Advice clingy toddler and hair fetish

My four year old has a hair fetish and won’t go to sleep unless he is holding my hair. The holding part isn’t the big issue it’s that he pulls it. It is driving me nuts I had hoped that by now he would grow out of it. I don’t believe in the cry it out method and I need a way to get him to sleep nightly on his own without all the fuss. He shares his room with his younger brother. Any suggestions. I’m honestly overwhelmed at night between pregnancy/ wanting my body back plus him pulling on me none stop. On top of that he has become so clingy I feel like I don’t have physical space. He has gotten so bad that he won’t play on his own anymore. He hangs on me ever second and it’s not sweet hugs. He does strange things like licks my arms. Or freaks me out jumping over me. I try to give him jobs when he is all over me during the day. But he needs to just chill and play on his own sometimes. Sorry for the rant but I needed to put it out there. Any suggestions for clinginess or a hair fetish?

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I can understand where you're coming from for sure. My daughter is all over me as long as I'm in the room with her too, and her fetish is pinching. When she was still little and breastfeeding she would constantly pinch my arms or boobs and that was painful! Now she mostly just plays with mine or my husband's knuckles, but it took constant redirection to get her to stop pinching and switch to the knuckles thing. So maybe you can try to find a doll with similar hair to yours and offer that as an alternative, even if it's just for a few seconds at a time until he shifts to being okay with the doll's hair. As for the constantly being all over you, the only relief I've found is if I can distract her for a few minutes with something entertaining like a musical toy, or blocks. Then I try to leave her eyesight so she's not tempted to come climb on me or whatever. I've also learned to avoid sitting on the couch when I really don't want her climbing all over me because she does 99% of the time I sit on the couch.

I’m sorry you’re struggling and I know you said you don’t believe I the cry it out method and I’m not sure exactly which method you are referring to, but your child cannot always have your way and you are doing a disservice to him if you are bringing him up to believe he can. Let’s face it, sometimes in life things don’t go our way and you must help your child to understand that disappointment is not the end of the world. If he believes he can always have his way, he will continue to be very moody, demanding and reactive. I know it can be hard to say no, by it will be much harder if you don’t set up boundaries and limits for him. If you need help please reach out to me. I think you’re pregnant by what you said and if you don’t take care of this now, it will only get worst as he gets jealous of a new baby. You can also buy my book and it will help with all of this. Go to CeliasBooks.com and get your own parenting manual to help. That’s what my book Raising Happy Toddlers is. 🥰

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