Clingy Child Tips
Do you feel as if you have zero personal space? Does making dinner often look like having one child attached to your leg while the other is crying for you to come play?
If you feel as if your child is attached to your leg too frequently, here are some clingy child tips to help you navigate your child’s behavior and the emotions behind the behavior.
- Connect with your child before you plan to have them play independently. EX: “I have 10 minutes to spend with you before I go in the kitchen to make dinner. What would you like to do?” Often, we forget to see past the behavior, and search for the emotion that is driving the clinginess. In 90% of the cases, clingy children are searching for connection.
- Feel confident in your decision and use a firm and empathetic tone. EX: “I hear you, you want to be held. I am going to finish making dinner right now. Let me help move your hands off of my leg.”
- Assess the current situation and offer a choice Ex: “You had a big afternoon. I am going to get you a blanket and books and you can read or rest in your cozy spot while I make dinner.”
- TIP: It can be stressful when a child is crying and following you around. I like to pretend my favorite song is on and sing it out loud or read a recipe and state out loud what I am doing…”Looks like I will need 4 carrots, yum, I am going to get the peeler too.” This calms down your own nervous system while showing your child their behavior isn’t getting a reaction from you.
Time, empathy and consistency is key 🙂 Go put these clingy child tips to use!
For a related post, go to Is your child your mini me? Is that a good thing?
