I have a 2/y old boy. He is very active and lively and loves laughing very much when he was younger. But now, he doesn’t like playing with other children: he just watches them from the distance for a few seconds and then walks away. Me and his father have to work at daytime, so he has been watched over by his grandmother, a very introverted person. Now, his grandmother has realized his change, and often takes him to the park, where he can find lots of children to play with, but it doesn’t work. I don’t want my son to grow up as a loner, what should I do? Thanks.
Each child is on a different development schedule, but if he is younger 2 he may still be more interested in parallel play with peers.
be patient and as others have mentioned, give him a few more opportunities to engage others his age:)
2 yr olds do not play with other kids. Up till about 3 or 4 they do something called parallel play sitting side by side. At 4 and 5 they learn to play together more or less cooperatively.
I think your son is doing fine for his age. Play/read with him one on one when you can (Dad, too) and enjoy your toddler.
By the time he's a teenager, he'll be so busy with friends and activities you'll be missing your little boy.
At two years old children are just beginning to play with other children. I wouldn't worry. Just keep exposing him to the other children. I think as he matures he will be fine as his true nature will come out and he will begin to understand how to play with others.
Maybe you can find someone with another young child to come play one on one. Two many kids at the park may overwhelm him right now.
Personality is personality. This may just be your son's normal personality. My son (at 2-3-4) was always a hang-back, quiet, observing type of kid. That's OK. Now (nearly 8) he is Mr. Social, funny and has tons of friends. He's still not the dominant, alpha personality type, but he is himself. And that's fine.
J., it could be all of these things but it could also be signs of Autism which is prevalent in 1 out of 91 children of which 1 out of 58 are boys. Do some more research and start here
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/learning/aboutautism...
Keep giving him social opportunities but you may have to accept that he's an introvert and there's nothing wrong with that. Besides, he is only 2 and that's still very young to assume he'll be like this forever.
If this is a stark difference in behavior... from his usual self and is a sudden change... I would wonder.
His introverted Grandma..... noticed too...
have you tried talking with him?
Is he happy?
Any stresses/problems?
Did anything happen to him?
Or talk with the Pediatrician....
Everyone is different - some people are just naturally quiet, while others are loud and outgoing. Being quiet doesn't mean being unhappy or being lonely. Some people are happiest alone or with a single friend, while others crave large groups. We all tend to assume that the way we are is "normal," and that people different from us must be unhappy or wrong.
I'm one of those people who tends to be quiet, and truly happy alone. When I was working in my church nursery, I was noticing one of our students sitting happily looking through a book while the rest of the students ran about throwing things and screaming. I was thinking how nice it was, for her and for us, that she was happy with very little fanfare, and had no constant need to be entertained. The other teacher looked at this same girl and said, "That's so SAD! It just breaks my heart when children are alone like that." I was left thinking, WHAT? If she wanted to run and scream, she certainly could, but she was the only kid in the room who was truly content! My husband, on the other hand, is one of those people who equates happiness to noise, commotion and crowds. :)
Naturally, with our 4 kids, we have quiet ones and boisterous ones. Neither way is wrong. Just let your son be whoever he is. You don't want to give him the idea that you think he's flawed somehow.
So many different things went through my mind. Changes like this are a concern. If he has not been getting out, I wonder if he's been getting enough vitamin D. And even such a young child can suffer from depression. It does indicate some kind of change is necessary.
Other things cross my mind - play dates, perhaps starting out with one-on-one with another gentle toddler/preschooler. How is his sleeping? How is his eating? Does he get exercise in the form of play throughout the day with his grandmother - learning to manipulate objects - throw a ball, jump, go on nature walks, explore and investigate.
Is the grandmother a bit depressed herself? What does the boy do during the day while with the grandmother? Does the grandmother interact with him? What does she do during the day? What does your son eat? Is there any possibility he could have been exposed to lead or other heavy metals? I am not asking these questions for you yourself to answer to us - but things to ask yourself.
I'd also encourage you - just to be on the safe side - to get your son an endocrine and nutritional work-up. (www.itsnotmental.com).
Address everything you can.
