methods to help alleviate stranger anxiety?

[brgnmom]

my 8-month-old DD has recently developed stranger anxiety, and when my relatives visited over the weekend, she would not let them hold her without crying. She used to be pretty relaxed and calm about meeting new friends and relatives. My mom was trying to babysit my DD over the weekend, and she cried most of the time.

Is there anything I can do to help my DD overcome her stranger anxiety, or is it just a phase that babies tend to go through? I don't remember my DS having as much tears around new relatives/friends during this stage. We don't see my relatives often enough, so my 8-month-old DD probably forgot about meeting them a few months ago.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/tips.

[brittone2]

It is a phase. Distraction sometimes helps, and IME sometimes letting them "warm up" to someone from a distance helps...but if they resist, IMO there really isn't much you can do. It passes, and resurfaces, and passes again.

[waitingforgrace]

It is a phase. Distraction sometimes helps, and IME sometimes letting them "warm up" to someone from a distance helps...but if they resist, IMO there really isn't much you can do. It passes, and resurfaces, and passes again.

DD was like this and she needed warm up time. I asked people to keep their distance and let her approach them and she did usually after 15-20 minutes.

[Simon]

Ds1 went through a long phase of anxiety. We asked people to let him approach them first. We did not force him to hug/approach/be held by people and didn't leave him alone with strangers (even though we know they are family, to him they were unfamiliar) until/unless he felt comfortable.

He usually warmed up pretty quickly, so long as he felt safe and could see that we weren't leaving him.

[TwinFoxes]

It's a developmental phase. I agree with PPs, have people take it slow with them. My MIL (who I just harshed on in another thread) was really good about this. I know it killed her to not just run and grab the babies, but she would say "they need a little time to get used to me". Of course they'd warm up to her, and everything was peachy.

[goldenpig]

It's a developmental phase, totally normal. My kids both went through intense clingy/stranger anxiety phases about every 3 months...5 months, 8 months, 11 months, etc. It's funny because when my family came over for Thanksgiving, DS was bawling any time anyone else tried to hold him besides me. But then at Christmas, he was so friendly and all smiles with them. Don't worry, it's totally normal and will get better eventually!

[brgnmom]

thank you everyone for your reassurance.

I guess it'll just take some time for DD to overcome this phase. GP, I remember how my DD didn't cry at all when you held her a few months ago.

[mackmama]

We are going through this right now too (DC is just about 7mo). I've found it really helps if I hold DC and ask others to take it slow and not to get right in DC's face. Just a little warm-up time really helps. Most of our friends/family are good about this except for my SIL and my mom, who either ignore my request or take my DC's crying as a personal insult. It's good to hear that stranger anxiety is a bit cyclical. DC had stranger anxiety around 5mo but then it disappeared - we were surprised when it just resurfaced.