Pre-Teen Angst Already?by Heather Long | More from this Blogger 21 Jul 2006 04:47 AM It's hard to imagine it, but your toddler experiences a variety of emotions and phases that are a pre-cursor for the pre-teen angst they will go through in a decade or so. It happens to most babies sometime between 13 and 18 months. The snuggly, loving baby that adored cuddling doesn't want to be held anymore and would rather push away and toddle around. They get cranky and irritable a lot faster and it seems like you are always offering them what they don't want. Exercising Independence Your baby is just exercising his or her independence. They are becoming more and more aware of their environment and their own abilities. They are testing their limits and exploring their world. While you are still the source of their nurturing comfort, you are also an impediment on their path to doing it for themselves. They want to do everything you do and they want to do it for themselves. Their irritability comes from the fact that there are still limits to what they can do. You will see it in them when they are learning to walk. They start to toddle those couple of steps on their own and then they fall down. The first few times, it's not a big deal. After that though, it's just annoying. What about that toy on the shelf - if they could just stretch far enough, they could get it. You reach for it and hand it to them and they aren't interested anymore. It wasn't the toy so much that they wanted - but the success of getting it for themselves. Stay Involved It can feel a little bit like your baby is rejecting you during this phase. Don't be that hard on yourself. Your baby still needs you and they still want you there. But what they want to do is impress you with their skills. They want you to applaud their achievements and yes, they will want you to kiss it and make it better when they cry. So hang in there, they will begin to master this stage of development and before you know it, the cranky baby will turn back into the snuggle bunny you remember. Related Articles: Child Speech and Language Development Learn more about Heather Long  Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago. Relevantbaby tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags baby angst, baby development, do it themselves, learning curve, toddler independence Discuss this article
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