My boyfriend has a 2 1/2 yo boy with whom he shares custody with his X. Although overall he does well in either household, when he "changes" for being with his mother to his Dad, he goes through a 15 minute crying fit yelling and crying for his Mommy. This has been going on for about 6 mos and does not seem to be getting better. We have tried getting him involved with enjoyable activities as soon as he returns, trying to calm him down and being tender and loving...giving him "space"...but nothing seems to work. This behavior if nothing else breaks my boyfriends heart. I wil say that once the 20 minutes is up, they do well together and have a great relationship. His "X" is not interested in working with him to help I should add. Can anyone help?

There is really nothing you can do - from an action standpoint. When I was small I did the same thing with my mom and dad and the fact was - I just felt more comfortable around my mom. Of course, I loved my dad - but I wanted to be with my mom, period. Just being open minded with him and understanding where he's coming from - you know - he's with her all the time and then comes with his dad and there is seperation anxiety and all that going on. He's also just 2 1/2 which is very young. He may not grow out of it for a while. The best thing you can do is get your energy as high and you can before he gets there so the energy feels good to him.