long time. He'd take hours of rocking, feeding or carrying (or all three) to get to sleep, and then we'd rinse and repeat.

As lovely as cuddles can be, there can be too much of a good thing and it is so easy to get touched out. I babywear and this was a fantastic help for getting things done, I could just chuck him up on my back and get on with stuff, but there are times when you just want your body to yourself for a while.

So no, it's definitely not just you. I'd send you a hug but I reckon that the last thing you need right now is another person in your space, ;) so instead I send a request to the universe to send you an hour of peace and time to yourself.

If you have any form of assistance to give you a break, then taking advantage of it is the only advice I can give. Even if it's just an hour here and there. My DS coped much better when I was really not there than when I was there but not available to him - he carried on like a pork chop for about a minute when I'd leave but literally stopped once I was out of sight (I snuck back to check a couple of times and he was happy as a clam). But I got to a point where I was almost going nuts, because I had no family support locally and was almost literally with DS twenty four hours a day. Once I realised that constant maternal attention wasn't going to be beneficial to him if I completely lost the plot, it became easier to leave him with DP without feeling guilty.

And it does pass, it's just impossible to know when. In my DS' case, when he is going through a clingy stage, he is very very clingy, but that passes to a phase of almost hyper independence (which can be challenging in of itself as lazy old me has to put on her running shoes LOL).

Hang in there hon!

Suse, well said and explained!!! I feel like that a lot lately... over touched lol. For 3 1/2 years now I've been either pg or bfing... so I get it. It's hard and there's been a few times lately where I've made sure Elijah is fed then I've said to DH I'm going to Woolies. Exciting? Yes cos I'm on MY OWN!!! lol who'd have thought that'd be exciting... going to Woolies on your own, but it helps just for that half an hour and Elijah is just fine and I'm not too far away if it does go pear shaped either. Mind you I've asked DH to get a wk off over Christmas cos I need some serious recharging! Velcro bubs do become independent but it is hard... Elijah is velcro atm and teething now so doubly bad!!!

Re: the shower, I usually pop Elijah on the floor in the bathroom and peek out every 20 secs lol. With going to the toilet, I lay him on the floor outside the toilet and he lays there kicking and talking and laughing and I get to go without stressing! Sometimes too if I know I HAVE to put him down I'll grab one of his fave toys and start distracting him as I'm getting ready to pop him down and sometimes it works, sometimes not but great when it does ;)

enjoy it, i know - not what you want to hear.... my little baby is going to 3 year old kinder next year..... i loathed being a mum until she was about 1, i had a really tough time with no sleep and a very full on baby etc.... now i look back and wish i had of just enjoyed it while it lasted.... its truely fleeting...

Ah I still get that (not that you want to hear that :rolleyes:)

DD is just over 2 and sometimes screams unless I let her come to the toilet with me *sigh*

My only advise is this... I am not a believer of letting a child cry , I hate hearing them cry. BUT.. If I need a shower and one on mine own then I make sure they are fine and I go. I need the break as much as they need me sometimes.. It is hard but sometimes you just need to do it..