Would you call this the beginings on separation anxiety?

I always refer to Sydnie as a "mama's girl". I work FT so I enjoy catering to her and spending a lot of time with her when I am home. She is so lucky to have her Grandma who lives upstairs or her Daddy watch her when I go to work and she if FINE when I leave and all day when I am gone.

BUT, when we go somewhere else where it's sort of loud and there are a lot of people (even though it's mostly people she knows), she needs to know where I am at all times and most of the time I am holding her because she's cranky and out of sorts. This is like the 4th time it's happened.

Then Saturday at the dr. she screamed when he walked in and basically HELD onto me. He goes "Wow, she's kind of young for stranger/separation anxiety". It got me thinking...

Are we in for trouble? Any thoughts or experiences? Any ideas on how to get her more comfortable in other environments? Normal for this age?

Message edited 1/11/2009 9:18:10 AM.

Re: Would you call this the beginings on separation anxiety?

I'm surprised your PED said that as mine said te complete opposite when DD did the same thing at er 4 month checkup.

Its actually good that she as seperation anxiety. It means she is able to differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar and that she prefers familiar. It is a milestone- and yes she will get past it.

Make sure to be calm and confidant when going into new situations so she'll feel the same way.

Re: Would you call this the beginings on separation anxiety?

Re: Would you call this the beginings on separation anxiety?

kaylie is the exact same way...it can be a lil embarrassing bc she is ridiculous with my mil....she starts screaming the minute i hand her to her....im starting to feel a lil bad bc my mil is asking questions like is she like this with ur mom too?....and well honestly she is cranky and cries w my mom but soon comes down she doesnt calm down AT ALL with my mil....and at the holidays w all the ppl in the different houses she was insane cranky and just wanted to be with us ....so i started getting worried too but our ped says its normal even at 4mos he said it actually starts now i just hope it ends as quickly as it started

Re: Would you call this the beginings on separation anxiety?

I'm sure it's just a phase...

DD does it too - she's 5 months. She was miserable for all the holiday festivities this year...not fun, not fun at all.

Also, sometimes babies just don't transition well...doesn't mean you're headed for trouble in the future...

Also wanted to add that I read that if babies seem unhappy with certain people, it really could be something about that particular person (their hair, their glasses, their BREATH, etc.)...there's no way to explain that to the particular person, but it's a possibility...

Re: Would you call this the beginings on separation anxiety?

Thanks everyone. I was starting to get worried but I'm glad to hear it seems normal.

And yes- I was almost embarassed to admit that the holidays were not so great because of this. Of course Xmas morning at home was AWESOME, it was just the parties that got hairy. And I felt like people were seeing the not so amazing side of Sydnie.

Re: Would you call this the beginings on separation anxiety?

I think that is normal for that age. I posted something similar when DS was about 5 months old and many people responded that it was a phase for that age.

Re: Would you call this the beginings on separation anxiety?

Posted by JenandMikey

kaylie is the exact same way...it can be a lil embarrassing bc she is ridiculous with my mil....she starts screaming the minute i hand her to her....im starting to feel a lil bad bc my mil is asking questions like is she like this with ur mom too?....and well honestly she is cranky and cries w my mom but soon comes down she doesnt calm down AT ALL with my mil....and at the holidays w all the ppl in the different houses she was insane cranky and just wanted to be with us ....so i started getting worried too but our ped says its normal even at 4mos he said it actually starts now i just hope it ends as quickly as it started

Re: Would you call this the beginings on separation anxiety?

Posted by karanthony

Posted by JenandMikey

kaylie is the exact same way...it can be a lil embarrassing bc she is ridiculous with my mil....she starts screaming the minute i hand her to her....im starting to feel a lil bad bc my mil is asking questions like is she like this with ur mom too?....and well honestly she is cranky and cries w my mom but soon comes down she doesnt calm down AT ALL with my mil....and at the holidays w all the ppl in the different houses she was insane cranky and just wanted to be with us ....so i started getting worried too but our ped says its normal even at 4mos he said it actually starts now i just hope it ends as quickly as it started

OMG my DD is the SAME way with my MIL and my sister. She is fine with BIL, my Mom and Dad, etc. It started pretty much out of nowhere and would cry when new people or people she hasn't see in a while (even a few weeks) came over our house. Funny, she seems to be a bit better when we are at my MIL's house. She is more protective of us in our home.

I read one of those email updates and it said for a 5 month old that separation anxiety is a normal milestone, so she is right on target.