Am I an overprotective nutter mother from hell!?

[emily05]

I am really starting to worry that I am being overprotective and will hinder my ds from being a kid who has fun!

Please tell me whether I am or not. He is 3 in August. should I let him:

1. play upstairs on his own?
2. climb up and down the stairs without me watching?
3. play on a trampoline without me holding his hands?
4. be in a room without me there (like a mad stalker!)?
5. climb up stairs to a slide on his own?

You get the jist. Saw my neices today and one is the same age as my ds and my sil is so laid back with her but I am paranoid ds will have an accident and am now thinking I might be OTT.

thanks for listening!

Yes to all the scenarios - I don't know how you find the time to live if you are literally watching your child all the time.

Eulalia, I think your situation is different. If your dd is at risk if she is out of the pushchair but not walking docilely by your side, then yes she should be in the pushchair. I think some childlren just walk nicely by their parents and others don't. Also some are keener to walk than others. When I had two little ones, I tended to put the older one in the double buggy with his brother simply because I couldn't trust him to walk nicely. When ds2 grew up, he was as lazy as they come and actually used to ride in the pushchair while his younger sister (aged 12 months) walked! She hardly ever went in the pushchair because she liked walking too much and could be trusted. My youngest, ds3, also hates the pushchair but is a complete menace and constantly runs away from me and gets lost in shops . I tolerate him because I am fed up with the pushchair, but if I were pg again, he would definitely be strapped (kicking and screaming!) into the pushchair for my sanity.

Thanks Lonelymum - trouble is she does like walking, well running actually, too much. If out of the pushchair she just runs off and will run into the road. I think I'll just have to use a sling for the baby and push her till she growns out of this phase. My son still runs off too and he's nearly 6 but at least is OK on roads. NOt really looking forward to taking all 3 out together...

Yes, let go a bit,if you can.
They need a sense of adventure, to explore and make mistakes.
I think that this is vital in their development IMHO.
Full credit to you for bieng a caring, devoted mum though.

Blimey! There are so many posts that I cant reply individually as such.
Just want to say I have really appreciated and taken on board the supportive posts and it is always handy to gage peoples opinions.
Thanks for some of the nice thing some people have said. (I really mean that). thanks