Clingy Madness!

It's probably just a phase - they tend to go in 6 month cycles with the little ones. My youngest went through this too....maybe both of my boys did. He WILL grow out of it, so try not to get too bugged about it. Enjoy it, but also help him to find other things to "hold" on to. Find him ways to help mommy (cleaning patio doors, dust-busting, wiping dishes dry, etc.). Play games where you are away from each other but then come back (like hide and go seek).

kids grow in a '2 steps forward, one step back' sort of pattern. they grow out of something, only to seemingly 'regress' in another area.

just have patience with him. he needs you right now, for whatever inexplicable reason. there is nothing wrong with supporting his feelings and needs right now, especially not with a 2 year old. my son is 2, and he gets all the snuggling that he wants, and hes rather independent (HA non-attachment parenting naysayers!) but he knows when he asks for snuggles he gets them. :D

im not saying at all that you arent. and im horribly sorry that you are frustrated by this.
but trust me, this doesnt last forever, and when hes a teenager, he wont be crawling into your lap :P

what hes doing is age appropriate, healthy, and absolutly essential to his connection with you! he trusts you enough to feel comfortable crawling into your lap - :D just smile and let him. we are all busy, but someday not too far in the future, you would wish he would slow down a little and snuggle, and he wont want to... :P so absorb all this snuggly love now! :D

maybe also you can talk to him; see if theres something hes worried about; maybe he heard something somewhere, maybe he saw a tv show or something that made him worry.
:D either way, have patience, the more you connect with him and his needs, the easier it will be for him to move on to the next phase! :D

good luck!

K. - Cherish this time!! Soon he will be off to school, out with his friends and studying in a forgein country and you'll wonder why you were frustrated that he wanted to sit on your lap!

I'm a mother of a 20 year old daughter who is New Zealand for 4 1/2 months, and a son who is 16 and rarely ever home due to sports and friends.

What I would give to have my child sitting next to me or on my lap!

My little boy is now 4.5 yrs old and I can tell you wholeheartedly that your little one is going through a phase. What you need is more time for yourself, both each day and at least once a week. As hard as it can be, you need to enlist others to help you out so that you can get away. Even if you can think of nothing else to do, just get out of the house by yourself! I have many mom friends who joined Lifetime Fitness simply because they needed the 2 hr daily childcare. They wouldnt' always exercise; many times they just sat in the whirlpool or the cafe or just sat and read for 2 hours.

Sounds like you have a very clingy little boy, some of the things you mentioned where alot of what my child did. It sounds like you don't have him enrolled in a play group which I would encourage you to do immediately. Not only will see the other childrens reactions but will encourgment to do things for himself BE patient and you see your child go from a clingy child to one that is encourag to help in daily chores.

What a loving dilemna!! I know the feeling you have, but I'm with the other responders on saying - love it! Our boys are obviously older & what we wouldn't give for one day of loving up on us constantly.

I do remember those days, and the feeling that you had a little growth on you constantly. One book I recommend for attachment stuff, school prep & just pure love & enjoyment is "The Kissing Hand". It was one of Clayton & I's all time favorites!! It's all about the Mom's love being with her little guy at all times.

You are currently his security blanket. I went through the same thing with my son. If a stranger so much as looked at him he would turn towards me and try to climb inside my shirt. I don't know how many times I had to enter Walmart with his head inside my shirt because of the little old man that tried to give him a sticker LOL

I would try as hard as you can to just let it be, because before you know it, he won't be the same. Right around 3 my son stopped letting me hold him altogether, and it broke my heart. So, I do agree... cherish it as much as you possibly can before it is gone.

I have the same challenge with my almost 3 year old little boy. Basically, I just remind myself that he is still little and that he just wants to be near me. Our son NEVER sits by himself on the couch if my hubby or I are also sitting --- and if I'm home he is ALWAYS on my lap.

However, we have stopped carrying him around all the time and we tell him he is a big boy and can walk on his own. We don't really have an issue with him holding our hands.

One thing I do if I am in the middle of something like cooking dinner and he wants attention is tell him he can "hug my leg". For us this works because he'll do it for a few minutes and then get bored. The more we try and push him away from us the more clingy he gets -- but if we let him "be near" us he seems ready to go play on his own quicker.

Just remember...this too shall pass.

Ok, as nice as it sounds to just love it....
Ick. You need time and space to yourself.

My daughter did this as well - and it drove me insane. It got to the point where I didn't even want to be around her, because I knew I couldn't have my own space, but instead had to have this hot, wriggly body on me at all times. The more annoyed I got, the more she sensed it, and the more clingy she got. This is not good for anybody.

Incidentally, she's about to turn 8 and she's still more clingy than most children - she always wants to lean on me, sit on me, hold onto me, etc. She even does this at the dinner table, where all of a sudden you'll realize that she's basically leaning over our plates while eating off her own. But, at this point, I just tell her that I need my own space and make her move.

There are 3 things that we did when she was little that worked really well to help us get our own spaces and still give her the connection she needed. She started carrying around a t-shirt that I had slept in for a couple nights. It was soft and she could cuddle it and hold it, and it smelled like me, so she felt that she was close. When the smell started to fade, we would just switch t-shirts.
The other thing we did was get her her own chair that was only hers in the living room. It was her size, and we made a huge deal out of it. Because of that, she was excited to sit in her own space - and it got her out of mine. Thirdly, and I know there are a thousand people who will say that this is the worst thing you can do, I let her sleep in my bed with me. She got all kinds of cuddling time then, and seemed to need a little bit less during the day.

Another thing that you can consider is using tactile type therapy options. These are things that therapists use for children and adults with tactile issues which can help them immensely, but there's really no reason why people without tactile issues can still use them.
One of these things that both my daughter and I love are weighted blankets. The feeling of them really helps to settle and calm and reduces anxiety. They're really expensive, but you can also make them - though it's a little complicated. If you google "weighted blankets" you should be able to find directions or a seller.

This is a age when they are going from being dependent on mom and having to go into doing things for themselves. It is scary and lets face it, when they are 18 months and wanting to sit on our laps all the time, we relish the closeness. They still don't understand why all the sudden you are wanting them to do it themselves. By the sounds of it your son is unsure of the world around him and is clinging to you for security. Putting him in time out won't give him security, just confuse him more where he will want to cling more. Does that make sense? To make a indepentent little guy, it helps if you sit with him every hour or so and read him a book. Let him color at the table while you are doing dishes. Include him in helping you pick up. Keep him busy, give him hugs and let him be close while he is playing. Also, who watches him while you work? Do they scream at him or other children? Do they ignore or get after him for being clingy? Make sure all is ok there because if there is yelling which doesn't have to be towards him, it could make him feel unsafe and that will bring on more clinging. Does he talk well enough to let you know if he is unhappy over something? Does he like going to the babysitter or does he cry? How does he do there, is he as clingy to the babysitter or does he play on his own? I had a teacher who would belittle me in class all the time when I was young and it showed by my always having a stomach ache and wanting to stay home. I never did tell my mom what the teacher was doing, they figured it out when I was so unhappy and sick all the time. Your son may not be able to tell you or know what words to use if there is a problem.

Always remember that this is NOT a sign of neglect. It is a sign that he feels safe with you and that is why he wants to be in touch with you all the time, so have patience.