Toddler terrified of other children

[NotBehindTheRadiatorPlease]

Hi all. DD has just turned 2 and is normally quite happy. Due to lockdown she hasn't seen any other children her own age for several months.

Finally yesterday we met up with some friends in our local park who have a child around the same age as DD. And omg, every time our friend's child got anywhere near her she would scream and cry completely hysterically. We went for a walk and she cried pretty much the whole time the friend's child was in sight.

I'm assuming this is anxiety due to not seeing any other children for a long time? She's fine with adults and older children, but other toddlers seem to terrify her!

Is it just a matter of getting her used to them? I felt so bad for her as she was crying pretty much the entire time we were out

I don't know the answer to this, but I'm pretty sure the lockdown and lack of interaction will have had an impact on toddlers. If you think about it, from being pretty much stuck with the same people with the same routine to now having this big new world opened up which you've never really experienced before much be overwhelming. As adults, we know what's out there but I guess as a two year old it'll come as quite a shock to find out that there is much more out there than first thought!

I would make a point of taking her places where other children are so that she can get used to other kids. Going to places like a park or toddler group where it's all strangers might be easier as they are less likely to talk to her and she can see children talking and interacting with each other.
My children had a definite preference for older /younger kids at your DD's age. Was she the same when another adult spoke to her?

@ForThePurposeOfTheTape thank you. I am planning to take her to our local park regularly from now on! She was a little bit wary of my friend but nowhere near as bad as with her child!

Hi there,
There are 5 child development domains; physical, emotional, cognitive, social and pro-social.
A toddler is learning all 5 areas which is pretty hard and can cause distress. Most kids learn through play - the link below explains further.
When a child plays with another child, they are learning to share, communicate and negotiate which are all valuable skills. You can imagine/ remember learning a new skill can be a little stressful. So, through comfort, patience and creating opportunities to practise those skills can widen your daughter's tolerance thus creating the resilience around that particular skill e.g. playing with others.
This pandemic has been tough on us all. I was lucky my 2 toddlers returned to nursery in Aug but they had a wobble at first!

raising2children.com/why-you-must-learn-to-play/