As a shy child's parent, the way you react to her shyness will
have a profound effect on the way she will see herself and her
confidence in social settings. Most parents of shy children
express a frustration at their child's inability to engage with
her peers, and a concern that she'll be left out of things if
she can't overcome her shyness. With sensitive parenting and a
lot of gentle guidance, you can work with your child on building
strategies to build her confidence which should help her to
blossom socially. - Avoid using labels. It won't help your child
to overcome her shyness if you continually tell her and others
that she's 'shy'. - Don't be critical or impatient when your
child is experiencing shyness. She needs your support and
understanding instead. - If your child is spoken to and doesn't
respond, don't do her talking for her or apologise for her
silence - this will just focus everyone's attention on her
shyness - At an appropriate time, talk to her about her shyness
- try to discover what she's fe