5 months = separation anxiety??

[magpiedee]

My easygoing, chill, I-can-play-by-myself girl has turned into a whiney, grouchy, grunty, clingy little Klingon who starts shrieking if I am 10 feet away from her, out of the room or not looking her in the eye. Whah? :

Is this a 5 month phase, or a new facet of teething, or just another insanity?

[blairinargentina]

hmmmm. isa does a similar thing, but only if she is already feeling kinda fragile.

i remember reading something about this in the Baby Book under the 5th month development section. i will try to look it up and see what i come across.

in the meantime, :

[veganf]

Not separation anyxiety here, but stranger anxiety has begun! Ugh.

[JenMidwife]

Erin's always been pretty high needs (hence McScreamy ), but just in the last couple of weeks has started to show a little Mommy-itis when I come home from school. It's interesting, she doesn't care if I leave when we've been together all day (weekdays), but on the weekend, when she's been w/ her dada (who she adores!) all day, she's kinda clingy w/ me.

[SummerTwilight]

Aria has always not been able to handle it if I am away from her for more than an hour or so, no matter who she is with (including dada) or what fun thing they are doing. Today I was gone an hour and a half at work and she stayed with my mom, who she loves and she sobbed, well like a baby. I felt so guilty! But I only leave her for between 3-5 hours a week in no more than 2 hour incriments but she still cries. God forbid I go back to work more!

[JenMidwife]

Kimberly, does she receover once you're gone?

[2 in August]

We're going through that big time around here. He can be playing on the floor with his sister and I walk through the room to get to the bathroom and he'll loose it. Nevermind if dh is holding him and I move more than 5ft away. It is the end of the world. So now dh has to follow me around like a little puppy holding ds and then I can get stuff done. Ds is ok with that cause he has his dada but still can see momma too. Going to the bathroom or taking a shower usually has to wait until he's asleep or I lay him on the floor while I'm going to the bathroom, but even that isn't acceptable some days.

[SummerTwilight]

Jen: NO. She isn't fazed when I walk out of the room. It is after a time- depends on the person but even with dh or my mom no more than an hour-90 minutes and that is if she is in HER OWN HOUSE. Once she notices I am gone, it isn't fun and games anymore and she begins WAILING MAAAAAA. My mom said she has heard other babies do this before but she swears Aria is literally calling me as she looks frantically around calling MAAA.
At that point, unless she falls asleep (which is unlikely, unless she cries herself to exhaustion) she is gonna cry till I get back. She can be distracted by cool things like my mom's piano or going outside for anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute and then the crying starts again. Once I am back, anyone can hold her she just has to see me for a bit and then she is secure again.
I am finding motherhood to be the single most exhausting, though also the single most rewarding, experience of my life. I am wracked with guilt no matter what I do. It can't be avoided. And the weird thing is I KNOW she is being well taken care of and that I am being the best mom to her that she could have. But I am still guilt-ridden. :

[JenMidwife]

Oh my gosh, that must be so difficult for you all

Originally Posted by SummerTwilight

Jen: NO. She isn't fazed when I walk out of the room. It is after a time- depends on the person but even with dh or my mom no more than an hour-90 minutes and that is if she is in HER OWN HOUSE. Once she notices I am gone, it isn't fun and games anymore and she begins WAILING MAAAAAA. My mom said she has heard other babies do this before but she swears Aria is literally calling me as she looks frantically around calling MAAA.
At that point, unless she falls asleep (which is unlikely, unless she cries herself to exhaustion) she is gonna cry till I get back. She can be distracted by cool things like my mom's piano or going outside for anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute and then the crying starts again. Once I am back, anyone can hold her she just has to see me for a bit and then she is secure again.
I am finding motherhood to be the single most exhausting, though also the single most rewarding, experience of my life. I am wracked with guilt no matter what I do. It can't be avoided. And the weird thing is I KNOW she is being well taken care of and that I am being the best mom to her that she could have. But I am still guilt-ridden. :

[radiogirlgr]

Spencer is going through a little bit of 'stranger anxiety' too. He's just fine as long as he can see me. He actually cried when MIL held him this past weekend-we haven't seen her since Christmas because she is going through chemo and radiation right now, and there has been a nasty stomach flu running through the family. So we've had to keep our distance from her, and whe she took him from me this past weekend, his face immediately crumpled and turned bright red, and he started looking all over for me! I felt so badly because she just adores her grandkids and it's been hard on all of us to stay away-we're all really close. He got over it pretty quickly, I took him back until he calmed down, and then he was okay with her for a while, and actually fell asleep on FIL later on that day. It's normal-I remember DS1 going through it too. It's just hard to see your little one upset in the arms of someone who loves him so!!