ciara (8weeks)is an absolute star for me, she doesnt often cry and is easily comforted....but at the moment she just will not go to her daddy. when he holds her she screams...it sounds like shes in pain, and she just will not stop no matter what he does..but if i take her she settles quickly. my hubby is getting really stressed and upset about it..hes convinced she doesnt lilke him, so now im getting stressed too because im off back to work in septermber and she will be home with daddy most of the time...but how can i leave her when all she does is scream and cry like this. so any tips on how i can help daddy would be much appreciated.

bailey

Thats a tough one!
She can't possibly not like her daddy!! Bless her! and bless daddy, it must feel quite hurtful.

Is he nervous or anxious when he goes to hold her? She could be picking up on that
How are his hands? are they rough workers hands? could it be that?
Is he a really big man? I sometime think little ones can find really big men overwhelming (if you get what I mean)
Could it be his voice? Is it quite deep? does he talk to her much? He needs to be gentle voiced and start singing some lullaby's

She's also still really young and getting to know the world and both of you and you'll be amazed how much more she'll start to notice the both of you as she gets older.
He will look back on this and laugh, epsecially when you have a loving little toddler on your hands, its the best thing in the world when they come running up to you and give you a big hug and kiss!!

Tell daddy to persevere, its nothing personal to him, and i'm sure she'll soon stop. xx

hey hun, dont have much advice for you but just to say my 4 week old has started to cry when being settled by dady and settles really quickly for me!
I'm sure it's because I spend the day with her and dad comes home as colic kicks in but nevertheless my OH is getting anxious about this too.
Does your OH do bath time, last feed etc? mine does so we're hoping that will make up for it!!
Like Claire says though I'm sure it's just phase and they will grow out of it xxx

My ds did this!!! My oh was at work all day and when he came home and held Matthew he would cry. My oh started to feel like he couldnt hold Matthew. Then it just stopped and some days Matthew even prefers daddy!! If you are looking after your lo all day then they will get more clingy to you. have you tried to put her on a play mat and get your hubby to play with her. the more interaction he has with her the better. It will hopefully pass and just a phase they go through. Im pretty sure Matthew was approx 8 weeks when he was doing this. Hes now 21 weeks and we have no issues with him being held by other people.

Emma x

thanks. im going to encourage him to give her her feeds when he is home...which is easier now she is mixed feeding, and reminding him to talk to her..i just dont want to sound patronising. he managed to settle her today..and she cried a bit but didnt scream like she has done in the past. hopefully she'll get more used to him. I also think its because his appearance changes and she might be getting confused...eg sometimes he wears his glasses..other times he doesnt...sometimes he has facial hair, other days he's clean shaven..do you think could also be causing it..she maybe doesnt always recognise him?

bailey

Poor old Daddy, must make him feel awful! Is she ok with him when your not in sight? Theo used to be a nightmare if someone else was holding him and he could see or hear me but if I wasnt there he was fine!
Sounds like they could do with spending some quality time just the two of them.
xxx

yeah daddy has got quite upset about it, he fed her yestereday and managed to settle her which was reassuring, we had a chat about it because i didnt want to patronise him by giving tips etc but he said that he wantds me to 'tell him what to do' so we are trying that..im telling him what different cries mean etc and the last evening was much better.

bailey