Our little boy is almost 3 years old and he has always been really independent and only really comes to us/cries when he is hungry, sad, tired or wants to breastfeed.
My partner (his dad) went back to work on Tuesday after being off sick for a few months. In this time he has been getting closer to him and wanting to be with him more and just generally getting used to him being here all the time.
On his first day back at work we visited him on his lunch break and as soon as he saw him he ran up to him and gave him a big, long hug and he didn’t let go for ages. But that night when he got home from work he didn’t go to him at all and pretty much just ignored him.
On Wednesday he wasn’t interested when he got home again but then later on he went upstairs with him and wanted him to sit in a specific place and got upset whenever he moved.
He had a day off yesterday and we went on a day out and he was fine pretty much all day and was clearly happy that dada was there.
He’s back at work again today he waved bye to him but didn’t want a cuddle or much more interaction.
It’s not just the distant behaviour with his dad though it’s how he is behaving in general. When we’re at home he doesn’t want to do anything other than watch train videos and occasionally play with his trains and if I turn the videos off or put the wrong one on he has been screaming and crying and just wants to sit by himself and watch them. Before his dad went back to work he watched tv but he didn’t want to do it all the time. He has loads of toys that he plays with, plays with us, draws, does puzzles ect. but he suddenly seems to not be interested in anything else…
If I am out of sight for half a second he is getting really upset and has to have me right there at all times even though he doesn’t want to do anything with me and won’t even come for a cuddle unless he wants to breastfeed or sometimes when he is upset because he couldn’t see me for a second 😢
Today at his gymnastics class he had a tantrum for the first 5-10 minutes and was screaming and crying. He finally calmed down and laid on the floor in front of me and I stoked his back until he came for a breastfeed and then he joined in a little bit but not as much as he usually does and he loves going to gymnastics and I don’t think he has ever had a tantrum there!! It’s rare for him to have one at all and when he does they’re usually only for a minute or two.
He also tried to kick another child whilst he was there (they were playing on something and not giving him or anyone else a go) which isn’t something he does 😕 He had a short pushing phase when he didn’t understand waiting but that ended months ago.
What is going on and what do I do?? Is this really all because his dad has gone back to work? He can’t not go back to work so if that is the reason then I can’t see how there can even be a solution to this 😣 Will things settle down when he gets used to dada going to work again??