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No advice, but very interesting in following this. E is just shy of 14 months and is very, very similar. We stopped going to the baby hour at the library because he kept knocking down the baby gate, trying to take pacifiers away from other babies...and he thinks it's hilarious when we say no or otherwise try to chide and distract him...

A friend of mine has this with her daughter. The pediatrician confirmed she isn't autistic or ADHD, just extremely smart and this kind of behaviour can happen. She's around 2 now but she's been hyper like that since birth. I will send her a note to find out what books her ped recommended.

She has since started taking her daughter to some gym classes that she loves, and swimming, and she's learning as she gets older to do better with quiet time, etc.

I think daycare helped a lot to teach her how to sit nice in circle time and do structured activities like that.

We didn't chase him. We let him go and ignored him because he thought our attention was fun. We also make sure he has lots of appropriate outlets for his energy. A siting mommy and me class may not work out well. What about a gymnastics class with lots of running around.

It sounds pretty normal to me. Library story time was significantly more chaotic when it was all 1-1/2 year olds. Our library was close by so we walked over, which helped get out some energy. We also have a playground behind our house and LO spends lots of time there climbing so we make sure she has lots of outlets for her energy throughout the day too. We talked about expectations beforehand though it only works somewhat at a young age, and if she was really misbehaving we'd leave the classroom for a few minutes at a time, come back and try again, but if she was disruptive then we'd leave for a few minutes again, they learn what's expected of them but I don't think it's intuitive for some kids to know to sit still when they're in a new place, it's too exciting.

I concur that this sounds totally normal. We gave up on story time (for a while) and found a gym class instead around that age. Eventually we quit that too, because he needed more exercise than he was getting there.

LO is now 3 and I take him to the park or pool for literally hours every day. And he still has energy to spare. I think some kids are just built to move more. I try to look at this as a blessing in disguise, because keeping up with him definitely means I move a lot too, and it's nice to not need to make extra time for exercise!

Anyhow, regarding addressing the behavior, it sounds like she's just bored. Some story times are better suited to some children than others (and some story time leaders just aren't very keyed in to what little children find interesting, to be totally honest), so try another one and if that doesn't work, maybe just wait a few months. Look for ones that involve touching stuff (zoos sometimes have events where they let you pet some of the small animals), or lots of physical activities like bubbles, maracas, and those ribbons on sticks. And don't get discouraged, children change so rapidly at this age that stuff that isn't compelling one month may be totally engrossing the next.

I also wanted to add that my son wouldn't sit down for story time at all when he was 1-2. Now that he's 3, he'll sit down without any problems. He actually LOVES it now. And you would have never guessed coming from a kid who would be running up and down the supermarket aisles.

@meredithNYC: yes, they only did a couple of songs in the beginning and end in the circle and the rest was more individual. The teacher demonstrated a circuit obstacle course and then each kid did it with mom helping. It was really the perfect balance for that age ( we did it from 14-20 months),

My 2.5 year old son has always been like that- I think we tried a story hour type activity once and he lasted maybe 5 minutes. I think it's normal. He loves gym classes, but even then he will sometimes choose to run around and do his own thing rather than participate in the group activity.
We joke that our kid is like having a dog- he needs to be run/walked several times a day if we expect him to behave at all ever.

My LO is 15 months and sounds pretty similar behavior-wise. I've never tried going to a story time hour with him because I know he won't sit still, even though he loves reading with me at home. We purposely signed up for Gymboree to help get some of his energy out - we go to class once a week and take advantage of open gym hours a couple other days. We also try to go to the park every day so he can run around on the soccer fields. My mom said she remembered my sister and I "calming" down a little as we got closer to the 18 month mark. but I'm not counting on it with my LO. I don't really mind anymore, I've just learned it's part of his personality! He's super curious and needs to explore. And me trying to keep up with him all day makes up for the fact that I never go to the gym!

Some children are just drastically more active than others, I suspect. Part of it probably has to do with the way they're raised. My toddler has been encouraged to run around and to be active and to explore from birth. She's never been required to stay in a pack n play, or a swing, or a small gated area. We make sure that she's never required to be in a stroller for longer than absolutely required.

As a result, she certainly would not sit still for a story hour. She won't sit politely in her stroller for long. She wants to be up, exploring, running around, climbing, being active. I valued those qualities in my daughter more than I valued a child who would sit still and be quiet. I expect that ability to evolve more and more as she ages, but at this point I happily embrace her energy and desire to explore.

Your child just may be very active and need a lot of activity. You can certainly work with them to sit still longer, but some children just aren't into that. I've given up on story hour, myself. We just go to the library, grab some books, walk around exploring, then go run around outside. Just as good, in my opinion.

My son is EXACTLY like this - we just don't go to story hour anymore because it's exactly as you describe. After our first tumbling class I called my mom in tears because all other other 1.5-2 year olds sat and listened to instructions or at least didn't run off wild. I've been assured it's normal and to not try to quell it. I just go with the flow and try to get him outside as much as possible and let him explore as much as I can. I definitely empathize.

I used to coordinate an infant through twos program years ago and have observed many toddlers your daughter's age doing exactly the same thing. Your daughter is displaying very age-appropriate behavior. Toddlers are known for being very independent, curious, loves to explore and they cannot remain seated for longer than 5-10 minutes and are on the constant go (lack of self-impulse and control which they will have more control over as they grow older and are exposed to more experiences where they are expected to).

I wouldn't expect a preschool (3-4 yrs old) child to sit for more than 15 minutes if the child has never had preschool experiences and/or been in group setting where s/he is taught to sit still through a reading or any type of activity.

I would follow her cues and help her learn about her surrounding as that is her way of learning.

@Keppa: You're not alone! Also, I can pretty much guarantee you'll have lots of opportunities to make friends with other moms in the next year or so. I did it and I'm not exactly extroverted. I had no mom friends (or non-mom friends, for that matter, although I don't really consider them separate categories!) in my new neighborhood around the time my son was your LO's age, but now that he's 3, I have quite a few. It gets easier to meet people as your LO gets older, even if he doesn't slow down at all (my LO is much more active than he used to be!). We had the head-butting and middle-of-the-night-waking phases, too. They pass!

Totally unrelated, but I like your kitten avatar.

@meredithNYC: Remind me to tell you the experience I had when I brought G to a playgroup, around this time last year. I have never been so mortified in my whole life, but when I look at how it was a year ago to how it is now, it's like I have a different child!