Almost everyone in their life has come across children who are literally unable to sit still. They are constantly in motion – they run, jump, change from place to place, look for something in their mother’s bag, climb on shelves and racks in stores.

Even if parents manage to put such a baby, for example, on a seat in public transport, he still does not stop in his chaotic movement. He will swing his legs, turn his head, ask something loudly from his mother, crawl on the seat, jump from it and sit down again, perhaps even sing, dance or tell poems. A kind of living “perpetual motion machine”.

In this case, child psychologists and pediatricians often compare the psyche of a child with a car without brakes. It easily accelerates to high speeds, but it is no longer possible to “brake” on its own. That is why such overactive babies need special attention from adults, their care and support.

Signs of hyperactive children

If you observe such a child for some time during his usual activities, then you can make an amazing discovery. Moving so much and doing so much, these kids don’t really do much. If you leave them uncontrolled by adults, then all the vigorous activity at the exit will not get any practical result.  

The child’s psyche in this case works at the limit, according to a special algorithm. Even the most interesting activity cannot capture him to the end. As soon as something else appears in his field of vision, the baby instantly switches. Here he was just drawing enthusiastically in an album, and a moment later he was sitting, buried in the TV, and pencils and an album with half a drawn rabbit were lying to the side.  

This behavior of children manifests itself both in entertainment and in the process of studying or, for example, house cleaning. Starting to put toys in a box, throwing them halfway and focusing on cleaning clothes, and eventually leaving toys and clothes scattered around the room is their usual line of behavior.

At the same time, fidgets are in such a hurry to start a new activity that they do not always control the movements of their body. Striving forward, they often simply do not notice chairs, tables, cabinet corners and even other babies on their way. As a result – eternal bruises and abrasions. And even such trifles as disheveled pigtails, untied laces, unbuttoned zippers or buttoned through one button, overactive children do not pay attention at all.  

Parents also often notice that these babies seem to “turn off” during a conversation. You just discussed with him everything that happened during the day in kindergarten, and the next moment the child is already with genuine interest examining the flight of the crow outside the window, not paying any attention to your words.

If this behavior begins to affect academic performance, communication with other kids, is accompanied by nervous breakdowns, delayed speech development, sleep disturbances, increased impulsivity, then this may already be a signal that there are serious problems with the child’s psyche. This may be a manifestation of attention deficit disorder (or hyperactivity disorder), which needs to be corrected by professional psychologists.

How parents should react

The increased activity of the child does not always mean that it is time to turn to psychologists or even psychiatrists. It is quite possible that he simply needs to release excess accumulated energy in time – for example, after watching a movie for a long time in the cinema, after school or kindergarten, after completing homework, etc.

Such nuances force parents to be especially attentive to the behavior of their baby. In addition, one must understand that in our time the idea of ​​passive consumption is being decisively promoted. Adults themselves prefer the child to sit quietly at the cartoons on the TV, playing on the tablet, etc.  

If by nature he has a sufficiently high energy level, then the baby simply has nowhere and nowhere to dump the energy accumulated from passive pastime. At the same time, children at this age also have poor self-control, and therefore an involuntary release of energy can sometimes look like a manifestation of hyperactivity.

Meanwhile, it is completely natural for any child to run from time to time, make noise, laugh, shout loudly, climb somewhere and be active in other ways. But the range of possibilities for the implementation of such actions in the modern lifestyle of most families is constantly narrowing. And as a result, the child’s increased activity can acquire already hypertrophied dimensions, to which adults begin to react with irritation and constant prohibitions.

How to protect the psyche of an active child

Sometimes parents are too busy with their own affairs or preoccupied with some problems, which prevents them from adequately responding to bursts of children’s energy. They get angry, nervous, yell at a naughty toddler whose heightened activity distracts adults or puts them in an awkward position in front of others.

But the more often mom or dad will break down on the child at the time of his increased activity, the worse the consequences will be. On the one hand, he will withdraw into himself, not feeling support from his dearest people, and simply not understanding why they are angry with him. On the other hand, if you constantly limit the child’s activity without understanding its causes, then the further socialization of the baby can be very difficult.

Meanwhile, in order to slow down this accelerating car, quite simple techniques are enough, from the application of which the child’s psyche will only strengthen. If we are talking about a baby, you can just take him in your arms, put him on your knees, hug him, gently stroke him. Such tactile attention on the part of the mother usually acts on a small child quite soothingly, relieves tension and tune in to relaxation.

Older children should be given the opportunity to be active in a safe space, and at the end of the day, extinguish the surge of energy with a hearty dinner and a warm bath.

Constant shouts and prohibitions (do not shout, do not run, do not touch things, do not jump on the seat, etc.) are valid only at the first stage. Such verbal restrictions of parents quickly enough become familiar to the child’s ear and gradually lose their educational value.