Hi, my 2 1/2 year old daughter only allows her mom to do most things, like changing clothes, brushing teeth, putting her in and taking her out of the car seat, helping her eat, putting her to bed, etc. Only when it comes to play time or story reading time she will also ask for me, probably because she knows that I'm more "fun" due to the limited mobility of my wife during her pregnancy (my wife is now 8 1/2 months pregnant).
My wife would be happy to get some relief, but always comes to my daughter's "rescue" anyways. If I try to help out my daughter kicks and yells at me requesting that "mommy do it". This has been going on for at least the last three months now. I have unsuccessfully tried to discourage my wife to jump in during these situations, so now my daughter knows that her mom will come to do whatever she requests. My wife claims she simply can't tolerate much screaming, so rather takes care of the situation than refuse to fix the problem. My daughter does not accept telling her that mommy needs time to relax or is doing something else.
If I come home from work and take her over from the babysitter and my wife is not home she lets me do anything w/o crying. If my wife leaves w/o her she gets into serious screaming and kicking tantrums for 30-60 minutes - it's almost impossible for me to calm her down as she probably does not even hear me due to her screaming. She does not allow me to touch her then. Is this normal, i.e. should I just continue to let my wife take over if she asks for her? My wife does not seem to have a problem with this yet, but it makes me feel rejected. I'm also wondering if I or my wife needs to change our behavior, and if yes how?
Thanks,
Matt