What is this called? Since we had a second baby, our almost 4 yr old doesn’t want to go or stay w/ Dad or anyone anymore. Just while I’m leaving she cries and carries on, then is fine I’m told, after I leave. It’s hurtful to my husband and does me no good either. Any advice on how to gently curb this?
Separation anxiety. Most parents have had to deal with it at some point.
One thing that might help is a transitional object–something for her to hang on to to give her comfort.
Our babysitter also asks our son to “tickle us out the door.” He thinks this is a hoot. We writhe and holler and make a huge show of our exit while his little fingers walk all over us.
Finally, one thing that helped was taking time to say a nice long goodbye. I used to think this was awful because I was “caving in to his whining” but seriously, sometimes he just needs some extra loving. Sometimes we count hugs, like I’ll give him 30 really quick squeezes. Then he feels very “loaded up” on love and can say goodbye more easily.