Separation Anxiety

In the last several weeks I have noticed that the Bear cub has become a little bit clingy. All last week when I'd leave home to go to work he would cry, even if Mike was holding him. When I dropped him off at daycare he was fine - I think because he gets distracted by all the pillows and playthings. When I'm at home with him, when I put him down, he'll cry more often than he used to and reach up for me to pick him up again. If I have to use the restroom I will set him in the hallway and sometimes he'll cry and I'll say, "Crawl to me, Stanley!" and he barely can do that, he's so upset. Once I pick him up, he's fine. Here is what they say at baby center dot com:

"Separation anxiety is a normal emotional stage of development that starts when babies begin to understand that things and people exist even when they're not present – something called "object permanence."

Two or three nights in a row last week he woke up at 1 a.m. which is strange because he's been sleeping through the night like gangbustas for the last several months. Two of those nights I'd get up and nothing would console him, only nursing. On the second night I ended up sleeping on the futon with him. That day I decided that that might be the beginning of bad sleep habits that we worked so hard on changing. So, when he woke up again on the third night at one in the morning I went in and didn't nurse him. I just picked him up and then put him back down. He cried. I was tired. I nursed him while sitting up. I put him back down. He cried. I went into my bedroom and said, flustered, "Mike, tell me what to do! I don't know what to do!" and so, he got up and went in to the crying Bear and almost instantaneously, SILENCE. All I could think, sitting on the edge of my bed, exhausted, was, "What the hell?!" Hahaha. Who knew, Mike had the magic touch. He came back to bed all grumpy like and we both fell back asleep. The next morning I asked him what he did. He said that he picked Stanley up and he stopped crying and then he gently but firmly said, "No Mama." and lay our little cherub down in his crib and he fell asleep. Mike then said to me, "I think he was playing you." Probably right. Ever since that night the Bear has slept through the night again. KNOCK ON WOOD.

I had written about it before in this post. But I looked up separation anxiety online to refresh my memory and thought it was interesting that it mentioned a night time aspect of it.

"Your baby can also experience separation anxiety at night, safely tucked in her crib with you in the next room."

Who knew?! We were thinking he was hungry or having nightmares but everything they write about in this little article fits him to a T. Stanley Bear, you are so predictable (once Mommy reads up on the matter!)