I’m a little concerned with my partners 8 year old. A little history, from the day she was born she has been clingy to her mother. I know this is normal behaviour, however my reading has suggested there should be some level of this starting to subside. She is now 8 years old and cannot handle it when mum leaves the room. As soon as she leaves DD8 gets up to follow. I try and get her to stay as her nun is just going to the bathroom but she won’t let up until she’s with her Mum again. I feel Mum has made it worse by allowing it to happen. Also due to always having mum with her when she is sick, sad, angry or has any emotion, she has absolute zero emotional regulation. Once she is upset she would never be able to regulate that herself, and it takes hours of attention for even Mum to get her to calm. I’ve caught her making up illness many times. I also know she will fake being sad, hurting herself, basically do whatever it takes to have Mum doting over her 100% of the time. My question is, because I’ve never seen it in any child I’ve been around, am I overacting being worried? I’m just scared this is going to develop into her being codependent, or having a fear of abandonment which can lead to more serious mental health issues. Again I reiterate, this is all day every day.
