Tips To Deal With Your Clingy Baby

Team AckoFeb 8, 2024

Does your baby love you too much that she doesn’t want to let you go at all? As touchy as it sounds it could lead to bigger problems in the future as your child may have separation anxiety. You love your baby and at some point you wish your child starts living her life independently when you are not around. 

Tips to deal with your clingy baby

Here are some of the areas that can help you arrest this concern:

Stay absolutely calm!

Yes, as easy as it sounds, it is a difficult art to master. You may be a working individual and have a career to look out to or simply have activities that are keeping you busy, but your baby may not know that. However, your baby understands that, and when you are upset she develops capabilities to understand your body language. Therefore it is ok to not pay attention to your child’s tantrums until a time where your baby is in a position to hurt herself. This practice will help your baby to calm down.

While it is important for you to watch out for your kid, sometimes it is also needed that you don’t constantly look at her. You child will constantly be reassuring herself that she is safe when you are around. Keep an eye out and try not to become an active security guard.

Patience is the key!

Let’s face it, every baby takes time to develop themselves individually and at times it can play on your nerves when you compare it with the other kids of similar age, it is recommended that you remain patient and your baby will become independent and less clingy in due course of time.

And don’t worry your baby’s cognitive is functioning well to understand when you respond and when you don’t. It is a positive step into your child’s development of being independent.

New faces please!

Take your baby out for a stroll to help her see new faces and new people. Ensure you set up a routine to take her out to parks, shopping malls and public spaces where she can see a lot of people and babies of her kind. It is important to have an outdoor time as this will ensure in the development of your baby to be less clingy.

Your baby may have an emotional outburst if someone she does not know picks her up or talks to her. Having an outdoor activity like this would help her meet people regularly and meet people who stay close to home or in the same neighborhood, this will develop your baby’s idea of permanence.

Your support is crucial!

Do you like if someone forces something on you? Leaves a wrong impression, doesn’t it? Well the same is applicable to your child too. Worst case scenario she will become clingy again. In order to avoid this problem, you can help your child get comfortable by waving at strangers and motivating your baby to do so. If someone really finds your baby cute and wants to talk to her, ensure you are assuring your baby that is absolutely fine.

Make your baby comfortable by telling her things like “It is ok, I am here”. You can also gently rub her back to make her comfortable. It is important not to panic at times when your baby is crying. 

Sometimes your baby may get too uncomfortable, it is fine and absolutely normal. Give it time and she will learn gradually.

Play hide and seek!

Don’t we all love this game? At some point in our childhood we really enjoyed this game. This game needs to be compressed to a baby’s version. Y0u can start by sitting in front of her and close your face with your palms. You can ask questions like “Where is mommy?” Slowly you can move your hands back to reveal your smiling face saying, “Here is mommy”. Your baby will now understand that you are here even if she can’t see you.

You can slowly and gradually increase the distance and make use of objects to hide behind, start with smaller props like a book or a piece of cloth. Once your child develops the ability to crawl, you can choose to increase the distance so that she can crawl to find you. Ensure that you can see your baby clearly and if she is finding it difficult call out her name and encourage her to find you.

Emotions and people

Ensure that whoever you meet, your baby is tagged along as well. Make it a point to greet or hug your loved ones or good friends with your baby by your side. This will make your baby believe that the individual is safe.

If you are a person who works and plans on keeping a nanny to help you out, ensure that the baby is prepped weeks in advance for the change. A bond needs to be established with the person to ensure that she is not clingy. This can be solved if the individual can make regular trips to your home and you greet them in a positive way. Once a bond is established you can leave the child with this individual in a room and move to another room. You can gradually progress by leaving your child with this individual when you need to head out. 

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only, based on industry experience and secondary sources. It is not a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a qualified expert for health or insurance-related decisions. Content is subject to change, refer to current policy wordings for specific ACKO details.