Gentle Ways to Make Goodbye Easy
from Six Months to Six Years
Separation anxiety is the normal and natural expression of our children’s love for us. Instinctively our children look to us in trust, and as parents we know we must justify that trust even as we prepare them for independence.
From infancy to the first school years, this progression to independence proceeds in small steps, but these small steps often feel too large to a child. An infant may not want us to leave the room, and an older child may balk at going to play dates, daycare, or school.
Separation anxiety and stranger anxiety are not simply problems for children. They often create stomach-churning moments for parents as they catch a last glimpse at a tear-stained face or still hear their child’s cry in their mind.
In The No-Cry Separation Anxiety Solution
, Elizabeth Pantley offers a wealth of suggestions for overcoming separation anxiety. Her hints include such helpful ideas as practicing goodbyes with quick, safe separations during the day, avoiding arms-to-arms direct transfers when leaving, and employing a specific goodbye routine.
The reasoning behind each idea is thoroughly explained. Of special note is her idea of a “magic bracelet.” The magic bracelet is a bracelet which the child wears. It is imbued with a parent’s love and constantly reminds a child of their parent’s love even when apart. A magic bracelet is included with each book.
Highly Recommended.
From The No-Cry Separation Anxiety Solution:
-- "Figuring out how to handle your child's separation anxiety can cause you confusion and frustration. Yet you should not fear it 
or even wish it away, as it is the most obvious and identifiable sign of your child's love for and trust in you."
-- "In your child's eyes, you are a superhero."
-- "This is the book I wish I'd had from the beginning of my parenting career for all the times my four children suffered from separation anxiety, as well as to help me with my separation anxiety as I dealt with my own feelings at each of my children's milestones."
-- "You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around--and why his parents will always wave back." (Elizabeth Pantley quoting William Tammeus)
