Everyone Has Advice

Declan has been very... shall we say... clingy lately. He wants to be held and walked around constantly! He fusses and fusses if you're sitting down holding him or put him down, but then shuts right up once you stand up and get moving! So, I googled: “baby wants to be held all the time” and I found a woman with a similar experience…

“My 5 months old baby wants to be held all the time and cries when she's put down... what do I do? She’s been doing this since she was around 2 1/2 - 3 months old and some people say I spoiled her to the point where I’ll never be able to put her down. She cries when I sit down with her she basically just cries a lot when I’m not holding her. As soon as I pick her up she immediately stops crying. I don’t know what to do, did I spoil her and how do I break her of this?”

There were several answers letting the lady (and all of us out there who need to believe we’re not harming our kid by giving them what they want) know that you cannot spoil a baby. They just need love and affection at this age, and want to cuddle and be close to mom or dad. Example:

“First off you can't spoil a baby. I hate when people say that. Your baby needs you right now. But I know sometimes you don't want to carry the baby all the time so either just let her cry for awhile offer toys and make sure she's not wet or hungry or something. If you have something she likes to be in like a swing or her car seat put her in there for awhile.”

And this one:

“Get a vibration chair and buckle her in it when you are doing stuff around the house. Or get a playpen and put lots of fun toys in it. You can't spoil your baby at this age. She needs to know you are there for her. I know it gets tiring but pretty soon she will be all grown up and not even want to snuggle you. Take advantage of this time because it will be gone in a flash.”

Then there were some “not so nice” mama’s out there. One even felt the need to yell at us:

“PUT HER IN A PLAY PEN (WITH TOYS) AND GET YOUR HOUSE WORK DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She does NOT need to be held all of the time!As long as she has a full tummy and dry butt - let her be on her own - if she cries, walk away (out of her sight) and just ignore her. Sooner or later she will stop once she learns you are NOT going to hold her.”

“…and just ignore her…” ...very interesting…

And this lady, who was trying to say it nicely. I think.

“Unfortunately you did spoil her...”

Haha!!