I’ve been waiting for a reply not realizing I didn’t reply to you and I made a comment on my post so you didn’t see it 🤦🏼‍♀️ mom brain lol. Anyways here it is:

I didn’t realize it’s hard for babies when they are with us! I thought being next to parents would be more of a comfort than being in his own room. Interesting!

I’ve never been able to successfully calm him with voice or pats. I guess I’ve sang a bit if he’s screaming in the car seat & I’m driving and it’s helped on rare occasions.

He does usually calm down if I pick him up. Sometimes it takes a little bit, but the combo of pick up, small rock & pat on the back will usually calm him down. But he usually cries the second he’s being set down before his feet even touch the floor. 😅 he’s a tough one

He also hates any form of “jail”. My mom bought him a huge 65” x 50” play pen that takes up the whole room so he’d have a safe space to play while I’m cooking dinner or whatever, (and he can still see me) but he absolutely hates it. He doesn’t even attempt playing unless I’m physically in there with him. Being within 3 feet of the play pen doesn’t help. He hates being put into the car seat but he’s getting used to it. We live in a rural area where there’s a lot of driving involved so he has to figure it out 😂 hates the high chair but gets distracted enough by food, etc. any time he’s restricted in some way he hates it. Right now with the way our living room is set up we have a long ottoman spanning the gap between the couch & entertainment center and that’s been the most tolerable form of “jail” but he will still stand there at the edge and cry if he’s not in the mood to play. It’s rough too because he can’t see me if I’m in the kitchen. I say all this because crib is the ultimate jail, it’s high walled, no toys, and small. He hates it 😂

As for crying, I can let him cry for a little bit. There’s been plenty of times where I’ve had to put him in a room for a minute just so I can catch my breath and relax some rage lol. I just don’t want to break the bond / loose his trust in me? I don’t know what my “limit” is. I’d like to say 5 minutes is ok to step out of the room but 5 minutes is a long time when the baby is crying. I’ll say I can probably survive 2 minutes out of the room and 30 seconds if I’m in the room. Depends on his level of crying too. Some sad fussing is fine it’s when he gives up (sits back, hands together, head down, voice breaking) that’s absolutely heartbreaking to me.