WAY too hyper

I'm about at my wits end to know what to do. Is it just a boy thing, as dh says? DS normally gets very hyper towards bedtime; the more tired he gets, the more hyper he acts. Lately, though, it's all day long. And it's fingers in the face for some reason......like he's just all fingers, poking me in the face! Maybe it's to get a reaction, I don't know. And I've tried saying "We don't poke people in the face" but he'll just say something like "I'm not poking, I'm scratching" or "It's not your face, it's your eye" Sometimes he'll even ask me, "Can I poke you in the eye?"

DD gets dressed all on her own, but when I try to dress DS he's bouncing all over the place I can't hardly get his pants on. I'm constantly saying "Focus, you need to focus". If I can get him to look me in the eye, that helps. Threat of a time out works, though. He is starting to try dressing himself, but gets frustrated very quickly.

Tonight, as he was bouncing off the walls before bed & once again poking me in the eye, I made a comment to dh about some dr's might prescribe riddlin for this kind of hyperactivity. I was joking, but dh looked at me like I was nuts. I really don't think he has add or anything, but it can be frustrating sometimes.

Now, he has been waking up extra early lately & with how he acts as he gets tired, I almost wonder if he needs more sleep? Perhaps he's going through a growth spurt & needs just a little more?


I would also love any help on the constant face poking.

 

:hug:

I could have written the same post. I am absolutely at my wits end with DS. He is constantly bouncing. He doesn't listen very well and I have to force him to relax and look me in the eye when we're talking. I do think that it is a gender thing. I see this as a common thread with boys. I found that I have to use different tactics with Aidan. He spends more time in time-out. He needs more calming. He is just starting to dress himself because I have to help him to slow down. He rushes and gets frustrated when he can't pull his underpants and jeans up at the same time. I remind him to do each separately but that takes more time than Aidan wants to commit.

I don't know what the future holds but I believe that this is a phase that will get better with time. Good luck!!

 

I agree (from what I've heard) that it's more common with boys, but Amy certainly has that side to her too. It's been worse in the past few months and my twins are 3y7m -- I wonder if boys hit that stage earlier?

Anyway, we do a lot of "focus" things -- getting down on her level, turning her chin so she's looking at us, and constant, constant reminders of what she is supposed to be doing. I can ask her to go pick up one book that's 10 feet away, and she gets distracted before she even reaches it -- assuming she agreed to do it in the first place. It's extremely aggravating, but I try not to get mad at her and remember to adjust my expectations.

Anyway, naomi, since you mentioned that he gets hyper when he's tired and he's been hyper more often, it's likely that he does need more sleep. Is there any way you could get him to bed earlier?

As far as the eye-poking, it sounds like he's testing limits and he's realized this is a behavior that gets a lot of attention from you. You could try defining exactly what he is allowed to poke -- a stuffed animal, the couch, etc. -- and say that it's not OK to poke people at all -- then give a time-out if he does it. If you try to say it's OK to poke a person this way but not that way, etc., he's going to devote a lot of attention to figuring out exactly where that line is.

 

I hate to say it, but it's not just a boy thing. Cricket gets more and more hyper the more and more tired she gets. She doesn't poke us in the face but she'll swat at people with her hands or run into her sister and try to push Piper (not a violent push, just a come run with me push). She's been going to sleep late each night because she stays up talking and then getting up extra early, so I suspect she's tired all day long. My brother has ADHD (still... and he's 31) so I've got all my fingers crossed that Cricket isn't going down that path.

 

What is is with the poking? My DS does it too. He doesn't poke me, but he will poke his brothers, other children, even his baby cousin. And he likes to do it in the eye too. I give time-outs for the poking when I see it, but I don't always see it, his brother tells me. I know I'm not much help.

 

Sarah is super hyper at bedtime. She is running around the room at bedtime trying to hide from us. She won't let me dress her for bedtime, won't let me brush her teeth. Allison is yelling at her telling her to get ready for bed. I agree with you, the more tired she is, the more hyper she seems to get. I really think it's the age...my girls seem to just bounce off the walls lately and it's all I can do to contain them.

 

I have one boy that is calm and quiet at bedtime and the other one(just so happens his name is aiden too) is rolling, bouncing, tossing turning etc to try and calm himself down. The more tired he is the worse it is...he's also very mobile during the day..not much for wanting to sit to do any kind of task. It's amazing how different 2 little one's can be when they came from you at the same exact time. Which is why I rarely refer to them as twins..they were just 2 people born at the same time....just so happens they came from the same mom.

 

I was just talking to my DH about how our DS is quite hyper as well. I have read that if a parent is hyperactive their children have a higher chance of being that way as well. My DH I swear has ADHD but had never been diagnosed. The more I read on TS the more I think it is him just being a boy. Guess time will tell.