Over the last month Cambri has started to show a little stranger anxiety. It is still mild, and only exhibits itself when she is tired or hungry. So maybe it isn't stranger anxiety. Pretty much she is just a momma's girl. The problem is everytime she sees me she becomes such a whiny baby. But once she has me she just wants me to hold her and doesn't really want my attention. And a lot of the time she continues to be very needy and whiny. You can totally tell she is trying to play me. How do they get so smart? The biggest problem is bedtime. If I try to put her down she freaks out. As soon as I leave the room she is screaming and won't calm down. Nate will then go in 5-10 minutes later to calm her down, and with not much effort can get her to roll on her side and fall asleep. If I am the one to go in to calm her down it just starts the whole cycle again and she won't calm down unless I pick her up. I don't want her to think that I will just give in everytime so I let her scream, but this doesn't always seem like the most effective route. The night usually ends with daddy finally calming her down and me feeling stressed. It is nice that she knows me and wants me to hold her, but why is this also leading to her being such a stinker!?
Any advice?
I know...hard to believe this little one has an evil side to her.
Time to baby proof the aparment.
4 comments:
Ben went through a really need phase like that, I think he w was 6 months old or so, and he wouldnn't nap or sleep if I left the room, its like they have mommy radars built in. He finally outgrew it, but I finally just had to let him cry, go in and reassure him, and let him cry some more. When he was about 8 months old I just let him cry it out, he cried like 20 minutes and then never woke up or needed me to get back to sleep again! But I think the roughest age is Cambri's, they are testing their limits! :) She is really really cute by the way, in case you didn't know. :)
Hmmm--not fun. Aren't babies stinkers? Good thing they are just too cute and precious. I am definitely no parenting expert, but I think Cambri has such an attachment to you because you are her main care provider and you have also been her main food supply (I mean your milk) :) since she's been born. So, she gets upset when you put her down because she wants something from you and--affection and food--and knows she won't get it if she goes to bed. It's totally OK to let her cry it out. My pediatrician is a big fan of this. . .and with three kids, so am I. It is so hard for the parents, but she'll start to figure it out. It's OK to go in her room, pat her, talk to her for a minute, and then leave the room again and let her cry. . .waiting longer between times you go in her room if you can't handle totally cold turkey cry it out. But, don't pick her up. If you do, she'll know you don't totally mean business. Anyway, that is what has worked for me. Tyler got that way for a while when he was about 6 months old. I let him cry it out. It took about a week! But, now he doesn't protest when I put him down and he sleeps almost 12 hours at night. Good luck. Oh, and I love the picture of Cambri in a straddle. :) And, you should be proud of me--I got a gym membership for the first time ever!
Jake isn't really in that phase yet, he just likes attention. Is Cambri crawling? I am going to call you back finally today!
Megs, I think you are doing everything right. It will just take time for her to learn that she isn't the Boss yet... just wait until she's three. Then she really will think she's the boss :) No really, they go through hard phases, and I think every kid is different. Just keep doing what you're doing, I promise it will stop after a while. I had Bella look at the pictures of Cambri and she said, "Oh, she's so cute, we should go to her house." I wish we could. Love ya.
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