2 year old suddenly mummy mad and rejecting daddy...

[alittleteapot]

...I am pregnant but I can't believe she's got enough awareness of what the new baby will really mean that she's threatened by it. But suddenly she won't let daddy read her bedtime stories, or bath her - if we try and force it she has more than a tantrum - a really angry, tearful, upset meltdown. She also has developed a catch phrase "go away daddy".

We know this is probably all a normal part of development, esp as she has a friend going through a similar phase, and it's possibly related to the new baby even though it's a few months away, but be interested to hear what others think and if similar phases how you have dealt with it and what the best way forward is.

Thanks.

It's completely normal, and probably nothing to do with the new baby at this stage.

It is hard but it does pass. My 2 year old is saying go away to everyone except me atm. It's quite nice being wanted but it is wearing!

Thanks. It feels bad timing because having never been the only person to be able to get her to sleep at night for most of her life we were planning to start changing that so she is prepared for when I have to be away from her for the birth.

Yes, it might be tricky. But it might be fine too. You can never tell with these phases, sometimes they go on for a while but quite often it's shortlived.

Ds1 nearly always wanted dh, and dd was much more clingy to me, particularly around two but it does get better. Also it's easy for them to demand you when you are there because you will come but if you are not actually there, she will probably be fine with her dad.

Often the older child will turn to their dad when the new baby arrives too. Reassure your dh of this if he is feeling rejeted atm, and try not worry, it will work out okay.

Thanks Guadalupe. It's tricky. She'd pretty much self-weaned and has also suddenly gone completely mad for boob again as well! Don't think I'll be able to cope with that once the new baby is here! Still, all will be fine - things will sort themselves out.

Yes, we've had this too! DD1 (just 2) goes through phases of bellowing 'No, Daddy!' when dh comes in to say hello in the morning. Not very nice for him! We found when our new baby arrived (when dd1 was 19 months) that she became very clingy with me for a while. We, like you, had been hoping that daddy could do more with her in advance of the new baby coming & when she arrived, but it didn't really work out that way because dd1 only wanted me....

But actually it was fine - I basically ignored dd2 most of the time (newborns do sleep an awful lot of the time when they're tiny - I'd forgotten this!), and put all my energy into reassuring dd1 that we weren't trading her in for a younger model. We kept to her routines, I always still do bedtime with her & the baby has worked around this, which means that dd2 (nearly 5 months now) is now in a good routine as well. And dd1 is much better with dh now - sometimes I play a game with her where I ask 'what shall we say to Daddy when he comes in this morning?' and we'd practise something to say ('How do!' Good morning! etc), sometimes that works. But basically I'm sure it's just a phase and nothing to worry about. I guess it's probably best not to make too much of a big thing of it, although I do sometimes say 'that's not a nice thing to say to Daddy, why don't you say 'hello' instead'?
Best of luck with it all....