19month old shy?

[Biebs88]

Hi all,

I have a wee boy who is so funny, spontaneous and outgoing and when with us/other adults is always the life of the party. He is in nursery full time and has a group of friends there and they basically rule the roost in there - cheeky, always laughing and up to no good. I absolutely adore his outgoing personality but this changes when we go to toddler groups. I'm working FT (expecting baby #2 in a month) so only take him on a Saturday morning to a toddler football group. This morning he was fine when there were a few other children but as soon as it got busier he became clingier and wasn't interested in joining in anymore. He wanted "up up" all the time and I didn't want him to get distressed. The past few weeks it has been a similar story. He keeps himself to himself and will play with some balls etc but doesn't seem to be enjoying himself all too much.
Me and my partner are both quite sociable but uncomfortable in big, loud groups so could that be part of it or is it just the age? I do want to keep taking him to toddler groups, especially with my mat leave starting soon and his time in nursery going down to 2 days a week.

Thanks 😊

He could just be introverted and find the bigger group setup exhausting / over stimulating / superficial. I did, which my extroverted parents never "got".

My DS is the same - very cheeky, energetic and playful around people he knows, but is a bit more shy, quiet and likes to stay close to me at playgroups. He goes to nursery a few days a week and i can just tell he is different there.

I figure it's just his personality. I still like to have him around other toddlers as much as possible though. Even if he is shy, I don't want him to shrink into himself.

That's not a worrying thing. It probably shows he is cautious which is a good thing. My son was at least 17 months before he came out his shell as he was the same nervous.