How do you respond if your child is going through 'toddler refusal'?

Lots of toddlers seem to go through a phase where they reject one of their parents – and oh boy can it hurt.

Taking to Reddit recently, one mum going through it said her two-year-old only wants her dad. “I know this is ‘normal toddler behaviour’ and that kids go through stages like this, but it’s been going on for a few months now and it’s starting to really get to me,” said the parent.

“Today I was outside with her and she got hurt. She was fine, but then she acted mad at me and wouldn’t let me comfort her – just wanted dad. It crushed me. I try so hard to be present and loving, but right now it feels like I’m not the parent she wants.”

As children try to exert as much independence as possible – moving about unaided, eating their own dinner and playing alone – they might also start to lean towards one parent (and away from the other).

If you’re ‘the shunned one’, you might find your toddler doesn’t want you to hug or touch them, or even read to or play with them anymore.

While it can be pretty soul-destroying, Rachel Melville-Thomas, a child and adolescent psychotherapist, said it won’t last forever. And you’re certainly not alone.

“It is quite common,” she told HuffPost UK. “It’s the task of toddlers to try to make sense of the family world, and who they........

© HuffPost