Did I damage my attachment with my toddlerđź’”

🤍 Support Needed 🤍

To preface, I am a married 26F with a 20 month old daughter. I have struggled with Anxiety, Depression, and OCD for years, but I was coping well without meds. Once postpartum hit, my mental health took a toll and I was working from home while also staying at home with my daughter while having very little support. For a while I was definitely irritable easily, frustrated, and very checked out. It felt like I was surviving day to day for a while until I got help for my mental health.

Fast forward to now, my daughter is the absolute joy of my life but I am constantly worried about our attachment. It started in infancy when my daughter would prefer my husband or mom when they were around rather than me. She will still prefer my mom when she is around, but my daughter much prefers me over my husband nowadays. She is an absolute joy at home, very cuddly and giggly and loves exploring. She can be wary of strangers at first, but she is quick to warm up and loves to play. There has been a few red flags though, and they mostly include the same two people. One is a family friend who has a daughter the same age as mine, and still my mother. I dropped my daughter off for a play date two days in a row, and both days she did not care when I left and had little reaction upon my return. The first day, I had a huge smile but then she went back to playing and the second day I had a smile then she reached for the other mom. I can’t help but take it personally and also worry that I damaged our relationship. Also with my mom, if still tends to sting every time she reaches for her instead of me.

Am I just being anxious or could there be something wrong with our attachment? I guess I am more worried about an avoidant attachment than anything else.

Posted Mar 5, 2026, 2:34 AM UTC

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