Toddler Anxiety

[Jane99]

I'm worried about R. When we had our party, with friends at a park, he had a hard time socially. He wouldn't let go of me, DH or my MIL. One of us had to hold him. After about an hour and a half and some lunch, he was ok and started playing.

Today, I had to take him to the dermatologist. The entire time he buried his face in my breasts and wouldn't come out. He started hyper ventilating when the doctor started touching him to look at him.

Then, a friend came over to the apartment to help my husband take some stuff to donate and sell. He hyper ventilated again and kept crying and even bit me trying to hide his face in me.

Why is he doing this? He's never had social anxiety before. Do you think the packing is upsetting him? I hope the move doesn't make it worse. I'm so worried about how he might react. :(

[PinkPaisley]

poor little guy, how old is he now?

Well, Sadie has her moments like that. Most of the time she's okay but i think it's since she has been going to school and getting older. But I can remember days like that. I think maybe it is the move also i am sure your busy so you might not have the time like you did before and he misses mommy time.

Is he like this with friends his age?

[Jane99]

He doesn't have friends his age. He did ok when we visited Tes and her daughter, who's just a little younger than him. He'll be 2 next month.

[PinkPaisley]

yes i knew that May 28 right? Sorry brain fart.

I'm sure at this age this is normal, Dylan tends to be very shy around people to and he puts his head in between my legs. does he do this with just strangers?

[Jane99]

It seems to be strangers or people we aren't very close to or see often. I am just worried that he's very emotional? I mean, a move is a big deal. He'll also not see my husband's family either. Just so many adjustments for him. I'm sure he will be okay.

[Mama Sandy]

I agree that it's perfectly normal for them to have social anxiety at this age. He seems to be a bit to the extreme if he's hyperventilating but then again, he's going through a LOT of changes right now with the packing and parties and such. I would give it a littlle time but if he seems to get worse or it doesn't ease up in the next few months (give him time to adjust to the move and such) then I would definitely mention it to the pediatrician. Until then, just try to find ways to help him cope even if that's just by holding him and giving him the reassurance he needs. :support:

[PinkPaisley]

maybe you need some R and mommy time, that could be fun. I love spending time with just Dylan, it's so amazing how different a child he is with out Sadie around.

[emilade]

Alice does the hyperventilating thing too :( It's not all the time, it just seems to depend on her mood. Sometimes she's okay; not social, but cautious. Other times she just can't handle it. I wasn't sure if she was alone in this sort of stuff or not. I'd never heard of any other kids close to her age doing this.

I'm noticing it happening less and less since she started Sunday school. It still happens occasionally. But not as often.

[PinkPaisley]

I think it has a lot to do on how social they are. I know we don't go out much and the kids are either at our house or my moms, and like i said before Sadie is better since she has started school

[Jane99]

Emily, see that's what I'm thinking. He isn't used to being around any people but us, his close family. The bigger the crowed the worse he gets. And in today's case, the doctor was really up in his personal space by touching him.

Today, I've just been holding him a lot. I offered him the breast, but he bit me twice because he was so upset. Ouch. T is spending the night at my in-laws tonight, so I'm going to take extra time with R tonight and play some games and snuggle as much as I can. DH is out with a friend, so it's just me, R and L. Hopefully L is a good boy and allows me to hold R more.

[PinkPaisley]

that sounds like a great idea.

Again I think this is a phase he is going through and the outside world is a little scary. After thinking of this for a while I started to think he sounds a lot like me when i was a child. I too just had my baby sitter and my parents and it was very rough when my parents put m in preschool. My mom would tell me that i would have melt downs all the time in strange places. And i turned out okay. :hehe:

[Jojo]

When Matt gets angry he will hold his breath and just not stop. He can cry and hold his breath for an hour until he gets over what is bothering him. I have no idea what happens but sometimes he just gets into these moods and it's so hard to break it especially when he wakes up too early from his nap.

:bluehug:

[Caitlin]

When we moved, Aiden got really weird and panicked. Every time DH would leave with a box, Aiden would FLIP!

It's a lot for a little person to comprehend...where all their stuff is going...who will be going with it..stuff like that.


I hope he handles the move well though! :support:

[theWrap]

I think the moving stress may be part of it, but I also think it's normal.

At Sam's birthday party, he WOULD NOT go outside with all the other kids. He knew them - he goes to daycare with them. But he did NOT want to be with the group.
Sam has been very group shy.

We did this thing called Kindermusik, and we took three different sessions. Even at the last session, after he's been doing this class with me for months and months, he would stand at the edge of the room and NOT participate. Or else he buried his face in my rear end (his hidey spot when we're in public :hehe:)

Finally, at our LAST class ever (the teacher is moving to...TEXAS!), he participated in all but one activity. It was a break through for us.

[Jane99]

Lauren, that sounds a lot like R.

The thing is that I remember this with T. I guess I was hoping it was a personality thing and R wouldn't do it. :hehe:

[Farah]

Sounds normal to me :) Although, my kid has the opposite problem. He wants to play with everyone and no one will play with him :(