Should my daughter be this quiet, is it normal?

[MamaBlue4]

My dd is 22 months old and clingy, she's been like that since she was a baby, she had bad separation anxiety and disliked strangers holding her, she's still nervous around strangers who come too close. I can leave her with people she knows, though and go places without her.

She loves to talk and play by herself and with her brothers but when she speaks she's softly spoken and you have to be listening to hear her (except when having a tantrum of course and I've noticed it's only when she's having a tantrum that she talks loudly and doesn't seem concerned by her surroundings)

I take her to the creche twice a week to interact with other children and she acts like she does at home all smiles and laughter, she has no problem talking to other children and playing with them. However, she doesn't like me out of sight and when other parents come close to her, I see her searching for me or she goes quiet. She answers their questions but doesn't speak.

I wasn't going to post this because I think I'm just being silly but I'm a little worried, like mother's are, my husband says she's fine and I don't want to take it any further; ie doctors if there's nothing wrong.

Any advice would be brilliant.

I don't think that sounds unusual, it sounds like she can be sociable and play with other children and there isn't an issue regarding her interaction with others. Do you have plans at some point to put her in a creche or playgroup where you leave her there for a bit? Ds started creche like that when he was 18 months, just a day a week initially while I eased back to work, and while the initial getting used to it period was hard, once over that he thrived there. I'm certainly not suggesting you pay for childcare that you don't need or want her to have, but I think at the age of 3 the government provides playgroup facilities for children? You might find that a morning or two a week where you do that and get her used to your not being there, but that you always come back for her, helps her lose the anxiety that you might vanish and not come back, and gives her the confidence that you'll always return. But no, I don't think her behaviour sounds unusual or anything to worry about.

Thank you, sometimes it's nice to know I'm worrying over nothing.

Sometimes I take her or my husband, but I do have plans to leave her there, she's been going for the past 4 weeks, twice a week, and next week will be the first time I'm leaving her and that's why I'm a little nervous but trying not to show it around her. I'm not returning to work as I'm taking a year of work for the twins (they're 5 months) and I exclusively breastfeed on demand and I plan on doing this until they're one - I did this with all my children. I honestly would like a break too, so with my ds1 in pre school and dd in creche twice a week, I'll have a little more free time to relax and sleep plus I want her to experience things and be independent.