Need some advice

FabulousMrs.P · April 2013

My DD has been going to the same babysitter since she was 3 months old. She goes two days a week. The rest of the week she is with me (I work from home 2 days a week) or my mom. She is with the same two kids that she has been with since she started going. DD arrives first at 7:45am and the other kids arrive at 9:00am.

DD is also going through a tough time with separation anxiety. It seems to be at its height right now.

For the last month, DD cries when the other kids come to daycare. She will turn her back to them and cry or put her little head down and cries. And she continues to cry on and off until they leave. I don't know of any incidents of them hurting her, etc. And these kids desperately want to play with her!

We thought maybe it was just a teething thing because her separation anxiety gets worse when she is teething, but she has seemed pretty okay at home over the last week. We also thought maybe she just wasn't having enough exposure to other kids so we have been making playdates with her bigger cousins and taking her to a local playground to play with other kids her age. While she doesn't necessarily "play with" the other kids...she still parallel plays...she doesn't cry. When my nephews (ages 5 and 3) are quietly playing, she likes to play with them. She hands them toys, etc. It is only when they are running around that she backs off and gets a little scared.

She is a cautious personality by nature. She likes to watch things before she does them. She also likes to know someone really well before she lets them hold her, but then she is incredibly affectionate once she knows you.

I am at my witts ends because I just don't know what else I can do to help her get over this. She used to play with the other kids at daycare. My mom tried dropping her off after the other kids were already there thinking maybe that would help her. And she tried to get her to engage with the kids, but she wanted nothing to do with them.

Any suggestions on what to do? I don't want to give up on her...I really do think this is a phase, but I am not sure how to get us past it.

Scramblersmom · April 2013

My advice is based purely on how I think I would handle it and not from having similar issues with DS and other kids. I would not make a big deal of it and just ride it out until it passes. If the other kids are not hurting your DD then there is nothing t