Calling all Mommies’! This mama needs some help with her baby girl. My happy baby is gone, and we now have the most whiney, miserable child and we are at are wit's end on what to do. As you know from my previous post, we moved, so I'm sure that maybe part of it. She started a NEW daycare last week, after being home with me for almost 3 months, I’m sure that is part of it. All she wants is her paci and blanket all day! As soon as we get home from work/daycare, she whines and cries for it. Here's the thing, I don't want her to have her paci in her mouth all day, we limit it to bedtime/naptime. She will throw herself around and whine and cry, pull on my leg, anything to get our attention. I'm to the point, where I want to take it away permanently, but also feel bad because I know she is just in a huge transition.
Has anybody else gone thru this? Do you have any ideas? I would rather not just give her the paci to make her stop; I don't want to get in the habit of letting her have it all day, every day.
Then there is eating. If she doesn't want something, she throws it on the floor, or will whine or cry until we take her out of her chair. I also don't want to get in the habit of making something different for her to eat. At what point did you ladies start saying, if you don't want what we are having, then you aren't eating, or you have a choice of some healthy snacks and that’s it.
Am I being too strict? She is 15 months, am I expecting too much at this age? Any opinions/ideas would be great!!
Happy April! Spring Life Update
4 weeks ago
We just went through something similar. We closed on our house, went out of town that night for the weekend (which included a hotel stay), came back, packed up our apartment, and moved into the new house. Yorlee was forced into new surroundings, a big girl bed, and many other changes immediately after having spent a weekend away from home and sleeping in her pack and play. Girlfriend was NOT a happy camper. At first the guilt set in and I would oblige her every request. Then, I realized that I have to stand my ground. We developed a strict bedtime routine, spend more time outside when we get home (me - from work, her - from daycare), and let her grasp that just because so much has changed, it doesn't mean that the rules are gone. As far as food goes, we offer her what we're having for dinner. If she refuses, it sits in front of her but out of her reach, and my husband and I will eat our food. Sometimes she'll ask for some, and sometimes she doesn't. Later on, if she's hungry, she gets her same plate of food warmed up. More often than not, she completely cleans her plate. I hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteOh boy, she's giving you a run for your money girl! Seems like she's wanting that stuff for security, like you said. New house, new daycare with new kids, "new" family around more and all she wants is to be back with momma. If you don't want to give those things to her during the day you'll need a BIG and FUN distraction for her for a little while until she gets used to the new flow. Spending time outside, like Mrs. V said, is a great idea, lots of cuddle time with you and Will whenever you can. Maybe a big fun toy that you can all play together for a bit before or after dinner? As for eating, Ryan went through a throwing phase around 18 months and it was at that point we started giving time outs away from the table and bringing him back (and repeating) until he could eat nicely with us with no fits or throwing food. If he was done, he needed to say (or sign) "all done" and he could be excused. Not sure if that would work for Aryana yet, whining and crying are such difficult things to deal with. If you want to talk more, let me know! Love and Hugs to you guys!
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