I get the impression that the child comes back and is very affectionate towards her mother, presumably to compensate for having been mad (and maybe hurtful) towards her mother earlier. So I envision the child hugging her mom and wanting to stay close to her, i.e. being clingy. I also like Anna Smith's answer. Stora engelska ordboken by Esselte offers both choices:
2. ty-dde -tt rfl - sig till ngn (ngt) have recourse to a p. (a th.), stark. cling to a p. (a th.) söka skydd hos turn to... [for protection]