My ds is 3-and-a-half. He is not at all shy with people/situations he knows very well BUT I think he is becoming increasingly shy in social situations.
Almost every morning when we get to playschool he now says he doesn't want to go (although he is fine when I pick him up and his teacher says he is mostly fine during the morning). Infact, now I think about it, the only time when he doesn't complain about going to playschool is when he is the first child there, and has his teacher's full attention.
In other social situations he frequently goes all coy, and doesn't want to join in or talk to anyone who tries to be friendly to him. Also, he has recently started saying (quite out of the blue, no prompting from me) "xx can only be my friend. xx can't be friends with yy."
I really don't know how to reply as I don't want to enforce his shyness and at the same time I want to encourage him, in as gentle a way as possible, to enjoy playing with other kids. Are there any good books out there on shy kids? Any advice on what I should/shouldn't say?
I think ds1's shyness has become particularly noticeable in recent months because his younger brother (18 months) is very outgoing. He will smile and babble away to anyone, doesn't tend to mind being picked up and played with and loves being the centre of attention.
I do realise this isn't a hugely important matter in the bigger picture, but I would at least like to make sure I'm not saying all the wrong things!