Long Day? Overstimulated Child?

Try not to react with anger. Remember that he’s not trying to give you a hard time; he’s having the hard time. Focused, physical input and sensory feedback can calm and re-organize an overstimulated child. Find an activity that works for you and your child by learning what types of sensory input your child enjoys and benefits from. It’s like learning their sensory language.

Proprioceptive Sensory Input (deep pressure)

• Sandwich Squeeze - make your child into a sandwich: put her on a mat or heavy blanket, “rub” mayo and mustard all over her back and legs (providing solid pressure), cover her with second mat and “squish” out the excess mustard and mayo. ** Be careful not to harm with too much of your strength. Notice her responses. When she becomes uncomfortable - stop!.

• Donkey kicks, wheelbarrow walking or crab crawl - not disorganized running around. The activity needs a focused space and structure. For instance, holding their hands while they jump in front of you can give them input but also keep them contained.

  
  

• Give him a spoonful of peanut butter - see how much focus it takes to ‘chew’ it

• Push a piece of furniture or something heavy across the floor

  
  

Vestibular Input (understanding the body’s place in space; balance)

• Spinning to music - put on some music and spin to it with your child. Carefully watch to ensure they stay balanced and do not “spin” out of control. Slower spinning can help to organize the body

• Rocking - If you have a rocking chair, snuggle up with your child, hold him close and rock quietly. Quiet singing or stories can be a great accompaniment.

• Swinging - If you have a swing set, encourage your child to go out and have a good swing. Maybe you can push him, swing next to him or just stay nearby.

Other Calming Techniques

• Grab some cotton balls and a straw and blow them across the floor - make it a race! (Great for deep breathing)

• Foot massage, essential oils, music (you will have to experiment and see what genre is best), fidget toys, chewy tubes, squeezy balls for hands

• Sometimes you can join in the overstimulation with your child and slowly slow him down - guided de-escalation by regulating your own body. It can be tricky but also can help

  
  

Use your creativity to find what works for you individual child. If you want to talk more, message me and we can set up a phone call.

Remember that you cannot prescribe the sensory input your child needs. Only she can do that. Observe her response and see what works. Try different things. Something will catch. Here’s an interesting catch - the successful calming activity can sometimes counter-intuitive to what you might think; sometimes it downright makes no sense - yet it works.

For example: years ago,I used to put my son (with severe ADHD) to bed, I had to turn on heavy metal music to calm him. Crazy, right? So it would seem. Yet, the music matched his fast moving brain, entraining with the cacophony of what was going inside, thereby settling him down. He was able to calm down and sleep.

The only way to figure this out is to expose your child to as many activities as you can, observe and be there to guide them. Or try one of these…

Find a second of fun with your child and celebrate the little moments.