My 9-month old baby is so clingy! Is this normal?

My 9-month old baby is so clingy! Is this normal? I found myself asking this question earlier today after snapping at (shame) our boy. The Little Man kept crying the whole morning just because he doesn’t want me out of his sight and out of his reach. I have to be at arm’s length all the time while he’s doing whatever activity he’s doing. I tried to get him to nap, but the moment I leave his side, he starts crying.

I snapped because I can’t do anything at all… not even go to the bathroom! No kidding here. I take him with me every time I need to go or else he’ll be extremely upset–and by the I mean breath-holding spells. The Princess wasn’t like that before. I mean, she did have a phase wherein she cried every time I’m about to go out of the room, but it wasn’t as bad.

So I took the opportunity to search the internet on my phone while the Little Man was breastfeeding and calm. I’m pretty sure other moms experience/d the same thing–and I was dying to know what is up with my boy and what I need to do to get him to calm down when I need to leave the room.

To my surprise (and relief), upon searching the term “my 9 month old is clingy” on Google, I found so many other moms experiencing the same thing. I looked at some of my go-to resources about parenting and found a couple of helpful articles.

“…crawling out into the wide world is fascinating — and terrifying. Your little adventurer gets it now — that as much as she wants to venture out on her own, she desperately needs you, and is panicked that she’ll lose you somewhere along the way.” (TheBabyShrink.com, full article here)

This is actually very true. The Little Man started being so independent and needy at the same time when he started crawling. I first noticed this when we brought him to Gymboree for the first time. While he was very excited to explore, he also kept checking if I was still there every now and then.

So what can parents do to calm a clingy little one? I’ve been a constant reader of Janet Lansbury’s blog for a few months now and I find what she has to say about dealing with clingy babies interesting:

“Children also need to feel trusted to separate and return as needed. (Confidence in our children to experience this is essential to them forming secure attachments according to Bowlby’s Attachment Theory.) But child-led separation can’t happen if we follow babies and toddlers around.”

And there goes one mistake I’ve been making. I keep following him around, trying to keep him “safe.” I am always close by when he and his big sister are playing because I’m afraid our little girl might unintentionally hurt her brother. I always follow him when he crawls around the room, too, because I don’t know what he might pick up along the way.

My 9-month old is so clingy! Is this normal?
Caught the two crazies sitting on the bedside table

I wasn’t like this with the Princess. I let her play all she want, I let her explore and get dirty–which is probably why she has grown to be an independent and smart toddler. As to why I have become overprotective of the Little Man, I don’t know. But I sure want to change this (for his good and my sanity)!

Moms and Dads, did/do you experience the same thing with your little ones? How did you handle the neediness?

Kimberley Reyes

Kimberley Reyes is an Online Business Manager for entrepreneurs who are ready to get off the hamster wheel and step into their CEO shoes. On top of helping her clients get organized and scale their businesses, she is also happily busy raising her five kids with her firefighter husband.

This Post Has 9 Comments

  1. Judy

    Yes this sounds like my situation but has anyone had problems with the sleeping situation on top of the clingy? My little man use to nap and sleep very well and now he wants to be rocked every time he wakes up and cries when I leave the toom if he isn’t sleeping yet! And he is waking up 2-3times a night. First 2 times are shortly after he goes to bed and third is for his feeding.

    1. Kimberley Reyes

      My kids went through that phase. They outgrew it when they turned 1. 🙂 What did I do during that phase? Before I leave them in their playroom to do some chores, I tell them what I’m going to do and assure them that I’ll be back soon. I reassure them by spending short breaks from chores and work with them. They eventually learned to play on their own by the time they turned 1.

      As for the frequent waking up at night, I think that’s normal? My advice is to stay with your child in the room until he reaches deep sleep.

  2. Mitch Ryan

    I’m a bit lucky Derick, my son, whose 1 and 8 months now was never clingy. He is very independent. But yes, you are not alone when it comes to “following around”. I, myself gets worried.

  3. Patty | MrsC

    As much as it is super sweet,it does get annoying sometimes. Then we immediately feel guilty for being annoyed, diba, mommy? 🙂 I say just make the most out of the neediness and clingy-ness while you still can. 🙂

    1. Mom On Duty

      I do try to make the best out of it because I know, pag nagbinata na ‘to sa iba na ‘to magiging clingy. Haha! But sometimes talaga we need time alone.

  4. Mommy Pehpot

    seryoso Kim?!? ang bait bait kaya niya! imagine he can stay at the car set while you drive.. naku with my kids, si sati and ung 5 year old ko, gusto nakakandong pa sa akin pag umaalis kame.. yan ang clingy haha

    1. Mom On Duty

      Well, he wasn’t complaining during the event kasi naka-sling siya. Tapos pag sa car seat tahimik siya kasi nasa galaan eh. Haha! Pero pag nandito lang kami sa house, dapat talaga karga siya palagi or kung ibababa ko, dapat nakikita ako.

  5. Donna Ocon -Juezan

    ganun nga talaga cguro. Kids are clingy to mothers. Even my 2 kids are both requesting for me than my hubby.

    1. Mom On Duty

      It just gets tiring sometimes–especially when you really, really need some time alone. But at the same time, it’s sweet kasi alam natin na love nila tayo. 🙂

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