It is said all children should be treated equally, but a new survey reveals mothers are more critical of their daughters than their sons.

A poll of more than 2,500 mothers reveals that while half (50.6 per cent) think it is wrong to treat boys and girls differently, nearly nine in 10 (89.2 per cent) believe parents do so.

More than half (54.9 per cent) said they found it easiest to bond with their sons, the poll, conducted by parenting website Netmums, found.

The findings show that mothers are twice as likely to be critical of their daughters than their sons (21 per cent compared to 11.5 per cent).

And over a fifth (21.5 per cent) said they let their sons get away with more, compared to 17.8 per cent who said the same about their daughters.

More than one in four (26.9 per cent) said they loved their sons in a different way to their daughters.

Crissy Duff, psychotherapeutic counsellor and a Netmums parent supporter, warned that differences in parenting can have a long-lasting effect on girls.

“Women in particular seem to carry the feelings of parental disapproval and negative typing into their adulthood,” she said.

“The experience of receiving more negative reinforcements for stepping out of line than their male counterparts can lead women to view themselves as more needing of censure.

“This could be why women are far more self-critical than men, who have a more happy-go-lucky attitude when it comes to making mistakes and moving past them.”

The poll found mothers were more likely to attribute positive personality traits to their sons than their daughters.

Boys were more likely to be described as funny, cheeky, playful and loving, while girls were more likely to be described as awkward, eager to please, serious and argumentative.