Am I enough for my 18 month old?

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My little boy is 18 months old and we don’t live near family so it’s just me, my husband and our son. I worry that I’m not enough for him. I’m a sahm and my husband works full time so for the most part it’s just me and my son. I go out with him twice a day to either a park, open countryside, anywhere open really for him to explore and run around. But he never mixes with family and I don’t have many friends so we don’t really see anyone else. Especially since lockdown, we don’t see anyone. I’m not ready to have a second baby but I really worry he’s lonely and bored. He doesn’t seem it day to day but he is VERY anxious around other people in closed spaces. So he doesn’t care about people if he’s running around outside but if we get too close to people he gets very shy and clingy to me or my husband.

Should I send him to nursery? I don’t know what he needs or if I’m worrying over nothing. I think the way he is with other people (he’s ok with other kids for the most part at the park etc) it tends to be adults.

Sorry to finish I think the way he is with other people worries me he’s not socialising enough.

Any advice? Am I enough?

I have the same issue with my 15 month old daughter. I really need to get her mixing with other kids & adults, but with Covid there's no groups open & I really don't want her to be scared of socialising with other people. I have no family close by & no friends, so we rarely see anyone. We try to get out, but there's no where near as much interaction for her as I'd like 😕

Under normal circumstances I'd recommend taking him to groups. I'm similar in that I have no family nearby and going to groups made such a difference for us.

I recommend nursery if you can afford it. Our 1 year old goes two days a week because we work, but I'd probably send her anyway. She loves it and it's so good for her development. We really noticed a difference in her when she returned after nursery opened up again in June. Plus, you would get some time for yourself, which is also important.

In these circumstances I think nursery is a really good idea. If you can afford to send him a couple of days or mornings a week I think it would benefit him offering chance for socialisation and more stimulation, plus the huge bonus of a bit of downtime for you. At him age I do think he will be looking for more stimulation. It's hard because of covid and you can't go to baby groups with him but nursery will provide him with a whole new world and help his development (not that it needs help, just an additional advantage).

I'd say a couple of mornings in a nursery is a good idea too . You don't want to be waiting till pre school if you don't see many people as it is in your day to day lives .