Oversensitive Toddler

Well, he's only 21 months old,
At this age, they do "parallel play"... not interactive play yet.
And they don't know/understand all social nuances yet.
Their emotions, are not even developed yet, nor, fully developed yet. At this age.

So, the world is still one big puzzling thing to them.
And, they are reactionary at this age.
They cannot necessarily be real 'articulate' verbally or with body language yet... and have the verbal skills to say "stop it" to others or offer problem solving, yet. They do not yet, know how to 'problem solve' on their own and they do not have, 'coping-skills' yet at this age. Socially.

He will be fine.
Phases.
Age phases.

Just do not, make it a big deal. Or then he may get hang-ups about himself. That is worse.

all the best,
Susan

I dont think there is anything you can do, he is the way he is and with time he will improve and be more social, just encourage him to play and interact with other kids, and just be patient :) Also make sure if he's in daycare that he's not getting picked on, sometimes things like that bring caution and fear to toddlers that they will be scared of other kids for a while until the get a bit older and learn to brush things off or stand up for them selves..

My girls were both like this for a period of time, it's hard! One of the things we started telling our kids from a very, very young age is that everybody has "personal space", that area around you that it makes you feel uncomfortable when someone is in it - eg. a kid standing too close or touching you. I am someone with a large personal space zone and so I wanted our kids to respect others as well as understand it's alright to maintain yours. In fact, it's healthy.

What we tell our girls to do (and it works even with my 2 year old) if someone is in there space is to take a breath (not scream like your pulling out their nose hairs) and say, "Please back up you're in my space, I don't like it" or "Your too close and it doesn't feel good, please back up" Since they're often dealing with other kids who don't get it, I say that if it doesn't work the first time to call a grown up and tell them what is upsetting them, and I ALWAYS say, that getting upset doesn't make a situation better it makes it harder and nobody will understand what you need.

It works most times, it just takes being consistant to responding to their needs and helping them set up their boundries. This will eventually teach them to be strong, confident little people!

Hang in there! You'll make it, and he'll grow up just fine because you love him :-)

At my kids' daycare they encourage the kids to say "don't touch my body!" It seems to give them some power, certainly alerts the staff that something may or may not be happening, and it validates the child that it is their body, and should not be touched/pushed/shoved without the child's OK.

My daughter, who just recently turned 3, was the same way and it seemed to peak during age 2 and has seemed to have grown out of it. But it is very hard and she would cry or whine when another child would even get close to her. Now she runs and plays with other kids her own age. It seems to be just a phase, like most things, so hang in there and be supportive and encouraging but don't force or push him too hard. He just needs time.

My son was just like this. I was very worried! He grew out of it recently at about 30 months. In my experience it was just one of many phases they go through. I wouldn't worry!