How can I recognize the difference between love bombing and genuine early enthusiasm? (36F/29M)
We met on a dating app. Within the first week of talking he mentions that he was looking at places to live closer to me, talking about children, constantly texting and exchanging photos. He quickly started calling me babe/baby. We quickly and immediately started acting like we were in a relationship, but we were not. I know this was at my fault too because I entertained it, but everything felt so right.
Fast forward, as soon as started voicing my needs he shut down and called me insecure and ended things after only a couple of months of talking.
I'm just wondering if this was love bombing, and in any of you experiences how did your relationship with that person go? I'm just wondering if it was doomed from the beginning lol
TL;DR: Guy came on very strong very quickly, talking about moving closer, kids, pet names, and basically acting like we were in a relationship almost immediately. A couple months later, when I started voicing my needs, he called me insecure and ended things. Does this sound like love bombing, and if you've experienced something similar, how did it play out?
Posted Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC