DD goes ballistic for Daddy

I stay home with my girls and I'm usually able to get a few things done during the day without them clinging to my every move. They have their moments when they're more "needy" of my attention, but usually they'll just follow me into the kitchen and bang on pots or back into the den and help me "fold" laundry. When daddy gets home, it's a different story. DD will scream (and I'm talking doubled-over, red in the face, tears down the cheek, losing her voice) until DH picks her up and he cannot put her down for hours or the whole thing starts over. After a while, her sister will join in and then he's holding 2 babies. Neither of them do this to me. When we're eating dinner, they'll walk over to his chair and beg to sit in his lap. They won't even approach me.

Why are they so needy towards him and how do we end this? It's really taking a toll on our adult interaction when he gets home.

 

unfortunately, i don't have any advice, but i do know how you feel - only it's usually reversed in our house. any time i work several days in a row, each evening i come home the girls are progressively needier, whinier & clingier. i've just come to expect that for those few hours between getting home & putting the girls to bed, my attention needs to be on them. i spend a lot of time sitting on the floor & letting them climb all over me. DH & i get "us" time after the girls are in bed. we're both night owls though so that usually leaves us enough time to hang out, watch tv or a movie, read together, whatever. :hug: it's no fun when they're so insistent.

 

Danielle,
You are describing my DD! I have no idea what to do to calm this down other then letting time pass. My DH moved to a new work schedule (he used to work overnights and now works day shifts) so it seemed like her clingyness to Daddy got worse when his schedule changed and she did not see him all day. I also notice that when we have company, she is also very clingy to him then.
:hug:

 

DH and I both work full-time, so we both spend about equal amounts of time with the boys. Nate is parent-agnostic; he doesn't really care who is holding him, and half the time he'd rather sit and "read" a book than be held. Jack on the other hand, is so clingy to DH that we call him the "Jack-pendage". :laughing: DH pretty much has to hold him from moment he gets home until the boys go to bed, or Jack will have a screaming meltdown. I have to perform a "Jack-endectomy" so DH can use the bathroom!

This used to make me feel very badly, because sometimes I'd come home and Jack would run screaming away from me toward DH. That really hurt. It's getting a little bit better, and he's starting to get clingy on me as well. He's cutting first year molars, so he's incredibly needy. That's a mixed blessing though; while I'm glad he wants his Mama, I'm having to learn to cook, clean, and do chores one-handed!

It was hard for me to accept at first, but in my head I knew that this was just a phase. Try to keep your sense of humor and realize that it won't last forever. :hug:

 

Thanks ladies. I'm glad to know it's not just us. It doesn't bother me that the go for him and not me. They know I won't hold them for that long or that I'll sit down with them (another sin in their eyes). I just don't know if DH could let them CIO, basically, from him holding them. They're fine all day...happy, playful...then he gets home and Aurora MUST be cuddling on his shoulder. I guess this too shall pass!

 

Exactly want mine do but to me!! LOL...I work M-T 8am-4pm so for most of the day the babies are with their Nanny. When I get home it takes them about 1-2 hours of having me in the floor with them playing and cuddling, clinging to my every move! I love it because I miss them so much during the day. NOW when my hubby works outta town through the week and comes home Friday it's a different story, they go after him!! LOL gives me a nice break.

 

Same at my house, except this is DS with daddy! When I'm the only one around, he's all about me...when DH is around he ONLY wants him! Cries, screams, etc...if DH doesn't hold him.Hoping he outgrows it SOON!

 

at 3 and a half Ian still prefers daddy over mommy (although the fits have stopped) but he'll tell me "no daddy help me" whenever I offer and both of us are there...so the fits shall pass but the preference is still strong in the young Padawan's LOL

oh and "jack-pendage" had me :laughing:

 

My twins are 2.5 years old now, but when my DD was 12-14 months old she was the same way with DH. She is (was) typically needy throughout the day, but manageable. Then DH would get home and all he** would break loose. She would freak out and he'd have to hold her for a very long time (almost until bed) or she'd scream. Thankfully, after 14 or 15 months it stopped. She is mostly a mommy's girl now, but she still has her daddy moments a lot when she just wants him. It's pretty balanced now So hang in there, it'll get better!!