Outgoing relatives with a shy child

katiewhompus · March 2013

We are going on a vacation this summer to see some of my H's relatives and I could use some help.

Dd is the kind of kid who is super affectionate... after she has had time to warm up to you. When we go to playgroups, she will stand at the door and watch for 10 minutes, then wade into the activity on her own time. She is very sensitive to strangers and dislikes surprises or people touching her who she doesn't know.

Most of H's relatives are very friendly, loud, exuberant people. The classic "screech hello while pinching your cheeks" kind of thing. I know that Dd is going to freak out upon meeting them because, well, they scare me with their outgoingness and I'm an adult and used to them.

When I have breached the topic with H, he just says Dd will be fine, or that "she needs to get used to it". I disagree but don't know how to tell his relatives to chill without hurting their feelings/them taking it personally.

tjkdlhb · March 2013

No advice... I just wanted to say that I love your siggy pic. Both you and your DD are beautiful!

katiewhompus · March 2013

tjkdlhb:
No advice... I just wanted to say that I love your siggy pic. Both you and your DD are beautiful!
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nosoup4u · March 2013

Do you wear her in a baby carrier still? You could wear her when she first meets them, that way she'll be on you and they can still see her.

DS1 can be very shy, and he would either make us hold him or hide his face on us, etc. when he was with

3sthecharm · March 2013

Hold her for the introductions to help a bit. My youngest wouldnt let anyone but me hubby or nana hold him. Other women who looked at him made him cry! My SIL couldnt hold him until he was almost 2 becuae hed pucker up if she talked to him! But, as

Angela814 · March 2013

nosoup4u:
Do you wear her in a baby carrier still? You could wear her when she first meets them, that way she'll be on you and

PayolaCrayola · March 2013

DD is normally outgoing but this past wknd we went to a party with ppl she hasnt seen in like a year. EVERYONE swarmed her and was like "Sophie!" reaching her and stuff. She freaked out. I was holding her and she hid her face and was pinching my arm su

TiffanyBerry · March 2013

I completely disagree with your DH. If he had broken a rib, and everyone in his family came up to give him big giant bear hugs, would he be telling himself "oh, just get used to it"? No. This is no different - only it's emotional pain

highlights · March 2013

What everyone else said- start with holding her, then bring a favorite activity, so that she can focus on something fun and familiar while getting used to her surroundings.

My LO is the same, and my family is the same. We did those things just t

tantdylf · March 2013

A lot of my family and my husbands are like this, and my son is the same way. I hold him, and let him warm up on his own time, if he will. When he gets older, I will hold his hand. I don't care that our families are just excited to see him, he's a little