I have to say...a lot do. My DH treats SD14 like she is 8! He doesn't expect a lot from her and lets a lot go. I have one w/ a lot of guilty daddy syndrome; which I am not sure why?? We have her FT and there is a diff in how princess is treated compated to BD (his too - well not bio to him but she has been raised this way)
They have kind of went down hill the past couple weeks; because her attitude has sucked and I have caught her stealing; but I remember when she first moved in it was gross......She would all but sit on his lap while he bounced her on his knee!! Weird.
I am not sure why they are like this

I think you are asking from the perspective of girls raised in "in-tact" homes, but as a SM, I see the same behavior from DH and my SD's and its absolutely disgusting. I mean, at some point you would think they would realize they are way too big for daddy to give them a piggy back ride.

This is not done in a normal father daughter relationship. Guilty daddy yes!!!

ok so I'm a BM with a DD & a DS and a SM to a SS & a SD - BM did everything possible to push DH out of SD's life who was an infant when they got divorced. She and her new DH (I call him DH because he's actually a really nice guy and he's very good to the skids) raised SD as if he was her Dad. They live in a very small town and everyone there thinks he's the dad to SD. BM & SD basically cut DH out of her life when she was about 8 and when she turned 16, DH was served to terminate his parental rights. Before then, he rarely saw her so it was Disney Dad every other weekend
So my perspective is from watching DH have a daughter and have basically zero relationship with her and watching him with our DD - He's not guilty daddy with her but you can see him wrapped around her little finger and she's only 1. I'm very interested to see how this pans out as she gets older.

He did raise SS until he was almost 14 when he went to live with BM. I'm very aware of how differently he treats DS in comparison to how he treated SS. He know DS won't throw in his face that he'd just go live with me.

My father and mother are still married...more than 45 years now.
My father is not an overly affectionate man. Well, not really affectionate, period.
I can remember being a child and on into EARLY teens and sitting next to him on the sofa while he scratched my back or rubbed my ear. It was comforting and NOT WEIRD.
I see him now doing the same thing with my DD who is 11.
My dad is NOT a guilty dad. Holy hell, quite the opposite. There was nothing I got that I didn't work for myself.

Anyway, I personally think SMs see it differently. It is "weird" or "guilty daddy" stuff. Now, sometimes it is WEIRD, like a 16 year old sleeping in the same bed as dad or something, but sometimes I think it's just SM's jealousy. SHE doesn't think it's ok because HE IS HERS. No sharing. }:)

I happen to think that if girls are secure in the love their father has for them, they are less likely to look for it with knuckle dragging teen boys.

I am convinced that these biodads view their children as helpless infants WELL BEYOND the age of two!!! More like TWENTY-two.

It's as though they are "making up for lost time" You know, all those precious moments they missed out on b/c they aren't living under the same roof as custodial BM?

Then there's the "intact family" where biodad does EVERY-f'n-THING to get out of the house and GET AWAY from his princess or prince. . .you know, hunting, fishing, volunteer fire squad, volunteer ambulance squad, golf, YOU NAME IT!!

So basically if daddykins lives under the same roof as mommykins, he can't WAIT to ditch the kids, however if he DOESN'T live under the same roof, he goes out of his way to infantize his spawn.

(BARF!!) Is there a happy medium in there somewhere?

My father and sister have a very close relationship. My father and I don't now and NEVER did. He has always seen her as "the golden child", can do no wrong. I believe it is not just related to her being a girl, but the fact that she was HIS FIRST child. I have read that there is no doubt that fathers have a preference for their first child, no matter what they say. I believe that to be true. Although they were not hugs and love like some I have read about here, they were affectionate to a higher degree than he ever was with me or my brother. In addition, any of her "mess-ups", ie. she left her husband after 20yrs and rumor has it SHE cheated on him, etc...seem to be forgotten by my father or ignored. On the other hand, anything that my brother and I do, he freaks...we can't even have a different opinion on what juice tastes better without him yelling at us...sigh...

So, maybe it's a bit of both? Good luck!

I've got a dd9 with dh and then my dd14 is actually his sd although he has been in her life since she was 2-he is her only father and it is definitely more a true father/daughter relationship than a step relationship. He does not baby either one of them. He used to baby youngest dd a little-simply because she was the baby-but as she has grown older he has stopped that as well. My dh doesnt "baby talk" anyone except our new puppy. I am also kind of bewildered by the bizarre father/daugher relationships on here as it is certainly not something that occurred in my intact family growing up nor does it occur in my current family.

I think it is likely a substitute for a "real" relationship. I cant be a true father to my dd so I will treat her like a princess, and baby her, and pamper her and spoil her because for whatever reason I think that is all I have to offer her. Sadly enough it teaches little girls sick things about male/female relationships.

I have a nuclear family, been married almost 30 years, 1 boy 2 girls. ( my step is nephew CBTT, long story)My Dh is not a cuddly person, he's always treated the girls in an age appropriate manner. That being said, he is A LOT easier on them than he is on Perfectson. Much more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt.Then again, my dad was so terrible to my brother that Ive always coddled Perfectson, was very protective of him and jumped in when DH would discipline him.So you see, even in "intact" homes there's disfunction! haha But no, the whole babying thing is very wierd .My parents got divorced when I was 12, but up until the time I was about 10 I would lay on the couch with my dad and fall asleep w/ my head on his chest. But past that age it would've been wierd for us, I think.