DS9 sensory seeking

[haveanothertea]

He wants to play moving games all the time. He doesn’t sit to anything quietly on his own unless it’s a device/TV (which I limit otherwise he’d be glued all day).

He wants constant company and someone to play active games with him. He gets plenty of daily exercise and plays 2 sports. We play with hims lots. Then there are times of course when we might all be busy for 10 mins or just need to do stuff on our own like housework etc or just sit down but he then starts attention seeking and snatching toys off this brother and rolling/jumping around.

I’ve told him he has things that he could be getting on with like colouring/Lego/drawing and he has done thsse in the past (for 5 mins at a time) but he needs sensory things it seems.

He likes me to give him a foot squeeze and he’s always rolling around the carpet so it feels like it‘s sensory.

He can sit still at school fine.

He’s such a kind and loving boy but there’s always drama after we’ve finished playing and he won’t have any attention for 10 mins. Any tips?

I don't know if this is just what active boys are like though. There are no boys in my family and they are my first kids.

I don't know any 9 year old boys in real life who like to sit and read or draw or quietly build Lego. They are all either playing football or attached to a screen or playing something with friends or competing with their siblings as to who can fall down the stairs quickest. You might be overthinking it with the sensory seeking bit - if you just accept that they are active and annoying you will be less stressed.

Btw if you can set up a basketball hoop that is one thing that definitely helps.

I don’t have any brothers or male cousins or uncles and we didn’t hang around with other little boys when I was little. I wish I could bottle their energy!

I think because his brother is less fidgety, I have something to compare to and I don’t want to compare because they are all so different.

He needs to be told off sometimes for snatching (which I did).

He has a basketball hoop which he loves so is always on that.

I love having boys. I'm lucky they are healthy and full of beans!

A lot of boys are like this, mine was particularly seeking and needed some help but I wouldn't be too concerned as it sounds like your DS can sit still in school so he has a lot of control.

The bigger issue I'd see if the inability to entertain himself. At 9 he is too big to be asking his mum to play with him. I think you need to be really firm on this because he is seeing it only from his own perspective and he thinks nagging at people is OK. Also you would be giving him the greatest gift if you can teach him to regulate himself.

For sitting down times play dough is always good, this can be made at home in about 5 mins so it might be worth teaching him how to make his own. Any kind of baking/ kneading helps too. Theraputty is a brilliant product, they come in different strengths. Expensive but worth it.

If you have a garden I would recommend a trampoline. This for us was by far the best thing we ever invested in. If you don't a gymnastics bar would be good too, if you can get one big enough. We got a punch bag, awkward to put in but really helpful. A rebounder goal is good so he can repeatedly strike a ball. We were advised to encourage heavy lifting, as heavy as he can manage which went against my instinct of wanting to protect his back. Heavy household chores, ideally gardening or even bringing laundry baskets upstairs or moving furniture around while vacuuming. Give him as many chores as you can! Look up activities for sensory seeking children and make suggestions to him, but I think zero tolerance on the play with me pleas.

I think he has got plenty to be going on with. We have a trampoline, basketball net and a football net. He enjoys all of these.

He loves playdough and I've been looking for something a bit different so the putty sounds great :0 Thank you.

I encourage him to draw up a list of things he can do inside if the weather's bad etc. He does like hoovering actually! I think I've got more things to refer to than I think!