Very Active Only Child

[EMILYSSTAR]

Anyone with any advice please. My almost 5 year old only child DS is just so full of energy that we just can't keep up .

DH and myself both work full time and have quite stressful jobs in top of this DS is very full on. From the minute his eyes open until he goes to sleep he is on the go and speaking constantly. He just can't sit still or stop talking for more than a minute or two. He has never sat and watched a film.

With this and work myself and DH just feel drained and like we get no time to just relax a little. At weekends we go out and do things with DS then get home and still he wants us to be up and playing all the rest of the day. We are both starting to snap due to being worn out and don't want to be. Any advice on how to encourage self play a little as he just does not play on his own at all.

We do have family who will look after him if we asked but at the same time when we only get limited time we don't want to be passing him off to others all the time.

How much time do you get with him after school (he’s in reception?).

Play dates

This does sound like hard work.

You need more play dates - encourage the other parent to dump and run for an hour so you don’t need to host! The kids will entertain themselves.

Teaching him to play alone isn’t easy at this age. I often use the kitchen timer and I say “I’m setting the timer for 5 minutes and then I’ll come and play.” Or I’ll pick a game I know I don’t need to concentrate on eg hide and seek, or setting him a challenge to make a play doh monster, or build an obstacle course for his remote control car and then I’ll come and watch.

Have you asked his teacher what his classroom behaviour is like? If he is capable of sitting still and quiet at school then there’s no reason he is not capable of it at home.

I would also ask yourself: is he getting enough sleep? My ds (age 5) gets manic when he is overtired.

Not an only but eldest has ADHD and couldn't be alone or quiet or still.
If watching tv needed a second activity on the go/something to fiddle with. He actually couldn't really stand silence or being alone. We found audiobooks to be great. He is far happier to play alone (with Lego or something) if he has the company of an audiobook. He still required a lot of interaction but it did reduce enough so we had a slight break/pause. Worth a try. We started with a familiar story and they are often repeated so it doesn't matter if he misses a bit.

Sounds normal for a 5 year old. My only was the same, now a teen he's so laid back he's practically, and literally horizontal a lot of the time
Does he have neighbourhood friends? I always had someone's kid at mine. Energetic children need energetic friends!

Play dates

Tag team with DH so you're not both with DS at the same time (I mean once you're home after being out altogether) so you both get a bit of a break

Start setting boundaries with DS. 'No DS, mummy and daddy can't play right now but we will when we've done XYZ' and encourage him to play alone starting with 5 mins then extending slowly.

Set him a 'task'. Eg a scavenger hunt around the house, let him make his own den / help him make it and let him have his toys or a picnic in it / watch a film / get him to do those dance videos on YouTube where he follows along with the screen

It does get easier