My 6y.o. daughter is struggling with tantrums, whinning, backtalk, seperation anxiety,
I really need some advice from other parents because I feel like I’m drowning with this and I don’t know what to do anymore.
My daughter is 6 and she’s been struggling really bad. She has severe tantrums, is extremely defiant (everything is “no”), doesn’t listen, sneaks things, and has even taken stuff that isn’t hers. We’ll tell her something calmly and she’ll look right at us and still do the opposite. It’s constant.
But at the same time, she is very attached to me. Like… can’t be without me. If I leave the room she follows me. If I go somewhere, she panics. She can go to school, but anywhere else—especially if it gets close to nighttime—she completely falls apart. Crying, sobbing, begging to come home to me. It’s heartbreaking.
What hurts me the most is the things she says. She’ll say things like “you don’t want me here” or “you want me to leave.” And I feel horrible because I know I’ve said things like “Laney please just go away for a little bit, I need a break.” I don’t mean it like that at all—I just get so overwhelmed—but I feel like I’ve caused some of this and I carry a lot of guilt.
She also told me she had a dream that I died, and ever since then her separation anxiety has gotten so much worse. Now she’s scared she’s going to lose me, and I don’t know how to help her feel safe.
This is affecting everything—my relationship, our home, and most importantly her. I love her more than anything and I just want to help her, but I feel like I’m doing everything wrong.
Has anyone gone through something like this? What helped? How do you handle both the extreme attachment AND the defiance at the same time?
Please be kind. I’m trying.
Another thing i would like to add, she is constantly hungry, craves sugar, cannot focus in school, her little brain is just everywhere and she gets really overwhelmed when asked to do stuff like pick up her stuff...
Any advice please