How to parent 2 and 3 y/o's that are hyper-active

have you tried a mini-trampoline. my son seems to have hyper tendencies and i for christmas he got a mini-tramp. it is great. he loves to jump (especially when he is watching a wiggles video). it really calms him down and is a good outlet for all of his energy. (he is 3y/o also)

Thanks for that idea mckenna. I had thought about that in the past and forgot all about it. I'll definitely go get one. They loved it when our 2 y/o's pt brought one. Great idea, thanks. Michelle

The mini trampoline has its own place of honor in our living room! We also find not giving sugary foods to our ADHD daughter helps immensely, especially for breakfast. Oatmeal is the best breakfast for her on Sunday mornings before Sunday School and Church.

Michelle, I can only imagine what your going through with hyperactive toddlers. Ack, my is 5 and a handfull. I don't know what your rules are for TV/screen time, but I would eliminate it altogether. My son has ADHD tendencies and he was much the way your kids were when he first came to us. We cut out TV/screen time for a while, cut sugary food from his diet and started teaching him different ways to calm himself. We've been able to add back in some screen time, but it's very limited. He couldn't sit in timeout either, so he had a time in. He sat on my lap, facing me and we'd hug. He has sensory issues so the added pressure to the hug also helped calm him down. Also, we created an area that he could sit in (when he was able) that was quiet and dark. One of those kid tents works well. Another idea is to watch your kids to see if there are any activites that they are calm doing. For my son, he could sit and look at picture books or do puzzles. So after a 'time in,' he'd have to do books or puzzles for a bit until I was satisfied he had calmed down. Keeping him physically busy helped too. I had to get pretty creative in the winter, but it was better than the battles we'd have at home if he was too wound. Now that's he older, he's even able to identify times and situations that put him out of control and can use the tools we've taught him to calm himself down. I don't know if my ideas will work with your kids, but I thought I'd throw them out there. Good luck. Blessings, Jenny

Having 6 bio boys myself and each one of them is different..Some are more active than others.. Some went through the terrible two's and still lingers in one of my children who is now 5. He climbs, detroys, and just doesnt listen. I have tried timeout,get sent to room things.. they dont work.. He is busy buys buys all the time and never slows down.. BUT.. there is light at the end of the tunnel.. I found him to be bored.. they wanted attention from me and didnt care if it was negative or positive-- they just wanted it.. I homeschool my older 5 and included him with his own schoolwork.. Crafts, movies, special toys that can only be brought out at school hours. Ive also found that kids ar more likely to be disruptive when they arent included in various tasks around the house.. They love to help do things.. Just because you have two close in age, doesnt mean that they will keep eachother company..lol I have found this out since I have yet to be out of the diaper stage..lol Boys need plenty of busy time and free time.. Hope your situation resolves soon :)

Hi everyone, Thank you so much for the ideas. They do only have each other to entertain. We also have an almost 2 y/o son that is medically fragile and requires us to care for him in every way as he can't move, sit up, feed by himself so we don't get to go out and play a whole lot. Now that it's winter it's even less. My kids are very destructive with their belongings and we live in what I've dubbed a "gated community" meaning I have baby gates in every doorway. If I didn't do this they'd be running amuk destroying everything in site. I have honestly never know kids that behaved like this and where no "punishment" helped to correct the behavior. I did especially like the time-in suggestion and I know they would love that too. I think the gist of all this is maybe I need to start paying them more attention and I'll see positive results. I do tend to allow them to have the tv on all the time and I think I'm going to take the suggestion to turn it off. As for sugary foods/drinks we really don't give them much and they much prefer fruit. Hey, keep the ideas coming. I'm willing to try everything and anything. They are really awesome kids on that "off" day that they are behaving LOL. Maybe I'm just too old at 44 to be starting over with little ones. NAH, can't be that I'm more patient now than I ever was when my 2 were younger LOL. thanks again everyone. Michelle

