https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 06 May 2026 12:59:37 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-clingy-four-month-old-used-to-a-sitter#post-1122718 Tue, 01 Oct 2013 04:54:27 +0000 mjane 1122718@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks ladies! Just left her. When the sitter arrived LO could tell something was up, and kept looking at me and making her "about to cry face." I put her down on her mat and the sitter plopped down beside her and was playing with her and I just booked it out of there! Feels good!</p> <p>When I taught preschool I used to Hate. It. when parents lingered with their weepy little ones. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-clingy-four-month-old-used-to-a-sitter#post-1121053 Mon, 30 Sep 2013 09:45:36 +0000 Ellie 1121053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with @oldenglandmama and @bluebonnet - stay for what you're comfortable with, but your LO will be different with you there and the babysitter should be free to soothe and bond without you looking over her shoulder. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-clingy-four-month-old-used-to-a-sitter#post-1121044 Mon, 30 Sep 2013 09:42:47 +0000 OldEnglandMama 1121044@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No LO yet but I can share an experience. DH is a student and last year, he and his classmates were sprung with a last minute mandatory Saturday class (his school is notorious for poor planning/communication). He kindly volunteered my services as babysitter to a classmate whose DH was out of town, and who had no other childcare options nearby at such short notice. (I was less than pleased but felt for her so did it anyway.) </p> <p>Well the morning she dropped baby off (6 mo) she announced that they had never been apart more than 2 hours and baby had been EBF until the day before when they introduced a straw cup and tried a bottle (which she had refused). To my horror, she had also had a fever the day before that was unexplained. </p> <p>Arrgh! Well, they left for their class and baby cried for 10-15 minutes. Then we played, napped, and battled with getting pumped breast milk into her for the next *9 HOURS*. She was fine. (I tricked her into drinking from the bottle with a distracting ceiling fan - when she realised my face wasn't "mom" and the bottle wasn't mommy's boob she wailed.)</p> <p>While the mom was there, baby was very focused on her and largely ignored me as just another person in the room. When mom left, at first she was distressed and I was concerned about separation anxiety. BUT, she very quickly got over it and started to enjoy herself. For mom it must have been hard to leave her baby who was obviously upset, but I made sure to text her reassuring photos once things were calm and happy :)</p> <p>Based on this experience I would say hang out for as long as you like, or until the sitter is comfortable and has no questions for you. I think the longer you stay the more you are delaying the inevitable though. Baby will be right as rain in no time. </p> <p>Good luck with your thesis! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-clingy-four-month-old-used-to-a-sitter#post-1121012 Mon, 30 Sep 2013 09:33:07 +0000 Bluebonnet 1121012@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When we hired a nanny, LO was having stranger issues too. I thought I'd spend the majority of two full days with the LO and the nanny, but I was clearly making things worse. Because the nanny was so experienced, she basically told me to leave, and it was better for everyone involved!!</p> <p>Ask your sitter how she's handled this type of situation in the past. A good sitter/nanny has experience in these types of situations and they will have strategies that have worked for them in the past. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-clingy-four-month-old-used-to-a-sitter#post-1120984 Mon, 30 Sep 2013 09:26:46 +0000 bunnylove08 1120984@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When we transitioned to a new nanny after moving. I stayed with DD for half the day (1st day only) with the nanny and then went into work. It took a little while for her to get used to the nanny but now she loves her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-clingy-four-month-old-used-to-a-sitter#post-1120970 Mon, 30 Sep 2013 09:23:34 +0000 mjane 1120970@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Bumping in the hopes of some ideas.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-clingy-four-month-old-used-to-a-sitter#post-1120606 Mon, 30 Sep 2013 04:03:03 +0000 mjane 1120606@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm a WAHM/graduate student and I'm starting up back at work/thesis-writing this week. We've hired a lovely babysitter to come twice a week for four hours (10 am - 2pm) and I'm really excited, but this coincides with my smiley, social four-month old becoming pretty clingy and developing stranger anxiety. When the sitter came over for an interview last week and hung out for a while, baby cried as soon as she the sitter began holding her (as she's started to do with every new person in the past two weeks... she'll be smiley with them up until the moment she's in their arms). Eventually she got used to it, and by the time the sitter left (maybe 45 minutes later) she was holding baby and walking around no big deal. </p> <p>Question is: when the sitter comes tomorrow, how long should I hang out? I'm planning to work at the library most days, but thinking that the first day or two I should hang out for a while at home with the two of them so baby gets used to the sitter. Is that totally wrong-headed? Will that make it worse for me and the sitter? If I do hang out with them, how long should I stay? I think the adults are more likely to be stressed in the long-term than baby, and I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to be a wreck listening to her cry, nor do I want the sitter to feel I'm hovering over her. Thoughts/advice/good wishes much appreciated! </p> <p>(Up until this point she's been babysat only by family members, and the last time was my sister, with whom she's super comfortable, right before the stranger anxiety began.) </p>