Social anxiety in toddler

Please don’t push labels onto your toddler. She’s fine. This is normal. Not all kids are ostentatious and loud.

Yep. She’s just a normal toddler.
Age about 3 and a half they start being able to sit in a restaurant etc. 26 months is still very young.

I agree with this. I wonder if you are an anxious person yourself op?

I very much doubt a nursery would pick up on any issues from how you have described your DD. It's all developmentally appropriate for her age. Some children and adults don't like crowds, it's no big deal. Parallel play is also developmentally appropriate at 2.

I agree with, and hope you have been reassured by, previous posts. Using the term social anxiety to describe a toddler really worries me.

She eats standing up because you let her. Same as watching Bing or reading a book with a meal.

She sounds very normal to me(I used to run a toddler room) perhaps some reading about child development might help you to realise your expectations of her are a bit high .

I'd agree with everyone else. She is just acting like a toddler.

She doesn't have social anxiety. She's a normal toddler/small child.

She doesn't sound autistic, she sounds like a toddler.

Parallel play is developmentally appropriate at age 2. By 3 she is more likely to be seeking to play with others her own age.

It's normal and a good thing for her to be nervous in crowds - she could easily get lost in a crowd so it's a good thing she wants to stay close to you.

Less than one tantrum a week is a dream!! She sounds lovely and like she's doing really well.

If you want to work on her sitting still to eat, stop using distractions like books and TV and hold a boundary where if she gets down from the table, the mealtime is over. Or if she responds well to instructions then you can just go to her and ask her to come back to the table. And likewise if she wants to eat walking around and you don't want her to do this (it's best not to because of the choking risk but also, in my experience it can be messy when toddlers learn they can take food all over the house) - just say no, and tell her food is only for the table.

If you're doing the "mealtime is over" approach then make sure she has a meal roughly every 4 hours and then the opportunity for a smaller snack roughly 2 hourly in between, where the snack is just a smaller version of a mealtime e.g. lunch might be a sandwich with some cucumber and crisps on the side, the snack is some cucumber and crackers with cheese. Or a piece of toast. (ie, don't make the snack something like only crisps or a biscuit). That way if she doesn't eat very much because she's got down, it's not long she has to wait until the next opportunity to eat. I think she will quickly get the idea.

This is perfectly normal. You really don’t want the child who is running off gleefully into a crowded space. It’s not social anxiety, it’s just a normal healthy sense of danger (those are dangerous places for a just 2 year old without the security of a parent). She’s probably a little bit picking up on your anxiety too.

I’d do meals out in turns if she won’t sit forever (one of you eats and the other takes her outside). Get rid of the distractions and screens at meals. If she doesn’t eat, she doesn’t eat, but you aren’t creating problems for yourself long term. Look to get her into nursery or preschool to make actual friends, not just playgroups eventually. She’s still little, but closer to 3/4 she should be developing proper friendships and experiencing being part of a little community.

Why have you started two threads with slightly different titles about this?

Restaurants are boring as hell to a 2 year old (and to many a 40 year old too - just look at how many people are on their phones). And people in crowds are literally 3-4 times the size of her.

She sounds very very sensible and like most 2 year olds.

No, it doesn't.it sounds like perfectly normal behavior for a two year old