Our 23 month old daughter is a super talkative happy little person at home. She eagerly plays in her kitchen, has tea parties, and plays with blocks. She has a fairly gentle, quite nature and spends a lot of her time exploring her book baskets and looking/"reading" her books. When we go to M. and Me classes, playdates, etc. she is very quiet and talks very little. I feel like she turns into a different little girl. When we go to church, she no longer cries when going to the nursery, but she is again very quiet and looks concerned. She is a big observer and watches everything that is going on according to her Sunday School teachers. They have also reported she becomes upset if another child becomes loud or upset - she cries too!
I think this is probably fairly normal when a child is not in their "comfort zone", but I am wondering what I can do to help her gain a bit more confidence.
Completely normal. I would be upset if my children weren't cautious around people they aren't familiar with on a daily basis. Just give her time.
My son is anti-social, he does come around a little, but even with family he's been like this. He stays home with Daddy all day, a few times I have had to put him in daycare of have a babysitter, but he's just not himself. He's a good boy, don't get me wrong... he just is anti-social. He has beautiful hair and in public a lot of people will come up to us and he snarls at them, he puts his head down or gives them his first finger to stop, don't get any closer to me. I tell him to be nice but he doesn't like people. I like the one mother's advice about having a play date that is consent, and you are around. I'm hoping to get some good advice from your entry.
God Bless
That is completely normal. The only thing I can suggest is you start having play dates with one child on a regular basis who will attend some of the same events. I wish you were closer. I have a 20 mo. We have play dates on a regular basis with one of my friends down the street who has a 17 mo. When they are together, it doesn't matter where they are, they just open up because they have someone they know. It's just overwhelming otherwise.
She will come out of her shell in time. :-)
Each child's temperament is different. Some kids just take some time to warm up to their environment. I've seen this a lot. If she's not ever opening up or playing with other kids, then I might try to arrange play dates or something to acquaint them with other children and help build some social skills. As far as becoming upset when other children are upset, this is extremely normal and almost universal to all children this age.
I think you are right, it's normal. My son is now three and we still struggle with this a bit, but it has gotten better. We did what the other poster suggested, lots of play dates so he could get comfortable around others. We also signed up for classes here and there...tumbling,, swim class. It has all seemed to help. He still clams up a bit when he is in a new situation, but he doesn't cry or panic. And after a few minutes of warming up to the idea he seems to open up and have a ball! His cousin who is eight months younger is also dealing with this, her mother signed her up for a MDO program to help her adjust to new situations.
