The Baby Expert: Back to Square One

When the wife’s sister Sally and her husband and their two kids Jocelyn and Jack came back from Italy a week ago to visit, we had high hopes that this would be a good opportunity for everyone to bond with Caitlyn. After all, she had been getting better about being around and held by others.

However, instead of the happy family reunion that I had pictured in my head, Caitlyn has suddenly reverted back to her former self – a crying, fussy baby that only wants Mommy. And there's no real discernible reason why.

Last night, I made a last ditch effort to help our baby while Sally and her kids are still here before they leave at the end of the week. I made the wife stay at home while I took the baby over to Grandma’s house for dinner by myself. I had hoped that by not having the wife there, Caitlyn might actually behave better.

In the past, having no Mommy around usually meant a calmer, more manageable baby, but that was if Mommy disappeared while the baby was still sleeping. Yesterday, the wife left while Caitlyn was still awake, but I figured we’d try anyways. I even brought my camera along with me, thinking I could get good video evidence of how well the baby behaves when the wife’s not around.

Well, the instant I step through the door and Caitlyn sees Grandma’s face, she bursts into tears. Not a good sign of things to come. I hurry on over to play with Jocelyn and Jack, hoping to distract Caitlyn. And it works. For a bit at least. Then the fussing and crying returned and just got worse as people began trickling in. And it didn’t stop until we left to go back home. That was the one and only time that Caitlyn stopped crying and smiled during the whole trip – when we left.

Even after this failed experiment, I haven’t given up hope. If anything, I’m encouraged by the fact that she’s not intimidated by kids, as she is fine with her cousins and other children. But as far as adults are concerned, perhaps the best tactic is to have them be in close proximity, but not actually interacting with her. This way, she can slowly get used to the person on her own terms instead of being thrust into their arms or face. I'm pretty confident we'll have this problem fixed soon enough. For sure by the time she heads off to college.