DD cries every time her dad hands her to me and I'm really worried about whether she has a secure attachement.
Some background - DD is 14 months old. She was breastfed until she was about 13 months, but towards the end was just getting one nursing session in the morning, then having food and a bottle of milk before bed. We have now stoped nursing altogether. I have been primary carer since birth but started back to work 2 weeks ago, when she also started nursery, so now myself and DP are more equal in our share of childcare.
Around a month ago, which feels like it correlated with the same sort of time we stopped nursing (but before I went back to work or she started nursery), she became really attached to her dad. The attachment has got increasingly strong to the point that I feel like it has really affected our relationship and she doesnt want to be with me anymore.
If DP hands her to me she will cry, if he leaves the room she will cry and try to follow him, if i take her away from him she will cry... etc etc. And it's not just a little cry it's a full on wail! If she's upset I now struggle to sooth her, but if her dad comes in she immeditely stops crying.
I'm trying not to take this personally but really struggling, and worried for some reason she doesnt have a secure attachement with me. I'm delighted that she has such a strong bond with her dad, and I know that it is normal for toddlers to have a parental preference and I'm ok with that, but from googling it seems the preference is always with the main caregiver, which has always been me until the last two weeks.
I guess I'm just looking to see if others have had similar experiences, and if I should be worried about her attachement with me. Could this somehow correlate with the end of our breastfeeding journey because she has lost that special bond with me? She's not a cuddly child, always on the move, so I don't know how to replicate the closeness we had when she was nursing. I'm sad my little girl doesnt want to be with mummy anymore!
Thanks for listening :)