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Seperation Anxiety. It is that label that is put on children when they are seperated from their parents, whether it is because mum has to return to work or parents are simply going out for the evening. My eldest daughter was never overly dramatic about me leaving when she was a baby (she has made up for the drama as she has got older) and I was a little smug about bringing up a well adjusted little lady. Obviously my youngest daughter came along to ensure that I landed back down in the land of the living with a crash.

It's unclear why some children pass through this phase with barely a whimper while other children become totally consumed by it (daughter number one and two are prime examples of this) Separation anxiety tends to go up and down throughout the toddler years but most parenting experts agree that the period of extreme clinginess usually passes between 18 months and 2 1/2 years and that by age 3 they should be fully out of it. (only another 6-12 months to go then).

We blogged previously about separation anxiety and water wobbles at the little ones swimming lessons but most recently she has become even more attached and even more distressed at any separation.

We have received lots of words of wisdom from:

Maybe she is too young to be left?

Have you tried letting her take something that comforts her?

Do it gradually.

You need to just leave her and she will adjust in time.

But as every child is different, so are the ways in which we need to deal with them. Parenting is the hardest, most emotional, rewarding, empowering, challenging and exhausting job in the world.

She is a happy carefree little girl, who wants to go to the park with her mum, who wants to pick apples with her sister or daddy, so who am I to question the need for her reassurance before she grows into the person she wants to be.

In the words of my own mother, it is a moment in time. 

 Image courtesy of africa at FreeDigitalPhotos.net