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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Endless energy !

10 replies

linniewith2 · 12/08/2004 23:49

Hi all I have 2 dd's 2yrs & 4wks my 2yr old is an eveready bunny always on the go and its wearing me out. It's now 11.42pm and she has just gone to sleap, but will be back up at 7am.
She has just spent the last hour running from one end of the room to the other then twirling round & round till she gets dizzy and falls down.
Is this much energy normal (she had a nap of 1.5hrs today)
Could it be something I am feeding her causing hyperactivity ?
Or do I just have to get used to the idea of a never sleeping toddler!
Pulling my hair out what with night feeds for dd2 I'm a zombie.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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unicorn · 12/08/2004 23:53

my kids (both of them 5 and 2,6 are very active/and yes I sometimes think hyperactive..)
Don't know what the answer is really, but I do Know some kids are most definately MORE active than others... (and the parents with the passive ones look on in horror at yours!)
I find my ds (2.6) gets even more active/silly when he really needs to sleep.. (conflicting signals) so perhaps your dd does actually need more sleep?
Just an idea.. hope it is of use!
(but I do feel for you... activity levels of children are sooo very different)

Tiggiwinkle · 13/08/2004 00:53

My 5 year DS is very active and like your dd often goes to sleep very late. He also goes into a "hyperactive" state just before he finally drops off, running backwards and forwards and also jumping up and down-we know once he does this he will soon be asleep!
He usually wakes early too-although sometimes, especially during term time,he will have an occasional 12 hour night which seems to recharge his batteries! He has never seemed to need a great deal of sleep-some children just seem not to. We did find that we had to limit his daytime sleep as he got older-now if he has so much as 5 minutes sleep in the day (literally!) we will be in for a very late night!

BamTam · 15/08/2004 20:54

My Son is 14 months and demonstrates this Hyper mode usually before he goes down for the night too. I used to think it was a protest as he is very loving and adores his dad (& me) and only gets about an hour with him before he has to go down.

He does this "running on the spot" type thing coupled with spinning in circles or jumping up and down like there's no tomorrow. If we try to get him to stop he hits himself on the head or sticks his bum in the air and headbutts the floor.

We'd like t think that this is a frustration thing as e can't communicate as well as he'd like. He's always seeming to push himself to the next thang early.

He won't eat with his plastic baby cutlery it has to be one of ours, he's always wanting to drink out of a cup or a mug which he can do but as you can imagine is messy and now he's wearing both our shoes and walking around in them.

He's obviously mimicing us, but do we praise this behaviour or do we try to change it ? It's hard to know how to react sometimes, he's obviously studying us and what we do the whole time - we're convinced that he is an alien sent to observe the human race !!!! 8)

joanneg · 15/08/2004 21:01

does she eat anything that could be triggering these outbursts of energy? You could try keeping a food diary and seeing any common links.
Do you do lots of activities that might burn some energy? (mind you if you have a 4wk old you are probably shattered yourself!)

My ds does the twirlling on the spot thing and is always on the go.

Do you have lots of help whilst you are going through all this with a new baby (I cant imagine coping with a toddler and a baby)

Original poster

linniewith2 · 16/08/2004 00:22

Hi all,
Unfortunately my fiancee works twilights 3pm-midnight so no help in the evenings !!!!!! yes I am shattered. I thought it might be connected to brightly coloured food such as spagetti hoops etc

My dd also loves mimicing (SP!) us and went through a faze of using our cutlery now uses the metal baby ones instead of plastic, still walks round in our shoes......... copies every word that comes out of our mouths even the "BAD" ones if you know what I mean........

Had some success yesterday we had a no tv day a few protests to start with but then got down to some serious play, we also did some craft work making ballon head clowns, and I painted her face like a cat, went for a long walk, well I did all the walking! All this and she went to sleep at 9.15.

Back to normal tonight 11.30pm even though I went out and got her a ball pool that she has spent most of the day in!!!!!!!!!

It must of been a one off yesterday !

OP posts:

tammybear · 16/08/2004 00:49

heres an idea: maybe if she doesnt have the nap she might go to bed earlier. It may not work, as it might completely do the opposite and she goes to bed earlier and wakes up even earlier!! But could be a possibility

Original poster

linniewith2 · 16/08/2004 13:06

Tried that and by 6.30 normal bedtime she fell asleap, slept for 1.5hrs (normal naptime) and had recharged batteries so had an even later night than normal !

OP posts:

tigerfairy · 16/08/2004 21:07

My 4 year old dd is exactly the same too. Shes on the go all day. Sometimes she is so hyper and then will suddenly crash out on the floor. If she sleeps in the day she'll be grumpy when she wakes up for about an hour, then back comes all that energy and its a late night! She never seems to be in bed before 9pm at the moment because if she doesn't nap in the day she'll fall asleep at 6.30pm and wake up again.
Sometimes shes awake at 5.30/ 6 pm and if we are really lucky she stays asleep until 7am!

Someone suggested to me it might be food additives too, but I think shes just generally an energetic child.
Sorry I cant be of any help, maybe try the food diary like joanneg says, but I do feel for you too especially with your new dd.

Do you have friends or family maybe that could look after your oldest dd for a day/evening, just to give you some kind of break? Good luck

Original poster

linniewith2 · 16/08/2004 21:44

at least I know I'm not alone ! How can they keep going for 10hrs without a sleep is beyond me

OP posts:

strangerthanfiction · 17/08/2004 21:55

Is there any way of getting her to bed before she hits a 'manic' state? My dd is 22 months and goes to bed at 7.30-8pm til about 6.30-7.00am, and also naps at least an hour in the afternoon, usually 2. But I find after her tea just before her bath she turns into a maniac. She runs round in circles, jumps, dances, etc. etc. I make sure there's NO t.v., no music, just silence and generally try to chill her out a bit before bedtime. Is there a point earlier in the evening when you think your dd might go to bed? Personally I wouldn't cut a nap at this age. I was wondering what happens if you put her to bed, or try to, at say, 8pm?

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