"I can't do it because I keep falling over" - should I get my 3-year-old checked?

[GrouchyKiwi]

DD1 is nearly four. When she doesn't want to do something she's been told to do - like put away toys, for example - she throws herself on the floor and says she can't do it because she keeps falling over. Usually this is when she is tired or in a bad mood.

I mostly think this is just her way of saying she has a good reason to refuse doing said thing, but sometimes wonder whether there's more to it.

As it only happens when she is tired, could it be that she actually is having trouble walking?

(I feel a bit silly asking about this, but I'm at a loss re how to deal with it.)

I think you need to watch her when she doesn't realise you are watching.
Does she walk, run and move ok?
Can she stand on one leg?
can't remember at what age they should be able to hop or skip, so look that up and see if she is on track.

It sounds to me as if she has found 'a reason' not to do as she is asked.

I find when they are very tired or hungry it is a battle to get them to do as asked, so I tend to try and avoid it! Pick your battles and all that.

All of her movement is fine normally. I just don't want to completely ignore her complaints just in case. I've got hypermobility syndrome, and it can be genetic, so I guess I'm worried my daughters might have inherited that.

Tricky one. If she is hypermobile, then she will get more easily tired than a normal child and could well get wobbly. Equally, she may not want to tidy up and has learnt that these words are a 'magic formula' with you.

Does the tiredness only come on at tidy up time? What happens is you ask her to tidy up mid morning when not tired?

Any other signs of hypermobility?

When ds1 was small he had a number of food allergies. Symptoms of a reaction started with a burning feeling in his mouth. For a while, him saying 'this food is burning my mouth' got him out of eating anything he didn't want to eat (passing go and going straight to pudding) as I was worried it was a reaction. Eventually though I had to toughen up and call his bluff which I did by checking for other signs of reaction (and being v v careful about what he ate). So I do appreciate your dilemma.

It's not just when she's tired, it's also when she's in a bad mood. She woke up in one today so "couldn't get dressed because she kept falling over".

I've not noticed any HMS symptoms in her, though I have in DD2 (I think; she's still very young).

I don't let her get with it usually - unless I'm too tired for the battle, which I know is bad re consistency and all.

I'll keep a closer eye on her to check for HMS symptoms, though.