My children are ages 4, 3, and 2, and they are VERY hyper. Should I be concerned or is this normal at their ages? I do not give them alot of sweet stuff. Mainly milk or water and regular food and fruit snacks. They Refuse to pick up their toys and such, And I am at my wits end.
All kids are different. Don't get too concerned! My son is 3, and he always runs circles around all his friends. My daughter is much less energetic, and I still constantly have people commenting to me that they don't know how I keep up with her.
As long as their energy isn't destructive, enjoy their youthful exuberance!
How much sugar (sugar, sweets, juice, etc) do they eat? Or do they eat any caffeine-related items (pop, tea, etc)? Also a suggestion, other than slowing them down on the possible sugar and caffeine intake, is to get them involved in an activity (making a game of picking up toys, working puzzles, getting them to play hide and seek, taking them to the park or letting them play at a kid gym). These are just several suggestions. And yes, kids have a LOT of energy especially when you have 3 of them so close in age. So it's normal for your kids to wear you out. Tough part I have found is trying to outsmart my daughter, who is 3yrs old.
Pretty much all toddlers and preschoolers are hyper. That is why most professionals won't diagnosis ADD or ADHD until kids are at least 6 or 7 years old. Most 'grow out of it'. Give them lots of opportunities to burn off energy - let them play outdoors alot and get them to play games like tag or soccer where they are running, as opposed to just sliding or swinging, which doesn't burn up as much energy. Get a small climbing structure (like the Kangaroo Climber) that you can put indoors in a toyroom or family room. We've had one in our family room since our oldest was 1... gives him an outlet for climbing without resorting to the bookshelves! Hyper kids also do better with strict discipline and consistent rules. Good luck - I have a couple of these kids myself!
I don't think that you should be concerned about the hyperness yet. Now if it continues when they get into school then I would be concerned. My son was like that at them ages and now that he is in school, he is totally different. He has calmed down alot. But I know that my cousins didn't calm down and they are now taking a medication for a hyper disorder. Another thing that you can do is talk to a doctor about it and see what they doctor says. If the doctor says not to worry about it then I wouldn't worry about it. I would wait until the kids are in school before I become worried about it. I hope that I have helped you.
Oh yes!! They are hyper at those ages. I have been a nanny for over 14 years and have always wished there was a way to bottle all that energy because I figure if I could I would be a rich woman. LOL
Currently I keep a 2 year old and he is always bouncing off the walls. He doesn't have anything wrong with him he just likes to run and jump and all that good stuff. He spent one day last week running up and down a hill in my back yard for a good 15 minutes and it wasn't a big hill.
Someone suggested quiet activities when you need a break and I second that. I figure out something they like to do and pull it out when I just can't take anymore running and yelling. Or better yet spring is coming find a nice chair and sit outside and watch them run to their hearts content.
M.
Dear T.,
In my opinion is totally normal at those ages.
Do not worry and give them time, they are little and full of life. It is exhausting...but it is reality and, as soon as the weather gets better, you can take them outdoors so they can vent and express themselves.
I do not know what is happening that kids are being labeled and everywhere there is a "syndrome" or "behavioral problems" in now days; then, us, moms are worry that our kids may have some problem and think according to that. I agree that when things get out of control besides all our mommy and family efforts, it should have a physician intervention, but always is good to give it a try and try to understand our kids a little bit more even when it is not easy going at their pace sometimes!
Good Luck and take good care of yourself.
Alejandra
Hello Terri,Well to start off you might try taking all sweets away for a period of time. and only give it as a reward in returns of them picking their things up.and u need to have a discushion w/the husband for him to stand by you on any rules you set for the children.And he needs to let each one of them know that they are to help mommy out when he is gone.but he needs to make sure they understand,and also he should tell them in the room with you their.You may want to set a quite time for each of them to be by theirself.for like 15min.which will give u a little time.to yourself. Then reward them with something that they want to do.or you may even make a chart and put their names on it and buy some star stickers and at the end of the day give a star to each child that help out.and at the end of the week the one with the most stars, give them a Big Reward.but every time a star is given You and your Husband should tell them how proud you are of them.well i hope everything works out for you.And i know you have small children and this sounds to good to be true but it seemed to work for me especially the quiet time. GOOD LUCK!
Totally normal... it's bad at our house because I hate the cold so my kids don't get outside much in the winter. Once spring is fully here, they'll be spending more time outside, that helps soooooo much. :o)
Oh yeah, normal....my kids exhaust me sometimes just from watching them!!
One thing I try to do when it's totally noisy and I feel a strong need for some quiet time is I get out play-dough, paints, books, or crayons and print pages off the internet for the kids to color. It's cool to them because they can choose their pages (which you can find thousands of just by typing "coloring pages" in a search). So, if you can find activities for them to do, they'll have their calm moments too. Just please don't be one of those moms who thinks their kids are so hyper that they need put on meds. Kids are supposed to be full of life and an overabundance of energy. That's what makes them so amazing! So, enjoy it, and use their playfullness to your advantage by creating some special moments that they'll remember forever. I think a lot of times, kids seem too hyper simply because they're never made to do enough one on one activities like coloring and reading. Give it a try, you never know!
It's hard to say at this point and time. One and two year olds, it's pretty normal for them to be hyper and have alot of excess energy...3 year olds it depends on the degree of hyperactivity, but usually yeah it's normal. Four year olds you kind of expect to start settling down a bit but still hyper to a degree. Also keep in mind the time of year that it is. I like to call this "Kennel Coup". All winter long they've been couped up in the house pretty much because of the cold. Granted they may go out sometimes and build a snowman or have a snowball fight, but they can't stay out as long because of the cold. At this point they have so much energy stored up that they just go nuts...they have to let it off somehow. With the warming weather, I suggest many lengthy trips to the park and just let them run their little buts off. At my house I have fenced in yard and as soon as it gets warm out, I let them out in the yard to just run and climb all day if they want. It's amazing how clean my house is durning the summer and I hardly have to do anything to it.
