What's With the Wining?

Brittany - posted on 06/16/2010

i am in the exact same thing my daughter is just turning nine months soon and she was an extremely happy baby and she is starting to whine alot now!! but i have realized its a boredom thing because if i bring her to play dates with kids or to places with people other than me its new and exciting for her and she doesnt whine!! hope that helps

Kimberly - posted on 06/15/2010

my little kassi is the same way. she fights her nap like a champ going a full 12 rounds. i think it is because she is on the verge of having that first tooth pop through

Belinda - posted on 06/15/2010

It may not be teething or boredom. This is their needy phase. They will attach more to Mum and Dad and shy away from other people. I have been reading about it for months. This is normal for bub 8-12 months. I am a mum and housewife who puts too many high expectations on myself and decided to just chill and have a full day of no housework and just play with my son. He was like a different little man. Yes its exhausting but very rewarding when they go straight to sleep with no wingeing and are happy little people all day long. He didn't winge for my attention as he had it all day. Now I let the housework go and do it at night after he has gone to sleep. Those with sore bubby bums from acidic poops, a heavily zinc based nappy rash cream is a God sent. Good luck to all!

Noreen - posted on 06/14/2010

You couldn't have said it better Susan! Abby is VERY whinny when her diaper needs to be changed. I don't blame her AT ALL though. If I had a wet diaper or had poo stuck to my but, I'd be pretty whinny too!! Well, my mom said I was the worst with a dirty diaper, thats why I supposedly potty trained at a yr. (More like ECed)

Susan - posted on 06/14/2010

LOL my daughter doesn't whine - she grunts! She'll even grunt in her sleep! However, I've learned that means she needs a diaper change, food, or the teething toothbrush. When those little arms fly up, I pick her up for a few minutes most of the time unless I'm cooking. Are you in tune with baby's needs? If I pay attention, she'll tell me just what I need to know. Remember she's learning too. It is tiring, but I try and keep these days (good and and not so good) in my heart. I waited a long time to have her. Mom sd to embrace this frustration because this is as easy as it gets!

Amanda - posted on 06/14/2010

Praise the Lord! I've been meaning to get on here and post this same question. My son is about 8.5 months old, and within the last 3 weeks he has begun whining. I did find out that he has an ear infection, so I'm sure that was part of it, but like the other moms on here, it would seem to be random/out of the blue when for all intents and purposes he seemed fine. I do pick him up at times,even though this doesn't always help. I also try to play with him or give him toys to play with. I cannot stand the whining either. If it's a normal part of growing up, then whatever, but it's still frustrating as a mom!

Lacy - posted on 06/14/2010

I would love to enjoy these little moments, but since they are all day occurrences its a little hard lol. And its not really an issue of thinking that they are whining and not wanting to pick them up because they will think they have gotten there way. I never leave my child to cry. I think the issue is moms are getting frustrated with not being able to do little things around the house because you have a little person permanently attached to you.

Sabrina - posted on 06/13/2010

maybe he is frustrated? my daughter used to be quite happy to lay and play all day! but now she is standing and pulling herself across the furniture she whinges when she cant get any further and follow her brother

Noreen - posted on 06/13/2010

hmmm... I'm not sure how to approach this without offending someone since I am so good at offending people without meaning too.

SO, some people think that if they pick up their baby when their baby whines every time that their baby will learn that whining gets what they want and that their child will be co-dependant and spoiled. Well I say WRONG! I believe that if you tend to your childs needs and hold them or pick them up when they whine or cry that it will build their condfidence and they will trust that mommy is always going to be there for them when they need them. We might not understand whats going on with our baby, but if we are there to comfort them, their need will be met and they will grow into confindent independant little people. We all want our children to turn out strong happy healthy independant children in the long run. A lot of frequent posters are first time moms and just want the best. I get that. Abby is my 3rd baby and I can not stress enough how much you are going to miss this stage! They grow up so fast and before you know it, your little baby is going to be a kindergardner and you'll look back and think, "what happened to my little baby?" So enjoy these little moments when your baby wants to be snuggled. They are short lived. I can garantee that!

