Understanding your baby’s new anxieties… 7months+

BABY’S GROWING AWARENESS

As your baby’s social world expands, and she reaches a certain level of awareness and understanding of other people, she will start to develop new anxieties. This is a normal, healthy stage in development, but can be quite trying for parents. From six months onwards, fear of strangers really starts to kick in. An up-to-now very sociable and confident baby can, almost overnight, turn into a fearful and clingy child. But it’s only a temporary phase that all babies have to pass through as they learn about their world. This period definitely calls for extra patience. Give your baby lots of encouragement and plenty of time to adjust to new situations or people. Be aware that even those she has met on several occasions, such as relatives or friends, might be greeted with trepidation or even tears. Right now, she feels the need at each meeting to reassess them and their place in her world. It may be a good idea to warn visitors about your baby’s current sensitivity to strangers. Rather than scooping her up and covering her with kisses the instant they walk through the door, they should give her the opportunity to come to them, on her own terms, once she feels confident and comfortable enough to do so.

SEPARATION TROUBLES

Along with a weariness of strangers, at some point in the next six months your baby is likely to experience a stage when she finds it particularly hard to be separated from you. She will cling to you at every opportunity and burst into tears if you so much as leave the room. Again, this is not an indication of a permanent, new personality trend. It is precisely because she is taking an ever-greater role in the world, that she starts to fear separation so much. You are her safety base, the one thing she absolutely relies on – you give her the confidence to venture out and explore. When you’re out of sight, she cannot be sure that you’ll ever return, and she feels rather lost. So her best protection is to ensure you do not leave her side! Try to see things from her point of view. This will help you cope with what can be a difficult and frustrating time for parents. If you need to leave your baby once separation anxiety sets in, talk reassuringly to her about your impending absence. She will not necessarily understand everything you say, but she’ll respond to your calm, confident tone. And, whenever possible, try to leave her with people she knows well, until you’re sure she’s overcome her fear of strangers.

Source: Pampers Newsletter (Your Baby, Month 7)

SEPARATION ANXIETY

Another ‘cut and paste’ from www.babeeze.co.za:

Separation or “stranger” anxiety does not always occur to all babies, however it is quite common around the 7-8 month mark that your little one may on the odd occasion experience some sort of anxiety when a friend, granny or baby-sitter offers to pick them up or try and feed them.

Do not be alarmed if a month ago they did not seem to mind at all who looked after them and now they seem to only want mommy or daddy, as this provides some sort of satisfaction, comfort or pleasure.

Even seeing a stranger for the first time may trigger an outburst of crying or wanting to cling to you. Leaving them at the nursery or with a baby-sitter may trigger the same reaction.

Keep in mind that this is only one of the many stages that they are experiencing. Their fear is simply that you are leaving them and that you are not going to come back. Fortunately this stage will be over soon. Try and get the granny or baby-sitter to distract them and take their mind off of what they are experiencing while you slip out of the room, un-noticed.

It is not an easy one – as you will always feel guilty for leaving them. But know that within a few minutes they will have forgotten all about it and you can then look forward to seeing their little face light up again as you enter the room on your return.

OUR TAKE….

Overall, an interesting approach but I suspect Separation Anxiety can go well beyond the 8-month mark….probably till the Grade R stage!