Separation Anxiety 7 Month Old

Please don't stop nursing him. That will most likely make things worse. My son had a really hard time weaning at 14 months. Your son needs the comfort of nursing, especially right now. Does he have a favorite comfort item you could leave with him? I would say just keep trying and exposing him to other people. Maybe do it for shorter periods of time and gradually increase the amount of time you are gone. I work in a church nursery and it is also best if you say a quick goodbye and leave--don't linger, but also don't sneak out. Good luck.

I agree with the other posters, stopping nursing will only make things harder because not only will your son not get to see you while he's at daycare, he won't get to have that special closeness with you when you're home. Plus, the immunity boosters in your milk will help him to better deal with all those extra germs he'll come into contact with at daycare.

Around the 6-7 month mark seems to be a big time for separation anxiety as babies first start to understand that they're a separate person from you. Plus, they're doing a bunch of developmental stuff like starting solids and sitting up and working on crawling, and they like to be able to do that under the safety of mom's watchful gaze. It seemed to help my daughter if there was one consistent other person for her to "attach" to, and if I was as relaxed and cheerful as possible when I said goodbye, and happy but not overly dramatic when I came back. We would also "practice" at home by playing lots of peekaboo and hiding toys under washcloths and that sort of thing so she could see that things don't disappear forever just because they're out of sight. If she was playing happily on the floor or in her exersaucer, I would also tell her I was going into the other room for a few minutes, keep talking to her the whole time I was in the other room, and then come back and say hello, and this seemed to help somewhat.

Good luck to you!

Sara

Actually, "cutting him off" would be the worst thing you could do here - it will add more punishment to his anxiety. Nursing will be the connection you two share to re-bond after every day you have to work J. - please don't give it up.

To help with his anxiety, I recommend RESCUE REMEDY from the Bach Flower Essence line. It is available in all natural food stores or everywhere on line for about $10-12.

RESCUE is a non-habit forming flower essence that calms the nervous system when it is under stress. It is not a drug or pharmaceutical and is completely safe to give to babies.

These almost tasteless drops can be added to a bottle of liquid (breast milk/water...), or dropped right onto his skin for immediate relief. You will be impressed with the change you will see in him. Give it to him daily at least once until you go back to work - and every time he stresses out in between and after.

The result will likely be that he calms down generally and you won't need to give it to him after a short time. Give it a try. You will be impressed with this not-so-well-known anti-anxiety remedy.

J.,
I'm sorry your son has had such a hard time separating from you. It sounds like you are doing all the right things. It's possible that this will pass by the time you have to go back to work and in my experience, taking something away (like nursing) only makes my little guy WAY more clingy. I find being gentle with him and doing what I can to spend a little extra time and doing a lot of talking about it works way better. Even that young starting to tell him what will happen next and that you are going away but you will come back etc. Also, it might be a good time to start giving him something of yours to have with him when you are separated like a small toy or a special blanket etc.
Good luck!
S.