To worry about DD's lack of stamina?

[MaybeIWillFuckOffThen]

All my friends talk about being worn out by their 5yo's boundless energy. But my DD is really ... Well physically quite lazy. She never wants to go out, complains if she has to walk more than 15 minutes or so, doesn't really run about.

She has as varied and healthy a diet as we can manage given she's quite fussy, including meat, fish and eggs for protein. She takes a multi vitamin daily. She's a healthy weight and quite tall. She's very bright and imaginative and has endless enthusiasm for made up games and "pretending", and also crafting related to her pretends - so it's not like she's given to general lassitude. She just can't be arsed to move herself much and becomes quite tearful and whingy when she's forced to, for example, walk half an hour into town.

We've just had a week on holiday with lots of day trips and every day has included her breaking down after a very little time on the move crying that she wants to go back to the holiday home. Once there she's perfectly happy pottering about and playing with toys.

Is this just a variation of normal?

She just can't be arsed to move herself much and becomes quite tearful and whingy when she's forced to, for example, walk half an hour into town.

i think that’s pretty normal. Even kids who supposedly have boundless energy, running around to suit themselves, tend to moan about a 30 minute walk that needs to be done.

Some children are just less keen on physical activity. I think it's fairly normal.

However it strikes me as though you get her to do basically no moving around at home at all, and then expect her to walk for an hour in the heat on holiday. that doesn't seem realistic.

I would try get her involved in some activity she enjoys. Moving and being active is essential for children, and will set her on the right path for adulthood. We don't all have to be athletes, but we do all have to stay active if we want to maintain our health. It's good to get children in the habit young. I'd try her out at a couple of different activities and see what she enjoys. And maybe build her up slowly for more day to day exercise (walks, bike rides etc).

I agree with raising a query over whether there might be something medical.

However with a 5 min walk to school it is difficult for her to build up basic walking fitness so a 30 min walk will feel like a big ask. Mayb

*posted too soon.

Maybe you do need to get her up to a 30 min walk every day or something and see if that makes her better or

...I give up!

My 5YO really hates walking. She’s really fast at running short distances, she won everything at sports day because that was only 100m, but ask her to go further than that and there’s moping and whinging galore unless there’s an exciting destination at the end of it (toy shop, cafe etc). I think that’s relatively normal? We used the buggy board a lot for her and now use the scooter more often that not. On the upside she’s a dream for long haul flights. Even as a young toddler she’d be content to sit for hours and watch TV!

My 4.5 year old can walk, run, skip, scoot, cycle for hours, I have no concerns about her stamina. But if for whatever reason she doesn’t really want to it’s a challenge to get her to walk for 5 minutes without whinging or wanting to go on my shoulders.

SO your DD sounds normal to me. Some kids want to be charging about outside all the time, some would rather play with their stuff at home (I was always in the latter camp).

sorry if mentioned Hiding and hunting painted rocks? gives a gentle walk? in this area it ebbs and flows so if you paint a few and hide them in the shade then you'll start everyone off again, join "love on the rocks Hatfield" or whatever or just do it offline. or geocaching?

Are her shoes comfortable?

Walking is boring. I’ve always found it boring so can see where she’s coming from. A town and shops are not interesting to a 5 year old. She loves her bike so activities where she can do that would be great - a forest walk with a cycle track? Does she have a push scooter? There’s no way mine would walk around a town age 5 but they’d happily scoot for hours. You could also try her with indoor sports/dance like gymnastics/ballet/martial arts/soft play. She may also like to do activities more if she can do them with a friend. If you’re near a beach an hour building sandcastles and paddling would be great.

This. I was a homebody as a child, I still am whereas my sister can’t stand being ‘cooped up’.

I was like this. Hated anything physical until I was older and I could decide what I liked for myself. I have to engage my brain and creativity to be happy. As an adult I can realise I need to move for my health and therefore I fool myself by watching or listening to things that keep my brain active as I move physically. But that’s so much harder for a little kid. She may find classes of some kind better than ‘just doing something physical’.

