2 yo suddenly scared of people

[Spainintherain]

My little boy is almost two years old. The past couple of weeks he has started to be scared of people outside the immediate family. He has started to cry and shout at children who may be on the same playground equipment, including his own cousin who he loves normally and he burst into tears at the sight of our cleaner the past two weeks. Has anyone else experienced this?

Bump?

I haven't got any advice op, but just wanted to say that this will pass, as everything at this age is just a phase. Hang in there, you've got this, and hopefully someone with some advice will be along soon. 🤞🏼

Thanks for answering. I'm worried about no one else having experienced this now!

Yes to this!! My DS is 2 in a few weeks and used to be so sociable (well, as sociable as a baby can be...), but now when he sees people outside of the family he hides in my shoulder, or makes a weird sort of fake crying noise at other children at the park when they come near. He's also started almost scratching/hitting his own face when he gets very upset with the situation, which I think is some sort of comfort technique?! That or he's just incredibly frustrated! Sorry can't help with it, but you're not alone!!

Honestly, this is an entirely normal developmental phase

Thank you for the replies. Do you know how long this will go on for?

My then 2 year old went through very similar last year. I was unsure if it was normal or due to the pandemic but happy to say it lasted a couple of months and disappeared as quickly as it started. Still no idea what caused it, but glad it's gone!

Sorry no advice but just to say my twins are 2.5 and are doing this - I wasn’t sure if it was due to them not seeing people due to COVID or if it was a development thing. Sounds like it’s normal, I feel your pain though 😫

My 21 month old is doing exactly the same thing. I blamed Covid as we aren't seeing anyone but hoping it's just a phase the passes once we're out and about seeing people again

My niece did it for many months and needed a lot of support to overcome and still very shy so it worries me.

Definitely COVID is not helping our babies at all!