Toddler behaviour declining around dh

[Aria2015]

My lo is 2. He has a super strong preference for me over my dh. i know that parental preference is meant to be a normal part of development and is just a phase but my lo's behaviour declines significantly when my dh is around to the point where I don't enjoy evenings or weekends any more. When it's just me and lo he is great. He's so easy, barely tantrums, happy and content and then when dh comes home he whines, cries and wants to by physically on me or held by me the whole time. If I go to the toilet or have a shower he has a melt down. Weekends are the same, basically any time my dh is around he goes from content and happy to clingy and moany. He warms up a bit by the end of the weekend but then we're back to square one when the week starts.

I know lo spending more alone time with dh would probably help but I think my dh is essentially put off doing things alone with him because of how unhappy lo is when he's around him. Has anyone experienced this? Any advice would be appreciated.

Mine were pretty much the same. I think your DH just needs to bite the bullet and spend more time with him. If you haven’t got any plans today I’d send them to the park or swimming and go out yourself, even if it’s just for a couple of hours.

Have a look to see if there are any Dad and child sessions on locally. Our children’s centre runs one ever other week and send them.

I’d also say that next Saturday morning you want DH to look after DS so that you can have sone time alone and get him to plan something. It doesn’t have to be fancy, choosing books at the library and feeding ducks is exciting for a toddler.

Spending more time with them alone is the only thing that helped ours to form a better bond with their Dad. It’s hard for them to see how much fun their Dad is if the Dad doesn’t actually do any parenting

Thanks for the reply. I know you're right - I've just got to give my dh that push I think. I can tell he's pretty disheartened by it all. Hopefully a bit more daddy time will do the trick! Thank you!