Need Help Getting Baby to Relax with Dad

Some other thoughts are to have dad feed her, especially as she starts solid foods. Have him change her often. And so on. She needs to realize that dad can care for her needs, as well as offer fun. She might have some sort of fear that if you aren't there, she won't get these things...

And my son goes through these phases as well. There are times he will literally cry when dad comes into the room because he wants only mommy, but then the next day he will be snuggled up on dad, taking a nap.

During the brief time that the baby is ok with him, have him establish enjoyable activities that ONLY HE does with the baby so that they can start to build up common experiences to enjoy. This can be tasting something sweet, a favorite toy that she no longer has when she is with you,snuggling in a blanket fresh and warm out of the dryer, looking at birds out the window, anything that is already fun that she will begin to experience only with him to help her make the connection.
Sleep in his favorite shirt and have him wear it the next time he is with the baby so that the smells between you are not so different. Have courage in helping her learn that that "great-big-noisy-fusses" can be survived

K., i am a mom of 3 boys, the one boy would not go to anyone else but mom, they also go through stages where thats all they want, someday too they might just want dad and you will feel alful too, but i agree i would be the one in the other room crying to let them be together, cause you will hear her crying for you and you will come running, its ok to let her cry, make sure is taken care of fed, changed, not sleepy, and let dad play or try without you interfering, its ok, and yah leave the house for a bit is ok too, however too, if she is non stop crying for dad that could be very hard on him as well, so i would not go too far at first, but you might need your time away , or go take a nap, but you coming in every time she cries, is her controlling you in a bit, especially if all her needs are met, she loves daddy , she has just learned to be clingy, let them love and play with each other its ok, and it will be very very hard to be in next room while she cries for you , its the motherly instinct, but you know she is in good hands, then let her be just that in good hands, take care and daddy will be ok , so will you , and so will she, enjoy your bundle of joy and grow together as adults and have fun, D. s

Start having other people watch her! I am sure this seems like it is about Dad, but I think it is more about her wanting her way and that is wanting Mom. Start to detach more from her! Babysitters, grandma, whatever works but less Mom and put her down and let her cry it out! She will learn fast that she will be fine! She is just playing you at this point! Good luck!

She has trained you well. Even at such a young age they can learn ways to get what they want. She knows that when she cries she gets you. You are the one that always provides her with food and helps her sleep so she thinks that he has no purpose. The only way this will stop is if the cycle changes. It will be hard for you to sit back and not come to her when she cries but if you want her to be close with her dad you have to do it. It may help out if you leave the house. I am sure that you need some time alone so this can be good for you too. She has to see that he is able to provide her with these things too and she will not see that if she can just cry until you come to the rescue.

Does your husband get nervous when she starts to cry? Mine did so the only thing that worked for our son was for me to leave and make them both realize it was ok. My husband was more nervous about me taking over and thinking he couldn't do it. than actually taking care of the baby so when I left he relaxed and so did our son. Good Luck :) T.

You have been given some pretty good advice so far! I agree, you need to leave for a bit and let Dad take over. It may be that he is nervous and she is picking up on that fact and it is disturbing to her. If you let them work it out without you there, they will be able to form a natural, lasting bond that will benefit them both. Good luck!
D.:)

you need to leave the house...Don't be there to rescue her from dad. This has happened with all of my kids...but they will soon realize that dad can be there for them too.

Are you a stay at home mom? If you are, that's great! I only wish it would work out financially for us.. Anyway, if you are the only one home with her during the day, it could be she's so used to you being around and she knows you'll provide for her that when you're not there, it's soemthing she's not used to. If you are stay at home, you could try occupying her with something to play with and leave the room for a bit. She'll probably cry pretty quickly at first. When she does, just wait couple of seconds and then come back. Then try doing it longer and longer. She'll eventually see that you will be coming back. That might help with the issue of you're leaving the room and her crying.

For dad, does he feed her any bottles? If not, try incorporating him in the bottle feeding department so she sees that he's a provider for her and can give her the things she needs. She may not take to it right away, but will eventually.

It's not abnormal. She's used to you. It will get better, eventually. I wonder if he could take her on a walk when the weather permits. Maybe if there is something else to look at it will take her mind off the fact that you're not there.
You might also try leaving the house (if your hub can handle some crying.) My babies would be fine as long as they knew I was not around, period. Then when they saw me, they'd start crying to let me know how bad I was to leave them.

This is SOOOO normal. We had the same issue and all of our mom/dad friends confirmed that its the same for pretty much every couple.

We slowly started to have her get used to the bedtime routine with my hubby (Taking turns) and the only way it worked was when I was out of the house. (for us, bedtime was the worst) I ran errands, went for walks, etc., and many times I came home to crying because she wanted me and didn't believe I was gone. (One time, I had to hide because she came looking for me. I was terrified she would find me.)

It did change over time, partly because she was getting older, and partly because she realised that dad offered different ways of doing things than how I do them. It worked and now that she's older (4), sometimes she'll choose to be with dad over me. :)

You need to set up a evening where you can just leave the house, do it weekly. It will be hard at first, depending on how stuborn your daughter can be. My daughter would cry for hours at that age. Eventually she will start letting daddy take care of her more.