Dr. Cathryn Tobin, a pediatrician, explains why toddlers are naturally high-energy and when it might signal something else. She offers concrete tactics: toddler-proof your space, schedule active play, create calm zones, and prioritize sleep. If hyperactivity with inattention persists past age four, talk to your doctor.
Chapters
Welcome to Toddlers Made Easy where there's no fluff, just practical research based 15 minutes or less parenting strategies. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Dr. Catherine, a pediatrician with more than 33 years of experience. I'm the author of two parenting books, the founder of Healthiest Baby, and the mother of four amazing adult kids. And let's not forget Smudge my great big goldendoodle. Welcome. Today we're going to talk about High energy toddlers. It's funny, I've been getting so many DMs recently about this question that I've decided to do a two part series on Hypertodddlers or High Energy Toddlers. So there'll be a bonus episode this Friday. So imagine the scene. You're navigating the grocery store aisles and your little one is treating the shelves like you're in a hands on museum. You catch the occasional disapproving glance and you're so drained you don't even have the energy to feel embarrassed. Take a trip down memory lane with me to when my son Max was a mere 18 months old. And now picture this. We're at a birthday party and all the other kids are sitting happily on their mother's laps and they're really engrossed in the puppet show. And there I was, running back and forth and back and forth in perpetual motion chasing Max, who was not at all interested in watching the puppet show. Instead, he wanted to check out every drawer, every shelf, every cupboard in the room. Now my heart felt a sting of embarrassment. I'm a pediatrician. Shouldn't my kid be the best behaved child there? But here I was chasing my little explorer around the room while all the other children sat there calmly and focused. I often felt that being a pediatrician meant both me and my children needed to be perfect. I remember once when my kids were with me on hospital rounds. I used to dress them in the cutest little outfits and they'd follow me like a row of duckies as we went room to room. But anyways, we went into Tally's room and tally had about 20 stuffed animals in her crib and Madison, my youngest, stuck her hand in and fell in love with the little monkey. I could not convince my daughter to give that monkey back. I did eventually, but I was so embarrassed. Here was my daughter who should be perfect and she wouldn't give a doll back to a little sick kid in the hospital. You see, I was so embarrassed because I wanted my kids to be the best behave. And I eventually realized my expectations were really wrong. And actually my patients later told me they really enjoyed and found it reassuring to see me struggle with my kids because that meant it was okay that they were struggling too. Now what I didn't see at the time and hindsight and maturity has allowed me to see this is that my kids were perfect with their crazy energy, with their unwanted behavior, all of it. It was all the lens, my expectations that needed adjustment. So this brings me back to what about those seemingly not seemingly truly hyper kids like Max? Well, first of all, it's completely normal for toddlers to be hyper. It's normal for them to flit from one activity to another because they're just beginning to navigate their independence and their self control is still a work in progress and therefore they have this non stop energy with the short attention, Spanish and poor impulse control. Really the world is their oyster, ready to be tasted, touched, banged and thoroughly explored. Now, knowing that it's normal for a toddler to be super busy is comforting, but the question still remains, how do you deal with it? So let's look at a few simple but effective strategies to make life easier for everyone. First of all, set up a play area where your kiddo can roam free without you having to watch their every move. When you toddler proof your home, you give your child more room for freedom to explore without more rules. Also, let your kids move with activities that they can pour their energy into, like dancing, exploring outdoors, playing with the ball, plus games like Simon says and red light, green light. Will they encourage a child to tune into their body? So this is a good way also to help kids learn and practice regulating their bodies. On the flip side, I'd appreciate your little one's zest for life. And I would create spots in the home that encourage and allow them to be their energetic selves as well as provide places where they can have calm times when they need to wind down. Now with all the years I've been a pediatrician and like, you know, there's decades worth, I've seen the most high energy toddlers turn into focused, driven and determined adults, just like my son Max. So let's look at a few actionable takeaways. Remember, a safe space lets toddlers explore without needing eagle eyes following them. So think of toddler proofing as freedom within boundaries. Also, encourage your toddler's natural need to move. Have dance parties, backyard sprints, and pillow forts. These can all be great ways to get some of that energy out. Now, as a pediatrician again, I need to mention the importance of sleep. A hyperkid can be an overtired one. And lastly, I want to reassure you that not every child that's hyper at 18 months old has an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADD or adhd, and I suspect many of you are worried about this. So when should you discuss your child's high energy with your healthcare provider? Let's say your child's high energy isn't fizzling out by about 4 years of age and and is an important word here. It's combined with other challenging behaviors such as inattention and impulsivity. Then it's best to discuss this with your healthcare provider. Now. I hope you found that helpful today. I wanted to let you know that we're going to do a bonus episode later this week on Friday, so please listen into that one. And I'm going to be talking about whether sugar really makes your kids hyper. If you want more big hearted strategies for helping with those crazy awesome toddler moments, check out our courses, Toddlers Made Easy and Potty Training Made Easy. You'll find them in the show notes. I wish you all a great week. Thank you for tuning in and we'll talk soon.
