Sunday, November 7, 2010

Separation Anxiety

I remember this time with Little Man. The "I want no one but Mama" phase. The phase when he screamd at the top of his head when Mama left him or when someone else tried to take him, or even looked like they were going to try to take him from his Mama.

Thing is, Little Man would fuss for about 20 seconds then would move onto a cookie or a toy and forget why he was crying until Mama came to pick him back up.

Little Miracle is once again opposite his older brother. He will scream the entire time. Not the half cry fuss that most babies do, oh no, he screams with huge alligator tears streaming down his face until Mama comes to rescue him.

The past few weeks at church have been the worst. We moved Little Man up to the preschool nursery on his birthday so this is the first time they are in different rooms at church. This is not helping at all. I drop Little Man off and he happily goes into his room to play and learn. Then I take Little Miracle to his room. I go in the nursery with him to sit for a minute to get him playing then I quietly sneak out. He will play for a minute then look around and realize Mama is not with him anymore. Screaming ensues. The kind of scream I can hear from the sanctuary over the worship music (which is a live band with drums and loud music).

I don't know what to do. I sit in the lobby of the church with Little Miracle. They at least pump the sermon into the lobby so I don't miss it. He will crawl around the lobby floor as long as Mama is right there. I don't want to move Little Man back down to the nursery but I don't want Little Miracle screaming the entire time I am gone.

I know I have to keep dropping him off and that is the only way that he will learn that Mama does come back. Anyone else have any other advice on how to get thru this phase?


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1 comment:

Amy said...

From a childcare giver's perspective... A quick kiss, hand him over the gate and leave. Honestly. The more time you spend in there the more he thinks you might stay this time. Plus, sneaking out only leaves him to panic.

If he knows you are gone for a reason, and then he sees you come back, it won't take long and he will be fine staying there. You could even try increasing the time by like 15 minutes each time. The first time leave him for 15 minutes, the second 30 minutes, etc.

You, on the other hand are free to sit outside the door and fret or cry or whatever. Just don't keep peeking in where he might see you. lol. He is fine as long as they are paying attention to them and not just sitting him on the floor and letting him scream.