I hear that all toddlers go through phases of preferring one parent over the other; but big you are trying to share the parenting what do you do?
DH and I usually take it in turns to do the bedtime routine - so one night I will do potty, teeth and bath and DH will do stories and stay with DS until he goes to sleep and the next night it will be the other way around.
However, in recent weeks, DS, only wants be to do the story and bed. If I talk to him about putting on his jim jams and then having a story with Daddy he says no, shakes his head and goes and shits the bedroom door. He gets upset if I go, I sustain me sitting on the bed, won't let DH turn the pages and sometimes tries to 'guide' him out of the room.
I find this all miserable and I can't bear the crying and I don't want to make it all into a battle of wills by insisting that he will have his story with daddy.
DH is also a bit of a sensitive soul and tends to take it personally. So, I end up feeling guilty whether I stay or go.
We try and share the parenting as much as possible and DH and DS do lots of stuff together (swimming and dog walking). I was a SAHM parent for the first 6 months and then studied part time (sometimes missing 2 bedtimes a week as lectures were in the evenings) and have been back at work full time for 6 months now. So DH is very involved.
What should we do, give him the choice or insist on taking turns?