My daughter has bad separation anxiety?

Question

My daughter is now 11 1/2 months old and she has really bad separation anxiety..My husband is army now(was air force) and in the past 7 months (while he was in training and now Korea)i've moved 3 times..so the only steady thing in her life was having mommy with her everywhere she went..but now i can't take 10 steps away from her before she starts to cry and chase after me...everyone says just go out and leave her with her grandparents or a steady babysitter and she'll cry when you go but be ok after..well she isn't..she cries and screams and is totally hysterical until i come back to her...what do i do?

Answer 1

let her scream cry and go nuts

after you're out of sight for 30 seconds the show is over

Answer 2

you have to remain strong!!!

shes gonna take over your life if you dont

Answer 3

What she is only nearly one year old....who knows

some shock has got her stirred...

some kids are born like this .....out of my three

chilren one was a shocker like this....his dad could

not even hold him for more than 1 minute !  He never

let me out of his sight. No one could give me a break!

Well , it soon passes and they are older, just a few

more months and she wont even be bothered for you

so much.....try and look at the funny side of it..i have a

great photo capturing by boy in full mode and we all

have a good laugh at it now!

Dont hand her to anyone....this child needs you .

Answer 4

Teach her that being away from her doesn't mean abandoning her.  Go to other people's places, get them to hold her, giving her lots of praise while they do.  Slip out a door for a few minutes (standing on the other side of it).  Reappear to her after the time is up, reassure her, then do it again, gradually building up to longer and longer times away.  Eventually, she'll realise that "mummy's gone" doesn't mean "mummy's left me and isn't coming back".

When she learns from that, leave her with other people for small amounts of time (a half an hour or so to start) and gradually build up until you're able to be gone as long as you need to be.

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

You need to leave her with other people more often, I'm sure there are tons of people that would love to babysit her.  Make sure you explain to them the situation and that you are trying to get her comfortable without you so they may and probably will have to put up with some screaming the first couple times.  You should be gone for a couple hours so it gives her a chance to settle down.  Go to a movie or something and if you do this enough she will eventually realise that you will come back and she is fine without you.

Answer 6

Maybe because as you said you are the only steady thing in her life right now. Try wean her off it, tell her you're leaving for 30 mins and assure her you'll come back and come back 30 mins later. Then make the intervals longer bit by bit

Answer 7

I would start by walking out of the room, and make her stay there. Then after a minute, walk back in and it will show her that you are coming back. Also play peak-a-boo. It shows her that even though she can't see you, you will be there.

I do not recommend just leaving her with someone and letting her cry it out. That will just traumatize her. She needs to know that you are going to come right back.