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Expert Q&A
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| By Kate Cohen-Posey Therapist | ||
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My 1 1/2-year-old does not like to interact with other children. He becomes overwhelmed, weepy and sometimes he throws himself onto the child. What does this indicate? What can we do to help him socialize and play?
At his age the only appropriate socialization would be a playgroup where other children are present but children are mainly interacting with their parents. Some very outgoing children, who are used to being with others their own age, will interact, but your child's behavior is the norm.
By the time my daughter started school, she was independent. I attribute this to the fact that for the first three to four years of her life I pretty much carried her in a front pack. She rarely ever wanted to walk or even sit in a baby chair. She wanted to be glued to me, solar plexus to solar plexus. I remember thinking when she raised her arms to be carried, "She is so heavy. How can I do this? But she will not want to do it for much longer." So I'd pick her up, thinking it might be for the last time, and there were many "last times." Very often she preferred to sit with me and watch other children play. I'd be puzzled because I had such a need to belong when I was young and lived in a neighborhood swarming with children. Now she is an outgoing, popular 17-year-old.
Pushing your son will give him the message that something is not right. When he goes to preschool or kindergarten, it will be easier for him to socialize because you will not be there for him to cling to. He may even cry the first couple of times you drop him off, but gradually this should subside. Trust his teacher's opinion of his readiness to start preschool when he gets to that age.
Kate Cohen Posey MS LMHC, LMFT
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