friend's dd (3.5) is very clingy towards my dp

[eastendgirl]

when our two families go out my friend's dd won't leave my dp alone, he is happy enough to play with her and it is true to say that he is very good at playing with kids, but on our last day trip he did get fed up, gently told her that he was not going to make her twirl for the 100th time but she insisted and I guess he finds it difficult to say no to someone else's kid.. I think the little girl does not get much adult attention, but just wondered if this happens a lot with little girls.

I assume she has a father around then? I read something in a book about at around 3 yo little girls can become very attached to their fathers... i'm a single mum so am interested to see if dd goes through a phase like that and what'll happen if she does! She really enjoys playing with my boyf & my male friends. It is very interesting to see how different her interaction is to them actually, she seems to expect them to lark about a lot more for some reason whereas with female friends it's gentler and more conversation-oriented.
It must be hard to say no to someone else's child. My boyf actually asked me if it was ok for him to say no when her favourite phrase was "again!" Of course i said yes it is ok! I think your dp just needs to be firm & matter of fact, try not to sound apologetic or as if he expects her to be disappointed or something. i don't know if that makes sense... also perhaps give her something else to look forward to like "no, but next time i'll do x,y,z with you" or something so it's not like he's rejecting her full stop.

It can happen a lot with three year olds of either gender, when any adult plays willingly with them. It's not clinginess really, it's just that they like to play, and when they find someone who is willing to play then they milk it for all it's worth! If he says "no", he has to mean it - just as he would with his own child ... saying "no" and then giving in just means she's more likely to ask for the same thing repeatedly another time.

yes she does have her own dad but he does not do a lot of physical play with her...thank you for your posts.