3 year old jumping up and down

[GoBackToPartyCity]

DS is 3.5 years old and has always been full of energy. Nursery queried ASD due to a speech delay and a bit of a delay socially but he was discharged by the paediatrician after his first assessment. Since then he has come on leaps and bounds with his speech and nursery have said he’s like a different child...apart from one thing...the two-footed jumping up and down.

It’s actually driving me bonkers but I don’t know if that’s because pre-lockdown we were always out on big walks and full days out. I’m not sure whether spending more time indoors is exacerbating it but I don’t know what to do anymore!

It seems to happen more when he’s tired, excited or sometimes if he’s bored. It seems to stop if he’s focused on something like playing with a toy. But then he might stop playing, jump up and down on the spot for a bit then carry on playing.

Has anyone else been through this and how did you make it stop! It seems like he’s going to come through the ceiling sometimes!

Wow. he must have really strong achilles tendons.

Apart from that, I think he sounds adorable. and three.

Maybe he'd enjoy a trampoline?

Don’t worry about making it stop. He obviously enjoys it.

Buy him a space hopper maybe? Or a little trampoline?

Haha! He does have very defined calves!

Trampoline is a good idea, I tried to get one at the beginning of lockdown but they were sold out everywhere. I might try again.

He’s obviously getting something sensory-wise out of it...I just want to replicate that with something umm...quieter .

Are you my neighbour? Adorable 3yr old next door is doing this constantly and its driving me insane.

However my neighbour doesn't allow him into the garden as he might fall (it's flat grass and a flat paved path) and also don't take him out at all most days, so I don't blame him for jumping about at all.

I hope not! . He has been getting a walk every day but I think he’s been missing the variety we used to have. He is chucked out into the garden at every opportunity and funnily enough he doesn’t do it when he’s out there!

Can I ask how delayed his speech was? I was worried about my ds but he seems to be coming on a bit

What type of jumping? I thought all kids jumped about. My ds likes to jump about too and never worried about it.. should I?

I have an 8 year old like that! He can't even walk properly without skipping.
It's just part of who he is!
His legs muscles are amazing
I nicknamed him Bouncer
Don't worry OP

2yrs 7 months DD also loves the double foot jumping about. Especially asked to do something she doesn't want to do. we get an almost pike jump accompanied with "NO!!!"

@boasting he didn’t say much until he was about 2.5. Had loads of words but wasn’t putting them into sentences. He had a few sentences from 3 but was lashing out with frustration when he couldn’t express what he wanted, he also wasn’t verbally responding to any questions. He’s stopped doing that now and we can pretty much have full conversations with him now.

Too Fast, Too Tight, Too Loud, Too Bright talks about this - highly recommended read if you know there are sensory issues of any kind.

It will be proprioception. I agree that this sounds very Three though, and not necessarily out of the ordinary at all! They are like little wind up toys with ants in their pants.

@Bohomie we do call him tigger! Reassuring that someone else’s child does the same.

Do you wrestle, or if you have a partner does he? That might be a good way to get the jumpies out.

Thanks @BertieBotts. I’ll have a look at that. Nursery commented on him doing it when he was in last week so it’s just brought it to the front of my mind.

My sons 4.5 and he's always moving even when he's trying to talk to you lol he skips or jumps everywhere

My eldest still does it. Its an autistic stim for him

@branleuse I think the jumping was a contributing factor as to why he was referred to the paediatrician, along with the speech delay. But the doctor had absolutely no concerns and discharged him straight away with no follow up appointments.

My three year old has sensory processing difficulty. She's also a two footed jumper. We took her to an Occupational Therapist for sensory issues. What helped us was

1. Push/Pull games e.g. Wheelbarrow walks, tug of war
2. Heavy work e g. Carry heavy books room to room, lift a nested table etc
3. Crawling games e.g. be a snake, crawl along ground.

We have a trampoline now that is amazing-she spends hours each day on it. I think it's the only thing between us and insanity this lockdown. But at creche when there is no trampoline, they really found doing a few of the above activities throughout the day calmed her down, improved behaviour, and limited the constant jumping. I think the idea is giving her sensory input / feedback in a different way so she doesn't need as much from jumping.

They’re good ideas. He loves having a ‘job’ to do so they would work.

Yes mine loves a job too- it's amazing how often I need 'help' moving a chair, or carrying some wet towels to the line etc.

My DS has a repetitive arm action and accompanying sound. Does your DS make a noise or is it just the sound of the jumping ?

I'd love to know what to do to stop this. I can ask him to stop or turn it off,but he usually returns to it in a few minutes. It can be anytime, not particularly just when tired, but it's a filler, it I entertain him all day long he's fine. If playing by himself it starts.

My DS is the same. If I’m entertaining him, he’s fine. Certain things set him off...he absolutely loves Tipping Point but he gets so excited by it and the jumping is horrendous! Then I feel bad for telling him to stop because he’s just doing it because he’s happy. It’s a conscious thing though as if I tell him stop, then he’ll stop. But usually starts up again shortly after.

Sometimes it’s accompanied by a noise but not always.

@GoBackToPartyCity yes and it would be unusual to diagnose so young anyway if the issues were not severe or any family history anyway. Something to keep your eye on anyway

He sat on the sofa this morning and watched the whole of Toy Story under his duvet acting out the film with his woody and buzz figures. It was amazing! I don’t think he’s ever not jumped for that long before.

Thanks @Branleuse. Definitely something to keep my eye on and I’ll get back in touch with the paediatrician if it gets worse.