Tv is a huge culprit and a substitute for many things.. Been there done that..doesnt work for very long..lol We have limited TV time during the day, esp when schooling. We have a rule too--no cartoons during Lent until after Easter. So far its worked like a charm. We are fortunate in our area to have a place called the Family REsources Center-- they have thousands of movies- lots of old ones, lots of new ones, lots of clasiccs and biographies Educational, fictional, etc.. Once every two weeks we go and pick out 5 movies. They dont charge for their movies, but accept a free-will donation. We have family movie nights where we all sit and watch together.. the kids look forward to it as well. I think Winter is much toolong, esp for boys.. They need to run and stay active.. Lets hope the weather warms up soon so they have more outdoor time. Im not a big fan of coloring books-- i prefer to use paper and let the kids design on their own.. i have abox of craft supplies-- sequins, craft sticks, kid friendly glue, watercolors, all sorts of papers and little things.. When I need to get something accomplished-- I bring in the little tykes picnic table and the kids can entertain themselves in the kitchen for at least a 1/2 hour with me just popping though in the passing. Playdough and manipulatives work well as does peanut butter playdough-they can actually eat it..lol And keeps them just as occupied... You have the patience, dont kid yourself.. we all have to figure out what it is that can keep our kids occupied for spurts at a time so that we can get something done throughout the day.. My kids too like to help sort socks and "pretend" they can fold clothes. The little one, as young as 2.5 can help set the table for dinner. The old saying goes... "Tell me and I forget, Show me and I remember, Involve me and I understand" :)

LOL, my 3 y/o dd came to us at 13 months old KNOWING how to fold clothes! I spoke with her bmom on Christmas and she told me a story about folding clothes when C was little (under a year old) and giving her wash cloths to fold. I never told her C could fold cloths so I know the story must be true. C can fold things up to the size of a throw blanket now. I am amazed by that. As a matter of fact, she just helped me fold a load of towels earlier today LOL. Thanks for all the ideas. I have opened the gates on the 1st floor and am allowing them to run around a little. It seems to be helping somewhat but I am worried that one will sneak out the door. I have turned on my house alarm so it will chime if the door opens LOL. Michelle

LOL Michelle.. I can relate!! We had to put chain locks on our front/back doors.. I have 2 runners..lol Last Summer when ds was 3, my older boys were headed to the library whcih is about 12 houses down from us.. My lil feller was wanting to go and lost the boys and just kept going.. Luckily, a lady I know recognized him but she wasnt sure where we lived, so she called the police. I made it there b4 the police arrived, but had to wait until they did. needless to say-- it made me feel like an unfit mom but ds surely got a tad scared when the officer told him he has to listen to his mom and that we all care about his safety.. Thats when the locks went up.. If I didnt live in a great small community I know DCFS would have been knocking on my door to investigate. It IS a scarey thought that such a minor incident could turn into a "label" for being a terrible mother and for not supervising your kids.. Turned me into a worry wart.. thats for sure..lol Yvonne

You're lucky the chain locks work for them. I haven't found a lock yet that the 3 y/o can't figure out! She's too smart for her own good. My oldest will be 21 in March :eek: and when he was 18 months old my grandmother put him out in her yard to play. The yard is fenced in and the gates had locks. My son figured out how to undo the lock and decided to walk 2 blocks over to visit my parents. As if that wasn't bad enough, my dad found him in the middle of their street which was dug up for water pipe work and had a 6 ft. deep hole. My son, Leo, was standing at the edge of the hole yelling Pop-Pop LOL. OMG, I think my dad wanted to call DCS on us LOL. Scared the heck out of me too when I found out. I was at work and my grandmom babysat for us. That is what turned me into a worry wart! Thanks for sharing your story. Kids sure keep us on our toes. Michelle

