Boisterous 9 month old ds, any tips or advice please?

[cakebaby]

My nearly 9 month old is like a bull in a china shop. He is tall & broad, strong and very determined. He's crawling at speed and cruising confidently. Problem is, he is a bulldozer, DH & DGP call him the tank. He grabs his toys and uses all his force and might to try and do something, eg. get a part to move/spin, to the point he's gritting his little teeth and grimacing. A family member who shall remain nameless commented 'there's something not right there' and has got me worried now. This is normal little boy behaviour, right? It's no real problem at home but when we meet up with other babies his age I am constantly having to grab him to stop him mauling another child or hauling him off some poor kid if he's been too quick for me.

He has no concept of being gentle or hurting, but he grabs handfuls of skin and hair and hurts I'm telling him 'no' distracting him or removing him from situations and apologising profusely and showing him how to do things gently by taking his hand and stroking my face etc. Should I be telling him off as my MIL advises? I know it's just a phase, but it's putting me off going to groups/classes as the other babies just look at each other or play nicely with toys, but ds seems to think the other babies are the toys

My DS was just like this, it's really difficult as they just don't understand
You have got to keep persevering and be consistent.

If you want the truth, this is how my DS started, and it carried on unfortunately.
As he got older and stronger it got very embarrassing and eventually I did stop going to play groups, looking back it probably wasn't the right thing to do

A lot of it is frustration. I don't think "telling off" a 9mo is the way forward, he won't understand, he is only a baby. But carry on doing what your doing, a firm no and remove him from the situation.
If he gets frustrated with toys at home show him how to be gentle with them

It's difficult, I've been there, my DS is 3 now and still on the boisterous side but he knows his boundaries now

Thank you for replying, I was afraid someone was going to say it carried on that way! He's just so.....determined. I'm not comfortable telling him off yet, I'll carry on with what I'm doing at the moment. He will be going to nursery later this year, maybe he'll be the one getting grabbed!

No idea, but mine's just the same. His favorite thing is trying to gouge my eyes at the minute. I feel like I've been beaten up at the end of each day! Luckily he can't crawl yet, but he's making disturbing progress with walking, so I assume it'll only get worse soon

Can you try and find toys that are exciting for him to push and wrestle with, make silly noises etc (not necessarily electronic Or get him one of those pop up play tunnels you crawl through. Or sofa cushions on the floor he can climb over.

I think you want to channel his energies rather than restrict them. You can also get toys you can bash, like those wooden hammering sets with pegs, or even square wooden bricks are good for him to knock down. Sandpit for digging holes in. Splashing in the bath or outside with a plastic washing up bowl and sponge. Big stuffed animal he can climb on and hold onto its mane. Big plastic car he can climb into and turn the steering wheel.

My son loved it when I wore chunky beads round my neck and he could grab them. Big bunches of pretend keys were good, or pretend telephone to bash around.

I also remember my son at that age had very few fine motor skills, and all toys that had little bits (like teasets or animals or pretend shopping) drove us both mad and just got scattered around the house.

Some great ideas there swan thank you!

He has lots of activity toys that take a bashing every day, a ball pool and some large teddies that get a summary beating. He likes looking at his picture books and playing with more intricate things too. I worry about getting the balance between over and under stimulating him.