Hi...I hope you don't mind me posting with me being a male and all..I'm a father of 3..I have a 7 year old, a 3 year old and a 2 year old and I've only just registered on here as I have a few issues I'd like to fix myself.
My advice to you is first of all try your hardest not to panic and also be aware that more people than you might think are going through what you are currently going through..some are just really good at covering it up... not that it makes it any less stressful for you however understanding that this is fairly common should help you realise that you're not actually doing anything wrong.
It's completely normal to feel like you want to give up at times which is understandable considering that you've got an extremely hard job with being mum.
From birth up until about 3 years can be very frustrating for us parents as well as our children due to us not knowing how to communicate with each other.
Persistence is key and things will get better I promise especially when they start talking. One thing that I noticed with all 3 of mine was how their emotions and actions were a reflection of my own.
Have you ever been in a room with someone and you've asked them "Whats wrong" because you can sense how they are feeling? Or have you ever said to someone "you look like you're in a happy mood" before you've even said hello to each other?
Now if mum (or dad in my case) is stressed and feeling frustrated about how things are going then the chances are is that the baby will be feeling the same also.
The best way that I have learned to deal with this particular issue is by controlling my breathing..I know I sound crazy right?
If you haven't already.. When you get that unhappy feeling then try taking lots of slow deep breaths...force yourself to be as calm as you can...turn the radio off and turn peppa pig down and try to be as stress free as you can be whislt in that moment.
Although baby cries are horrible sometimes they are necessary. My oldest would scream if I put her down for a second and at the time I thought it was easier to pick her straight back up again to prevent the neighbors from filing noise complaints against me.
Now I'm gonna sound like a crazy man again but I remember that I reverted back to when I was about 10 years old when we had got a puppy. The puppy would do nothing but do that puppy cry puppies do every time it was alone because it probably didn't have a clue what was happening. My mum used to make us all leave the room for about 5-10 seconds and then would make us walk back in and give it fuss evertime we did. After a short while and longer gaps there was no problem at all. Now I'm not comparing babies to puppies (well I kind of am aren't lol) but using little techniques like that can do you a world of good although it can be a challenge.
I can 100% relate to the feeling you have with your child not wanting to play etc...my son did the same to me...plus he also called me mum for a year and a half even though Dad was his first word...and although we're now closer than ever these days he'll do things like call me stupid or tell me he doesn't like me just to wait for me to react but then he'll be alright again once I do. It's him learning but not really knowing how to communicate. I've started to react less and again we're seeing improvements.
I hope everything gets better for you and I'm sure it's probably a phase...the problem with phases is that it can go from one extreme to another. All we can do is out best but one day they will all love us and respect us for doing just that.
Take care, be strong and honestly keep up the good work! 💪💪👊👊