Michelle, I know exactly how you feel! We had no idea our ds had any disabilities until he was almost 3-1/2. One of his diagnosis' was ADHD Severe! We were pretty clueless! I thought I was failing as a mother because he was so wild and uncontrolable. I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why OTHER mothers could handle their 2, 3, 4 or more kids and I couldn't handle my two! My ds broke, or destroyed, at least one thing every single day. Between the age of 2-4 he probably destroyed 3 things a day. He had no awareness of personal safety or FEAR! Mommy going around the corner wasn't scary for him, it was fun and exciting for him and he'd run the OPPOSITE way! UGH! Our dd was a typical little girl, getting into some things, disobeying, not listening, etc., but punishments for her, and being able to talk reasonably with her, was so much different than ds. When we moved into our new home we had to put safetly locks on the door to keep him in the house. He'd be outside 3 times before 7am! We live in the middle of the woods, so he won't end up at another house, or in the middle of the road, but who knows where he'd be in the woods! Michelle, As far as the listening goes, I don't believe my ds had the ability to listen to much when he was the ages of your boys. He was a terror every waking minute of his day and I don't think he could focus long enough to UNDERSTAND my frustrations and the trouble he was constantly in! He had 2 speeds: fast and asleep! We didn't believe in medication back then. We fell into the stereotyped thought process of children on medication. You only hear the BAD stories. The child psychologist, who diagnosed ds, told me that if he can't concentrate then he can't learn... if he can't learn he won't grow! It hit us like a mac truck that medication was created for a REASON - the right reasons! By the fall he was on an anti-depressant which was helping his ADHD alot! The could definitely see the difference at school! (He started ECSN at 2-1/2) Are your boys on any meds? I'm not advocating medication, it isn't for every child. However, because my ds is severe he just couldn't function without the help of meds. He turned 7 yesterday and he would not be able to live at home without the help of medications to stablize his thoughts and behaviors! Do you get any kind of help for your medically fragile son, like a personal care attendant or anything? Stay strong and good luck! I know how draining it can be!

Michelle - if all else fails...there's always duct tape.:) JUST KIDDING! When my now 5 & 4 year old were 3 & 2, I thought I would have to put bells around their neck just to keep track of them! I did end up getting them more active toys to play with and made sure we went outside everyday weather permitting. On the cold days, I allowed 15 minutes of running "laps" around our great room and did it with them. Turned on the music and made up "marches", did the hokey pokey etc. I also tried to have 1 activity a day where they could freely make a mess. Whether it be sugar free pudding paint, regular paint, bathtub bubbles etc. And interestingly enough, they also enjoyed the cleaning up. Gave them their own cloth to use with just plain water and let them "clean" things. Patience? LOL! When I find that answer, I'll let you know! Crick

Crick I'm sitting here LMAO. We have to duct tape their diapers on because they take them off when they are put to bed and have been known to smear :eek: Anne, I have 1 girl and 1 boy and our dd possibly has RAD and will be seeing a psychiatrist on the 28th. I plan on discussing ALL my options with him at that time. Our ds is being "watched" for autism. I have a feeling that once we get actual diagnosis' for them the reasons for their behaviors will come to light. I do believe she has RAD, I'm not convinced he is autistic. He has speech problems, rocks back and forth and has a weird tongue habit (darts it in and out a lot) and I do understand that there is a wide range on the autism spectrum but I'm praying it's not that. I think I just need to wear their butts out by running, the trampoline, dancing, etc. and hopefully I'll see at least a little difference in their behaviors. Thanks everyone. Michelle

I believe my son age 3 to be hyperactive. He is none stop from the minute he gets out of bed. We don't allow too much sugary type foods. The kids get ice cream once in a while. The only thing that seems to calm my son is watching is favorite TV programs on PBS or Thomas the Tank Engine. Has anyone had their children at this age evaluated for hyperactivity? I've been thinking about seeking out a pediatric neurological psychologist for my son. However, there aren't many in my area. Also, are there any natural alternatives to drug therapy for hyperactivity.