my 8 mo/old daughter has become very attached to me. she wants me to hold her every second of the day, and bedtime has become a nightmare! she is lying in her crib as we speak crying so hard her nose is running....i have fed and changed her and i am playing soft music (which i am tyring cause nothing else seems to be working) and she has a pasifyer....i dont know what to do...i have went in and rubbed her which works till i walk back out of the room....what can i do?! is she at an age where i can let her cry it out? i mean i cant hold her all night! PLEASE HELP!

LOL Brooke. I'm not laughing at your situation, but rather the fact that your situation is what I'm trying to avoid, and why I'm so confused...hence my post.

I just wanted to ask you some questions, like: did you hold her alot when she was a newborn? or did she just up and clamp onto your leg one day? The way you wrote made me think that she sleeps in a different room from you, right? Have you considered letting her sleep in your room, in her crib of course? or I guess camping out in her room for a few nights? If camping out worked, you could wait for her to fall asleep, and then sneek out once she was in for the long haul. Yeah, she may be pretty upset with you once she wakes and realizes that you aren't there, but you could always make it seem as though you just stepped out for a minute. But you have to respond to her fast. LOL ;) :cool:
Well, those are my only suggestions because I'm no infant and children expert. I hope something works out for you.

well i held her a good bit as a newborn, but when i wasnt the grandma was so ....lol
but it has just been recently that she has become attached, and it is only certain times, but when she wants down to roam the house then she doesnt need me anymore, but my problem is like when i am doing something and she crys i will pick her up and comfort her and then put her back on the floor to play she will drop her head and cry loudly! and then when i put her in her crib at night...(in her room) she crys till i come in her room and rub her, then i will leave and she is screaming once again!
and i dont go to bed when she does (ususally at 9) i go to bed aroung midnight so sleeping in the same room wont really work, plus i have heard it is bad to start that habit...then you have the troble of getting them back into their own room again...
i knew this attachment thing was bound to happen sooner or later but goodness, i never thought it would be like this! lol
i hate to let her cry because i know she wants me and it just makes you feel terrible when you know your child needs you (or at least they think they do, lol)
but as i said, i cant hold her all night.....lol you get to the point where your baby finally sleeps through the night and then before you know it you are playing the up all night game once again! but instead of needing physical nourisment (food) they need emotional nourishment...(love)

Aww, the joys of mother hood, right? lol
I think it's cute, but stepping into your shoes, I know it's a pain at times...many times. I agree, the letting her sleep in your room thing can turn for the worse, but what about the camping out thing? Just a thought.

Hey, maybe it could be that you are already letting her grow up and become more independent, but she cries to let you know that she's still a baby and feels more comfortable knowing that you are there devoting all of your attention to her like you did before? (Man did that college english course make me good at 15+ word sentences or what?, LOL...okay, way off subject...I'm tired) But I don't doubt that that's what it may be. Too bad she isn't a toddler yet. You could get her to follow you around the house and help you. But maybe she'll lighten up soon? It sure makes you wonder who's in control of our lives now right?

Don't take this as if I am an expert but I have 4 kids ages 3, 5, 7, and 9 which means I have gone through the 8th month a few times. It is normal in my experience that 8 month old babies get very attached some of it is due to the fact they are much more aware of there surroundings and they know you best and that you will protect them (the world is a very big place when your a baby). Also they are old enough to just like being held by mommy and that is just what they want but it is not completely necessary they also need to learn that they can play with there toys and entertain themselves. Also at night it is basically the same thing the room is dark and they don't know where you are and they figure if I scream mommy will return. Now you don't really want to completely ignore them with my own kids when they went through this stage I did let them cry but I would reassure them I was still there every few minutes or so not by going in to the room everytime but sometimes just calling to them and letting them know they are okay mommy is still here. It is okay to pop in once in a awhile but sometimes that actually makes it harder on them. I don't know if this helps any but it is what we did with my kids and it eventually worked and they learned they were okay and they weren't getting left by themselves which is part of the problem I think. If they can't hear you how do they know your still there. I don't beleive at 8 months they are really manipulating you in those words but in a way it can be. :wave:

BrookLynn, I was reading one of the magz the gave to me at the hospital, and I came across an article that reminded me of your situation. It said that it was normal for babies around the age of your's to become attatched...for different reasons. They suggested playing peek-a-boo with your baby...this shows them that "mommy can still be around even though I don't see her, so everything is okay." For those long nights, they suggested...I can't remember what the name of the technique was...but let your baby cry for about five minutes, and then go in to settle her down, and leave again. If she starts crying again, wait ten minutes, and then return to her to settle her down. If she starts again, wait fifteen minutes, etc. Now I'm not exactly sure if they wanted you to keep it at fifteen minutes, or keep adding five minutes on each time...I think they meant to keep it at fifteen. But they said that it usually takes about three days on average for babies to get the idea and eventually start settling themselves knowing that you are not far away, and you will always return.

You might want to try that? kenziesmom had some nice tips too!

thanks again everyone, things have really settled down thank goodness!