Demanding 4ye old. Is it normal?

[koochykoo86]

My little girl is 4 now and has always hit all targets/milestones etc with no problems whatsoever.

She has her tantrums and defiant moments but in general is very happy.

Problem is... she will not amuse herself if I am around. And it is specific to me. So if her dad is looking after her and I'm not in the house, she'll happily play alone. Her teachers at school say she's very sociable, bright, friendly etc.

But if I am in the house she will scream and shout at me till I play with her. If I go to the toilet she follows me. If I'm trying to cook or clean or talk to any other person she will lose her mind until she has my attention again. It's exhausting. I can't sit with her and watch a film, I can't get anything done. But it's only with me?

Any advice please? I started trying to implement a timer so for example 'you play for 10 minutes alone and then mummy will sit and play with you'. She just cries for 10 minutes!

Help! I love her to death but I'm really struggling.

one of mine was like this. Turned out she's got ADD so she does find it hard to entertain herself. I've found it goes in phases as she's grown....she's 13 now. Sometimes she'll go a month being ok...then she turns back to me.
She can fake it with other people but as I am the most trusted person, I get the brunt.

What sort of activities do you do with her when you do give her attention?

@FortunesFave

one of mine was like this. Turned out she's got ADD so she does find it hard to entertain herself. I've found it goes in phases as she's grown....she's 13 now. Sometimes she'll go a month being ok...then she turns back to me. She can fake it with other people but as I am the most trusted person, I get the brunt.

What sort of activities do you do with her when you do give her attention?

Thanks for replying.

She loves playing with small figures, barbies, little Lego people etc. We sit for hours making up stories and scenarios with them. Sometimes she likes to craft but I've got about 10 minutes and she loses interest.

She's very good at sharing and playing with others at school. She happily plays alone when it's just her and her dad. But like I say... if I'm there she will just badger me until I stop what I'm doing and sit with her. It's not separation anxiety or anything like that as she runs into school each day and she gets really excited when she goes on days out with her grandma or they have a sleepover.