Caregiver needs new routine for overattached infant

months, so age may be a factor. The baby may be experiencing separation anxiety from you as others might get it when a parent drops them off at day care. It should not cause you distress since this is expected behavior. Dr. Chawla kindly offered suggestions for coping with this:

Establish a goodbye ritual/routine that’s consistent and quick. Comfort the infant and let him/her know you will be back after your break (just as parents would tell their little one they will be back after work). Some parents do a peek-a-boo ritual, which can reduce crying goodbyes to ones with much less drama.

Leave after you say your goodbye and definitely come back repeatedly. Coming back is positive reinforcement for the crying.

Dear Abby: My husband had an annoying habit of staring at me. After dinner, if I went into the kitchen while he was still at the dinner table, he would turn his chair around to stare at me. When he walked into a room I was in, he would stop and stare at me.

When I finally told him to cut it out, he said, “Can’t you stand scrutiny?” I said it has nothing to do with scrutiny. It’s a form of trying to control me, or even mental abuse. He stopped it for the most part but reverts back once in a while. What do you think of this?

Dear Annoyed: Unless you have left something out of your letter, I don’t consider what he was doing to be emotional abuse. Until you spoke up, he may not have realized he was making you uncomfortable.

What I think it means is that your husband thinks you are the most beautiful woman in the world. Now he knows it makes you uncomfortable, he’s making an effort to stop, but old habits are hard to break.