Running through the house ......Constantly!

[Louise0208]

My newest mindee (just turned 3) cannot walk anywhere, he has to run run run!!! as fast as he can, no matter how short the distance....im saying stop running etc all the time & its begining to wear me down.

hes still not able to 'dodge' people/furniture/walls yet & he collides at least 10 times a day (our sessions are only 2 hrs long :p ) he has never hurt himself, we have never had tears on his behalf but all the other children have bruises & bleeding lips from the collisions.

i always give him warnings that next time he will have to sit in time out to calm down & iv always followed through but he doesnt take a blind bit of notice....within seconds hes off like a rocket again! its soo unsafe as my house is big enough but doesnt have lots of open space. i dont want to add stair gates on every doorway as its not fair to my kids & the other kids in my care that know not to run through the house.

i cant take him out as i have 3 pick ups within the time hes here though he has full & free reign of the garden & all the outdoor toys (which he loves).

i have tried occupying him all the time but unless its not 100% active then hes just not interested, he WONT (under any circumstances) craft, colour, paint, sit around the table for group activity.

any ideas to slow him down?

[onceinabluemoon]

This is going to sound a bit bizarre but by telling him to 'stop running' you are not actually telling him what you want him to do.

Have you tried 'we walk in the house' or 'walking feet please' instead? (sometimes I just have to yell WALK!)

Failing that, tie him to the chair (Joke!!)

[mama2three]

tie his laces together?:D

I had one like this and we just had to keep the doors closed when he was here. It just wasnt safe otherwise , all the others joined in and ran round and round through the lounge , hall and dining room in a big circle. Constant reminders of running feet for outside , walking feet for inside did have some effect but it took a lot of patience. Good Luck x

[sarah707]

We walk in Sarah's house... we run outside... over and over and over and over again like a broken record eventually works :D

[heidicat]

This is going to sound a bit bizarre but by telling him to 'stop running' you are not actually telling him what you want him to do.

Have you tried 'we walk in the house' or 'walking feet please' instead? (sometimes I just have to yell WALK!)

Failing that, tie him to the chair (Joke!!)

I'm guilty of this.. I keep having to remind myself to tell my mindees (and my own kids) what I want of them, rather than what I want them to stop doing. It just doesn't come naturally to me :blush:

[SYLVIA]

I had a LO who runs everywhere. He started school and I now have his sister here, who also runs everywhere! It's a nightmare. My accident book is just full of them and their falls/bangs. I've tried the walk inside rule over and over and it does happen eventually but they still need constant reminders. Very waring

[Louise0208]

righty....WALK it is then.

after 13 years of telling kids not to run this habit is going to be hard to break :laughing:

[Kirsteen]

Hi!

I have 2 boys of my own who are high energy like that and run everywhere all the time. If your mindee is wired in the same way as my 2 then I hate to tell u but there might not be a solution, other than maturity...sorry!

Mine r 6 and 7 now and still run about colliding into things yet. But they r getting better...with time.

One thing that does work though (but it is VERY time consuming and labour intensive) .... when u catch him running, send him back to where he set off, and ask him to go the journey again without running, or without making any noise, or with tip toes (u pick the right wording that will suit your mindee) U may have to do the journey over a few times before he gets it, and then the next journey might be 2 mind later :-) but with time he'll start to remember himself to go more slowly and carefully.

Hope that helps x