I thought I knew what to expect with my son. I figured, I had been a mom for almost two years now, I should have the hang of this, right?
Right, guys?
*crickets*
I didn’t. My son refused to be put down for anything. If I didn’t want him to cry, I would need to hold him. Almost instantly he would stop. It drove me bananas.
So I posed this question to my YoungMommy readers and here are some of their suggestions:
Ms. Bar B, from A Place of Comfort, says:
Maybe try a baby carrier (which means that you are STILL holding the baby all the time). Or maybe swaddling the baby and then laying next to it so that it can see you or swaddling and placing in a carrier/bouncer and sitting next to you while you go about your day.
All good suggestions. I’ve done those and they seem to work. One I’d add is that I’d sing to my kids if I had to put them down somewhere. They seem to like hearing my voice.
My good friend Courtney, whose son is about a month older than mine, says:
Distraction is the key. Jaedyn is a true mama’s boy. I think he wishes he still had something to keep himself attached to me. Anyways, back to the distraction. A cartoon that is singing, a toy that makes noise on its own, etc. He is obsessed with tags lately so give him a tag, lay him back on the bed and he could care less what you are doing and where you’ve gone…at least long enough to get a few things done.
The highchair has been a savior for me too! He has a toy that attches to it and it keeps him entertained while I’m fixing a meal or something. Hand him a graham cracker and something to bang and he’s all set in that thing. He can still see me, is kind of close and he is occupied.
Another thing that works, only sometimes, is to put him down somewhere, give him something to do, then slowly ease away!
It’s a careful balancing act. On one hand, you want to cherish every moment your child is here. On the other hand, you know there is laundry to be done, phone calls to be returned, e-mails to answers, errands to run. And some tasks do require both hands!
Next installment of Wish I Knew: How to deal with a child’s skin irritations (excema, diaper rash, heat rash, etc.) Let me know how you deal with it in the comments!
My son Jalen was the same way. I made good use of that sling. It would quickly put him asleep as I walked around and did things around the house. The swing worked wonders too. Did you try something that keeps moving him? Also, I think maybe he might be too young but what about an exersauscer, jungle gym or activity blanket?
The sling and the swing were my answers for my clingiest son. His personality is still very cuddly almost 7 years later, he definitely thrives from being hugged.
Skin irritations I learned quite a bit from dealing with my own eczema issues and my second son who had major infant eczema. We steer clear of anything with sulfates or mineral oil in the ingredients (shampoo and soap were purchased at natural foods stores) and started making our own skin moisturizer from pure shea butter. While I was nursing I added fish oil and flaxseed oil to my diet, and did a fish oil supplement (fish oils are great for skin and hair health as well as brain development) once he got older per the recommendation of my pediatrician.
I had a wonderful Mommy friend who had a daughter that went through the same thing 😉 I was freaking out when he first got it, excema. His face just looked so awful, then it was around his wrists, ankles and private area too. After trying some regular OTC things the doctor recommended, I finally had to take him to the dermatologist. She prescribed him an oil that stinked so bad I hated to put on, and an ointment. He got a really bad diaper rash once too and she said instead of using the regular Desitin, the one in the blue tube, get the one in the purple tube because it has more zinc in it. I don’t like the smell of that one but it works GREAT!!!