Looking for advice regarding my 22 month old daughter. She’s always been the happiest little soul, always smiling, never cross and quick to recover from little upsets. However, in the last month she’s started to change. At her core she is still the same, but she’s much quicker to sulk/strop and will burst into tears at the tiniest infraction. This morning she sat on the floor and started crying because I said it was time to put her shoes on!
She’s also become very clingy with me, always asking for mummy and refusing daddy, and has also started saying ‘mine’ 100 times a day and being quite selfish with her things, not letting her cousin share etc.
The biggest change is regarding nursery. She’s always enjoyed it, but a couple of weeks ago at pickup a staff member commented that she wasn’t her usual self, was quiet and less chatty. Subsequently, last Tuesday they called around 9 and said she had been crying non stop since her dad dropped her off. I went to see her and she was totally fine, happy to see me and chatting away, but as soon as I left she started bawling again. She seemed better on Thursday, but I’ve dropped her this morning and as soon as we pulled into the car park she started crying.
She’s with her grandparents twice a week and doesn’t fuss going to them, so not sure why it’s nursery specifically that’s causing the upset. I asked if she was having any issues with any kids there but they said not, so I’m at a loss. They asked if there was something going on at home, and to me there are two possibilities;
Firstly, I am pregnant. 15 weeks, so not showing yet, but she does know mummy has a baby in her tummy. I wondered if she might be unsettled by that, or is she too small to comprehend the changes coming?
Secondly, her dad was away for a week at the end of March. She seemed generally ok with this at the time, but did start asking for daddy more and getting teary as the week went on. I think this definitely is what caused her to be clingy with me, as it started as soon as he got back, but could it be causing everything else too? Especially since a month has passed since then?
Nothing else has changed at home, so it must surely be one of those things. Or am I overthinking and this is just her hitting terrible two’s early? She’s hit every other milestone early so could well be the case, but I don’t want to discount it as just being developmental when something else could be bothering her?
Sorry for the essay! Any advice much appreciated.