We are finally addressing Baby Bears lack of socialization. As our first child and with our move to the UK he has had a perfect storm of passive reinforcement for his attachment to us. With no siblings, no more day care, and not being at nursery age for church he has had very little interaction with kids (or adults for that matter) outside of our immediate family in the last few months. Combine that with his just entering the age range known for attachment issues and you have the perfect clingy baby.
Luckily for all his issues I just came back to day shift so we can really start focusing on our casual socialization and short term separation. More daddy time means more activities. More activities means more trips to the park, visits to Kidz Play (indoor play areas), and a dinner or two with friends. Just getting out and around other people more will hopefully take the edge off of his anxiety. Our focused socialization will be during nursery at church (yay callings) where he has to deal with other children crying and playing. The biggest issue there so far is that HIS MOMMY has to help and play with OTHER KIDS and that is NOT OKAY. We are hoping that with all of the casual socialization we will soon see some gradual improvements. I imagine every child goes through some version of this phase. Hopefully we will see improvement soon.
Now if we had a better plan for the tangled mess that is weening/sleep schedule/crib sleeping...
