[Kittymeow74]

Is anyone else feeling the same as I am?
My little 6 month old boy does not let me leave his sight. I have to carry him everywhere or else he will cry the house down. I've tried setting up a play area in the kitchen so I can try and cook but he wants me to sit there with him and watch him play. He sleeps around 3 times a day but they are only catnaps that last 20 - 30 mins but if I fall asleep with him he will sleep for over an hour.

He is breastfed and the ocassional bottle of formula from dad when I need a break but he won't even have the bottle anymore he only wants breast.

Is anyone else experiencing the same with their 6 month old???

[ell80]

Have you treid a jolly jumper? My 6mo jumps in one of those for ages. I hang it near the kitchen so he can see me.

With the cat-napping, perhaps sleep school would be a good idea.? I'm not sure which area you are in, but in Melb there a re a few different ones that bulk-bill through medicare. Even if you are not having major sleeping problems, they do help with techniques to get babies to sleep longer during the day. Tweedle (in Brunswick) do two programs - one is a few nights for major sleep problems, but they also do a sngle day-stay which I did to help you learn how to get your baby to nap longer during the day. I found it super helpful!

[Guest_Retro_Mumma_*]

DS was like this until he was one, he is still like that sometimes (he is 18months old now) its usually worse when he is tired, sick or teething.

Its called seperation anxiety and its normal but very tiring!

My favourite thing was a baby swing or jolly jumper.

[Juju38]

Is your DS on solids yet? As soon as mine had progressed to 3 'meals' per day, his nap length literally doubled. The 40 minute catnapping drove me around the bend, so I feel your frustration!

Hopefully, the clingy phase of needing to be near you passes quickly. It is a common age for separation anxiety. Mine gets like this from time to time, but I persist with encouraging him to play by himself. It took a lot of experimentation with finding toys that engage him and we bought an exersaucer, but he is great now and will play happily by himself during the day, as long as I spend 1/2 hour or so at various times during the day, playing on the floor with him.

Good luck, I hope it eases soon and you can start to get things done.

[Pup-pup]

A phase I'm sure, but the jumperoo was my saviour. Sometimes I also put my 8mth old in the high chair with toys or kitchen utensils while I'm cooking. Or I move her around whilst I do things, like under the clothes line whilst washing or on bedroom floor whilst making bed etc. It's a good age to encourage naps in cot, I think my DD started napping for longer at that age (just happened), so try not to jump as soon as you hear a peep & he may resettle.

[Guest_Dinah_Harris_*]

Yes. She is now nearly nine months old and still the same. From memory the separation anxiety peaks at around 12 months and tapers off towards 18 months.
It's annoying but it will pass....

[trishalishous]

we went through this phase as well. i used food and the highchair to get cooking done, and sung a lot while she played so i could clean.

[liveworkplay]

Some babies ar ejust more "needy" (for want of a beter description) then others. My first was exactly like you described, she needed constant attection, didn't sleep and was basically didn't go more then a metre from my side until well after she was 2. She is now 8 and very independant, so it doesn't last forever I ahev 2 others who were happy to lay and play (to varying degrees) One never suffered separation anxiety (the next thing you will get too at around 9 mths) until she was 5 yrs old!

They are all different. The sooner you accept that fact and just do what works for you, the happier everyone will be

[bette davis]

You poor thing. It is frustrating.

My son really enjoyed his exersaucer at this age. They are expensive tho, so if you can get a 2nd-hand one I would recommend that. It kept him busy when nothing else did. Also, someone above suggested the high chair and I use that quite abit for my 7-month old - I put some toast for her to play with, and let her experiment with chewing it, give her a couple of other objects to play with and she's happy for about 15 mins. Doesn't sound like long, but I reckon it's pretty normal to not get longer than that at this age!


One note on the bottle: I wouldn't recommend letting her wean herself off the bottle. You'll be glad she takes it later in the year when you (may) want to stop breastfeeding. I'm struggling to get my 7 month old to take a bottle and wish she was taking it. Good luck in any case!

[mommiestella]

i have this Babybjorn BabySitter balance where i bring around wherever i am and put my baby in it. I set it to rocking mode and at least he can see me whatever I am doing. An exersaucer is also a good one to keep him entertained as well.