Daughter adores Daddy... blanks Mummy.... and refusing to eat traumas of an 18 month old

[amitheonlyone8]

Hi
can any one help?????
My daughter adores her Dad, and will run past me to him for just about anything. Even when not feeling well she demands him and not me. This is really hard. I would love to hear if any one has similar? She is 18 months old. I spent nearly all of the first year with her, then started to work part time when she was 12 months....

Recently she has decided that food is not for her. She can go days without a great deal. If any one says they eat when they are hungry, I might break down! She was in hospital with a viral illness, which was caused in part by the lack of food.

So , again any help much appreicated......

I sympathise with your situation. I suspect that you might need more specialist help than we might be able to provide. You might want to consider going to your doctor and see if you can get a referral. Hope this is of help.

It seesm that daughters love their daddies and Daddies spoil their little girls! i still have the same now and my daughter has just turned 18. I woudl suggest that you and your partner need to ensure you work as a pair - does he ever ignore her? or say he can't be with her. who does the fun things and who does the disciplining ( if any is necessary). children are smart little cookies and she can probably sense the tension you have and thinks its a game to tug on those emotions just as she feels you did on hers when you left her for work that 1st time.
My daughter was also a grazer - I remember my mum telling me off as I was still spoon feeding her when she was 6-7 years old - Daughter just couldn't be bother to eat unless she was really hungry but if I sat and fed her like a baby she would quietly munch the plateful. she still has huingry days versus non hungry days. As to the little your daughter is eating make sure it is tasty fun and nutritous items so she is getting a balance (I had mixed pureed veg into a chocolate dessert several times when mine were small!)

try not to panic or feel guilty for going back to work but make sure you do fun stuff whenever you are with her. I am sure the moment will pass
xx

My 2 year old is exactly the same and has been since about 18 months. It is heartbreaking and I would be completely paranoid if it wasn't the total opposite with my 5 year old son. It is not your parenting or anything that has happened, it's the just girls with their daddies. When my husband isn't around she is lovely to me, telling me she loves me, cuddles etc but when he's there I just get evil looks! Just make sure you spend lots of quality time with her alone and I share the disciplining if at all possible!

RE the food, I swear by the frustrating moto of not making any issue of it or it will become a battle. If my children don't want to eat, I tell them there's nothing else after but it's fine if they don't eat it. It works eventually. Sharing food with other children is good to as they fight over who gets the most. Thinking back actually my daughter barely ate for the first 10 months but it turned out it was because she was extremely stubborn even from then and wanted to feed herself....