to get really irritated by my 5yr old DD?!

[wintersnow]

My 5 year old DD has some habits that drive me to distraction!!! She is constantly jigging about and can't sit still. She is always making irritating noises and won't stop when asked, she's also a really noisy eater, she likes to come and sit next to me jigging about and eating noisilly in my ear.. My 2 DS's don't do this, is it a normal 5 yr old thing?!

[BuntyPenfold]

Well, it's a normal 5 year old attention seeking thing.....:)

[wintersnow]

I did wonder, she does get a lot of attention though!

[thisisyesterday]

ds1 is like this. well, not the eating noisily, but he finds it very, very, very difficult to sit still. he is always moving and making annoying noises!

not attention seeking tho i don't think. he just likes doing it.

there's a whole section in "raising your spirited child" which talks about how some children find this hard, it can also be to do with sensory issues (needing to move, needing to hear noise) and ways to deal with it

[pjmama]

My DD has ants in her pants too, drives me crackers!

[BuntyPenfold]

I wasn't implying that she doesn't get enough attention, but some children are much more competitive than others :)

[wintersnow]

No worries, I didn't think you were it did cross my mind that it might be an attention thing though, I also wondered whether she might have mild ADHD at one point...

[purplepidjin]

Echoing what thisisyesterday said, you can get wobble cushions and things like that for children to sit on if they struggle to sit still. Someone in SN children would know more than I do, though. Do you get outside in the garden/to the park much to burn off energy?

[cestlavielife]

read the out of synch child
www.amazon.co.uk/Sync-Child-Carol-Stock-Kranowitz/dp/0399523863?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 she might not be as extreme but it gives some ideas for strategies

[NormalityBites]

MY 4yo DD doesn't shut up, she mumbles and sings and talks and chants and goes on and on and on and on from the minute she gets up until well into being asleep and she drives me bonkers.

YANBU!

[GrumpyOldHorsewoman]

DD1 wouldn't cuddle, would barely speak to me and quietly did pretty much everything she was told.
DD2 sings, chats, cuddles, fidgets.

I'd much rather have one like that any day.

[mumeeee]

YABU. Yes it can be annoying but it is normal 5 year old behaviour.

[nannynobnobs]

DD1 is now 9 and has always been like this... I need a sign to hold up that says 'Please stop making noises' as I say it so many times a day! I've tried saying "If you wouldn't want to listen to it, then don't do it" but it has no effect at all. She has ants in her pants too, and can't keep a thought in her head/follow instructions from start to finish. No ADHD though, she's been assessed and sat as good as gold for the doctor after tearing round the waiting room like Taz

[Vallhala]

I have one like that too.

But she's nearly 14!

[mumbar]

Yep sounds like my DS, he'll quite happily sit still watching TV like now when Chuggingtons on, other times will be contantly moving making silly noises or jumping up and down flapping at something exiting

[peeringintothevoid]

YANBU. I get really irritaited by my DD (8) too. Mind you, I feel constantly unreasonable for finding her so exasperating, so maybe YABU

Bizarre repetitive noises, a ceaseless stream of (90%) drivel, constant questions about things she knows the answer to/that I've already answered several times, having to say the same basic stuff to her dozens of times a day, and the scowls, snarles and clenched fists whenever she's asked to do anything.

Ah, how I love motherhood...

[Rowgtfc72]

NormalityBites-have you met my daughter then !!
YANBU.

[wintersnow]

peeringintothevoid ha! Sounds exactly like my DD! I also feel terrible for feeling so annoyed, especially right about now when she is tucked up in bed looking so angelic!

[NotANaturalGeordie]

YANBU - my 5 yr old DD can drive me to distraction too. I feel bad for yelling and I do apologise if I lose my temper - she said to me 'It's ok Mammmy, I know you still love me when you're yelling'

[DeckTheIceWithDragonsAndHolly]

cestlavielife thank you for linking that book, that is just what i have been looking for!

my ds (5) drives me mad regualrly. But he does has sensory issues so hopefully the book might shred some light on how to help him.

[classydiva]

Have you even considered it could be medical before getting agitated?

[charmum3]

yrnbu, but think its just a childhood thing both my ds like it, i was always on their case, sit still. stop it, why are you doing that etc til my aunt pointed out that i was the same atthat age and got worse as i got older, have relaxed about the whole thing, except table manners (they are 4 and 5 so picking up habbits from school, lovely) now i have stopped moaning they have calmed down, thought it was just me

[Mumcentreplus]

bluddy hell they don't change? @ Val..my DD 7 is just like this..

[peeringintothevoid]

Wintersnow "peeringintothevoid ha! Sounds exactly like my DD! I also feel terrible for feeling so annoyed, especially right about now when she is tucked up in bed looking so angelic!"

That's when I always feel the worst too; I stand by her bed, stroking her hair back from that angelic little face, and my heart wants to burst with love. And I think "why can't you be this quiet and peaceful all the time??"

One of the ones I can never fathom is why DD feels the need to commence acrobatic bodily contortions as soon as she's talking on the phone. She could have been sitting quietly reading or watching tv, but as she's got the phone in hand, she starts bouncing on the sofa, rolling on the floor, practising karate kicks in the immediate vicinity of me/the dog, doing a shoulder stand with feet perilously near the tv screen, or trying to do a headstand from the sofa up the wall. All this results in strangely muffled phonecalls and a very irritated me.