Dad of a 4-month-old. She cries with me but is fine with everyone else. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
I’m a first-time dad (32M), and my wife (32F) and I have a 4-month-old daughter. We’ll call her Melanie.
She’s an amazing baby. Happy, healthy, smiling, laughing, and hitting all of her milestones.
The problem is that she seems to only have an issue with me.
I’ve been involved since day one. We were both lucky enough to get three months off after she was born, so I got a ton of time with her early on. We took newborn classes together before she arrived, and since my wife never exclusively breastfed, I’ve been able to feed Melanie bottles from the beginning.
I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
I can usually get about five good minutes with her before she starts crying. Not just fussing, but full-on screaming. The confusing part is she’s completely fine with everyone else. My best friend can hold her. My wife’s best friend can hold her. Her babysitter, who has watched her since she was born, has no issues. It’s just me.
My wife has been amazing about trying to help. She gives me Melanie when she’s in a good mood, handles things like saline drops and the nose sucker so I’m not associated with the unpleasant stuff, and every night I read to Melanie while she has her bedtime bottle so she hears my voice during a calm part of her routine.
Nothing seems to be making a difference.
It’s honestly crushing me. I want that bond with my daughter so badly, and instead I feel like I stress her out just by holding her.
It’s also putting more on my wife because it’s just easier if she takes care of Melanie, and neither of us wants that to become our normal.
Has anyone else gone through this? If you did, when did things get better? Was there anything you did that actually helped, or did your baby eventually grow out of it?
I could really use some hope right now.