Shynees –part of a typical development

Shyness in toddlers is part of a typical social and emotional development. This shows the child becomes increasingly aware of people they do not know, which it tells you the child is aware of his surroundings. If a child doesn't show shyness by 24 month it is recommended to talk the child's pediatrician.

Tommy was extremely social and outgoing when he was a baby, but he gradually became shy and quit among a big group of people, which makes me confident because he is having a typical social and emotional development. According to the book 'The Wonder Years,' "This shyness is likely to continue for some time –an 18-month-old may still be clingy and look to her or his parent for reassurance. By the age of three, many children are still self-conscious and quiet around those who are unfamiliar to them or when they are in big groups. As they get older, many children become more outgoing again; however, for some, signs of shyness persist and up to half of five –and six-years old still show some degree of shyness."

So building up our son's confidence and self-steem to help him to overcome his shyness is important to us. To support him in overcoming his shyness we are:

• Taking him to public places more often
• Giving him more opportunities to spend time with kids of age
• Giving him plenty of attention
• Praising him as much as we can
• Disciplining him with a positive nurturing environment
• Never focussing on shyness as a problem. Actually, we are trying not even mention he acts shy in front of him because this will only make him self-conscious. He is not shy, it is just part of his social and emotional development as any other child.

We are very proud of our boy because he is beginning to overcome his shyness. We attended to two family events (a wedding and a baptism) and Tommy wasn't shy. We could see him more confident among the big group of people and even smiling and making silly games with other people. When we came back home, daddy talked to Tommy about how proud we were of him for being very social with people and how well behave he was been in both family reunions.

People say how lucky Tommy is for having us,

we think how lucky we are for having him.

He is typically doing many things according to

his age regardless the syndrome.