My mum says I was like this as a child. I'd jus sit quietly and do puzzles, read etc. I've got hypermobility but was only diagnosed in my 30s.

I think it is normal because several of DS's friends are like this still at 7, and always have been. It's not that their parents aren't active and haven't tried, it's just that these kids don't like walking, don't like tiring themselves out and prefer sedentary activities.

It is tough on a day out, but they seem healthy and happy and they aren't bouncing off the walls wanting to go to the park at 8pm, which must be nice.

DS was like this until mid teens when he suddenly discovered fitness.
I think your DD, like many people, just has a preference for the sedentary. I don't think that's an issue in itself, nor is allowing her to weight her time towards those things. But, I do think there's a limit to how much any child's preference should be allowed to impact the whole family. I would be insisting she participated in a reasonable level of activity alongside other people who wanted to do that, for instance some time walking around if that's what the day involved, rather than accommodating her preference all the time. Just as a child who preferred to be on the go all the time needs to learn to accept quieter activity.

My school friend was the same. When she walked, her legs hurt :D She couldn't do proper sit up hehe. She's midwife now. Demanding, active job. She's doing well. Don't worry.

My 5yo is very similar. We are both hypermobile and I have EDS and Rheumatoid Disease. We try to build up slowly- walk to school twice a week at the moment which is 30 mins and go out on bikes at weekends. Also do swimming.

As someone with EDS movement is really important to support my joints- Pilates, swimming and cycling are all great for me.

She doesn't need a paediatrian, she needs to get fit!

Sounds like she’s happy to engage in active play so that’s a big positive.

i would recommend giving the love to explore app a try. I think their are dinosaur / butterfly hunts you can try.

I was thinking along these lines, worth checking if there is anything medically that might be impeding her. I'm also hypermobile with flat feet and have had orthotics since I was a child. I wouldn't walk 30 mins now! I doubt I did it when I was little. And I'm pretty fit, swim, weights, pilates etc. Maybe get her checked out by a private physio check everything biomechanically works (I wouldn't even try NHS). But as others have said maybe just her personality, I wouldn't worry if just her preference

It sounds to me like it could be hypermobility. Both me and my DD have it, I always hate long walks when I was younger (still do now) because my legs would hurt so much and it would make me incredibly tired, my DD is exactly the same. It's because with hypermobility you are effectively walking double the distance you actually walked, as it uses up double the energy to do it.
Look it up and take her to the GP and see what they say.

What are you like OP? Homebody? Quite happy to stay in?

I ask because I see the same sort of thing with my niece. My own kids are reasonably active (not necessarily sporty, but will go on a hike and walk etc) but this is because I love being outside. So from a young age they have been used to going out most days. And from a young age we started going on walks etc which were small to start with and getting a bit more challenging now.

My niece’s mum (who I love so this is not meant to be critical) will quite happily not leave the house for days and days. Will quite happily spend most of the day in one room. My niece who is almost 3 as a result is quite happy to stay in one place, won’t want to get out the pushchair, won’t walk very much.

I think before you start thinking there’s something wrong have a look at lifestyle too.

My son is similar and had a lot of tests at 5, no major health issues came up although, he's pretty hypermobile and potentially has EDS. So his joints get sore which in turn makes him tired. We definitely have the manage his energy levels, planning weekends with lots of rest.

You do need to trust your gut, are there any other concerns about her? Does she get sore? How's her fine motor skills? She might just be low energy and there's nothing wrong with that. But people can be very dismissive of this stuff and it has you doubting yourself.

Could she try Cubs or Brownies? Ideal for encouraging exercise as part of other activities.

No problems with her being a home body but she still needs exercise. I would initiate walking, cycling, swimming or what about a trampoline in the garden? My son is opposite he does 2-3 hours sports everyday and on match days 5-6 hours.