Lacy - posted on 06/13/2010

Noreen - My boy is around 26 pounds, I also have the ergo carrier, which I LOVE. I don't mind stopping what I am doing and having a cuddle or playing, which is what I spend most of my day doing anyway. But sometimes I just need to get chores done around the house and he doesn't want me to leave his sight even for a minute. It is getting rather frustrating that he is so attached. If I have company over and he doesn't know them that well you can forget me putting him down for even a minute since he is so shy of strangers and will scream and scream. Its gotten so if we are out and people in a store come up to talk to him I just turn away since he will start screaming in the store. Everyone is so surprised that he is so shy, I don't blame him for that though, they are complete strangers. Its just a stage he is going through I suppose, well get through it.

Kathy - posted on 06/13/2010

My daughter has her moments where she whines more than normal but usually its if she's teething or tired. My husband and I agreed from day one that at this age we won't pick her up every time just wants to because we don't want her to think that just cause she wants to we will hold her. Don't get me wrong we do hold her, but not holding her all the time has helped her learn to play on her own if needed, or even (while supervised) play with her puppy. I've also found that with this she whines less and only cries when she needs something... (food, cuddles etc)

Noreen - posted on 06/13/2010

Francine- Why is it if she's whinning you don't think she's being well behaved?? It's pretty impossible for babies this age to behave badly in the first place because they don't the difference.

Lacy- When Abby wants to be held I will either stop what I'm doing to tend to her needs or strap her to my back in the Ergo carrier, which is great on my back and shoulders!! Abby weighs 21lbs, but I've worn my 34lb 4yr old at the zoo for about 2hrs because his legs got tired and he was exhausted. Didn't feel much of a difference other then when I took him off I felt so light. LOL How much does your baby weigh?

Lacy - posted on 06/13/2010

My son has started to act the same way. He is teething so that may be the problem. He also wants up all the time now and cries if I sit him down by himself. He is fine if I walk around with him all day but that just isn't a possibility since hes a heavy boy.

Francine - posted on 06/13/2010

OH THANK YOU ALL!!!! My daughter has been whiny and frustrating too!!!! I figure it is teething and all of that, I have also started changing her toys around a little more and reading to her a little more. It has started sending me around the bend... :-)

She has always been such an angel that everyone else things she is fine, I can tell how whiney she is, but it seems everyone else thinks she is being well behaved :-)

Frustrating...

Melissa - posted on 06/12/2010

MY little girl is whining if she can't see me. IF am in the house and she can her me (even with dad) she whining for me. And the two times i have left her with a baby sitter all she does is cry so i get where your coming from..

Noreen - posted on 06/12/2010

Teething is VERY painful too. I think I would probably whine all the time if I had 16 teeth to cut in a year!!

Noreen - posted on 06/12/2010

It's completely normal for them to start "whining" at this age. He's not doing it to manipulate. It could be a large variety of things from teething to just needing to be reassured. My daughter has just started this too and I just pick her up and give her a huge and kiss and reassure her.

Lisa - posted on 06/12/2010

Maybe it is teeth. I know it's not boredom. He'll be sitting in a pile of toys or walking from one room to the other (with assistance) and wine for no apparent reason. And he won't usually go into the activity center any more - he'll spread his legs so he can keep himself from being put into the seat and if we do get him in he screams, except for the rare times he actually does want to play in there.

Today I actually took about half his toys away and figured maybe he's bored with them and if we rotate them weekly they'll be more interesting. I won't know if it's worked until next week.

Jola - posted on 06/12/2010

hi maybe he is theething, mine was such a happy baby and few weeks ago started to wine all the time, now his 5 tooth came out and he is back to a happy baby again!!!

Gotsome - posted on 06/12/2010

Thank god it's not just me!!! I was starting to lose my mind, I mean how can getting moving make a baby whiny? I thought he'd be thrilled to bits to be able to get around how & when he wants! I have no clue how decrease it & would love to know but I'm so relieved that we're not the only ones!!!

Kellie - posted on 06/12/2010

I agree, the whininess has increased majorly....and my son's has nothing to do with boredum. I don't know what it's all about.

Betty - posted on 06/12/2010

Hi Lisa,



Maybe your son is bored. Have you tried distracting him with something to play with? Because when my daughter starts whining for no reason it always because she's bored, so I give her toys to play with and she's happy and content again.



If you need to do chores, you can put him in an activity centre. I have a Bright Starts "Around the World" activity centre and it has soooooo many toys on it, it usually keeps my daughter entertained for a while when I need things done.