hyperactivity...

my boys are WAY active and have been since they were in the womb. i remeber (during my weekly trips to triage) nurses saying "i've never seen 28 weekers so active before" and now every single medical professional that sees them says the same thing "i've never seen a 3/4 month old so active" they also don't cry that much for pain. they've had rectal exams, shots, bloodwork, circumsitions...nothing, no tears and no need for tylenol. although i know they have a pain threshold because i accidentally hit their head while walking down the hall and they cried for a second. i felt horrible!

anyhoo...i was just wondering if your kids, at 4 months, were super active or more mellow?

you lay these kids down and they kick like they are running a 500 meter dash. put them on their bellies and everything is in motion to crawl (seriously they would be mobile if they could lift their torsos up), they roll over from back to belly and belly to back, they can stand when you hold them and push themselves up from a seating position to a standing one with squats and pretty much bounce themselves in their boppy's or car seats.

their developmental nurse practioner says that they are doing excellent developmentally and are acting like a 4 month old should and hitting all the milestones if not bypassing some of them and will no doubt be crawling and walking WAY before schedule. she wants them to calm down though...anyone else have hyper kids like this??

how do/did your 4 month olds act??

 

I copied this snipit from an article from Dr.SEARS
I think without seeing your babies maybe because of the reflux issues that they're hypertonic. I always read your posts and I am honestly out of medical answers. :umm: This has to be difficult....twins,first time parents,reflux issues, I'm so sorry. :hug:



https://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/T050400.asp
http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/14675.htm


"HYPERACTIVE"
This feature of high need babies, and its cousin hypertonic, are directly related to the quality of intensity. Hypertonic refers to muscles that are frequently tensed and ready to go, tight and waiting to explode into action. The muscles and mind of high need children are seldom relaxed or still.
"Hyper" is often in the eye of the childwatcher. Activity level is relative to the company the child keeps. Place an intense, creative, enthusiastic child in the midst of a group of more reserved children and the doer gets tagged "hyper" relative to the watchers.

 

Interesting articles! Thanks for sharing!

 

Those articles are interesting :good:
I would have said my DD was a high needs baby, especially the first two months after birth...by the time 4 months rolled around both of them seemed to be settled into a groove. I don't recall them being as physically active as yours but they did like to kick, roll over, could stand when we held them up and liked to bounce in their boppies/swings/bouncers (especially when they heard music they liked).

 

They might just be active babies.

My boys were crazy in the womb (so much so at their 20-week ultrasound that the tech stopped and gave them a break because she thought the pressure might be stimulating them and she was really struggling to get measurements). The nurses at the hospital remarked that they'd never seen such alert newborns and the janitor insisted Trent was tracking her with his eyes even though they aren't supposed to do that at 2 days old. We gave up trying to swaddle at 1 week of age because they seemed much more relaxed when not restrained. They wriggled all over the place whether awake or asleep. At 5 months, they were rolling like tumbleweeds across the floor to get where they wanted to go and I had to retire the bouncy seats because they were tipping them over with their aggressive bouncing. They started pulling to stand the day they turned 7 months and cruising shortly thereafter. They became overwhelmingly busy toddlers and fearless climbers. I swear their antics have shaved years off of my life. They also appeared to have a high tolerance for pain and didn't cry during their shots until they were a year old.

Fast forward to today. They're still quite physical and more athletic than the average preschooler and they aren't the type to sit and watch a full-length movie. BUT, I'd hardly label them as lacking attention skills. They simply need a lot of reminders and plenty of opportunity for physical activity. They will spend an hour intensely focused on shoveling sand into a big pile... just don't expect them to be happy to sit still for longer than 30 minutes (and that's an improvement but at least it continues to get better). Oh, and they cry over every bump if I'm watching but brush it off with everyone else.

At no point has their pediatrician suggested that they might be hypertonic. Intense, creative, enthusiastic, busy... all of those labels fit them. And yeah, they're challenging. It still frustrates me sometimes when people with mellow, reserved kids look at me and think I'm some sort of slacker parent because my kids are such a sharp contrast to theirs.

 

That article is great!

You know my daughter was very active. She could not stay at one spot, not even when she was 4 months old. She wasn't 5 when she was pointing out the window suggesting she wanted to go out for a walk. If we did not take the hint she cried until we took her out. She barely slept, like 20 minutes at a time, maybe twice a day, but she was fine otherwise and her pediatrician did not see any problem with her.
She was cruising by 9 months and walking without any assistance by her first birthday. She is still very, very active with a ton of energy, however, she did not turn out to be hyperactive.
So maybe your babies are just very active ones.

 

An idea just occurred to me, to get them more relaxed during feedings could you get something they could focus on like a mobile with soothing music and sit under it to feed them or how about feeding them in their bouncies while watching a baby einstein dvd, some have the chapters where you can select the quieter part of the dvd. My point being a quiet kind of distraction. Kind of off topic a bit but I know your struggles and it just popped into my head. Some kids are happy "sitting still" and some are bored babies til they can move and make their own fun.

 

My DS is very much like your boys...kinda interesting because he has reflux and DD does not...maybe there is a connection. He is all over the place and I swear he is going to have rug burn on the back of his head because he pushes off when he is laying on his playmat and launches himself across the floor! He also was that active in utero and I rarely ever felt his sister (she is still very calm and laid back). Even when I am nursing him he is using his feet to push off the back of the couch or the headboard! I always thought it was just personality and I don't know why the nurse would even comment about them calming down if they are social and meeting all their milestones. Just look at it as a built in workout program for you once they start walking!

 

I know it wasn't reflux for us. They weren't fussy babies at all and NEVER spit up. I don't believe it's because of anything other than their personality. I just happen to have IDs who are startlingly ID in behavior.