Help with my 2 year old being scared of other children

[hogu]

My 2 year old little boy is absolutely petrified of other children. It started at lockdown 1 and has gradually got worse over time to the point now where he just clings to me and cries uncontrollably if another child comes anywhere near.
He won't play at the playground if there's another child there and is a totally different little boy. It's heartbreaking to see.
I keep trying to meet up with friends who have other children but he's so upset by it I'm getting to the point where I think they won't want to meet us again!
I keep trying to take him to the playground even tho he doesn't enjoy it, just to get him used to other kids but all it's doing is making him worse 😢
Any advice or is anyone going through anything similar?

Anyone?

I’m sorry that you’re going through this. We’re in a somewhat similar situation with my just-turned two year old. Had a bit of a breakthrough when she spent some time last week playing with her three year old cousin in the park. What really helped was getting DD used to her cousin beforehand - looking at photos of her / ‘chatting’ on the phone. picking out a gift that she gave to her, me talking to her about what they were going to do that day. Now she can’t wait to see her again. With completely strange children it’s still a work in progress however..