Gifted Child

Lately, DS (nearly 5) has been complaining that he can't relax because his brain never turns off. It seems to be worst when he needs to be quiet or rest. Any ideas? What works for your child(ren)? I'm beginning to wonder if we should teach him biofeedback (relaxation) techniques.

TIA

What worked when ds was 5 was to have him bathe in the evening, then we'd read together (1/2 hour or so), then he had a good half hour dedicated to talk with me - about anything. Could be serious school stuff, funny stuff, something someone else did or said, ponderings... that definitely helped him as he knew we always had that time for his thoughts.

Sue

There are some good computer programs like Wild Divine or BrainWorks Better, but this may just be your son's personality. Dd19 could never relax enough to do those (but neuro feedback, much later in her teen years, helped). Dd16 has never had a problem. Ds9 sleeps like a rock and is usually relaxed and ds7 is VERY much like your son - his mind doesn't turn off. We have tried and tried.

We do have a very set bedtime routine, as the previous poster mentioned, and having time with us does help it seems. We've tried a lot of breathing and relaxation techniques but it's hard. I'll be curious to see if you get any great ideas! We have found that lots of physical exercise is great. Ds7 had twice the stamina of his next two oldest and I think it's related. I mean, physically, he's just so strong. He can go and go and go. Ds9 and Ds7 and I take karate together and ds7 is a little machine, IF we can make him focus and not get caught up in his other thoughts!

Theresa

I'm not going to lie and tell you we have it all solved, but there are a few things that seem to help.  If there is extra physical energy that it interfering or causing them to get into trouble, I sent them to do laps around the house, up and down the sidewalk, or in the winter, up and down the stairs. It is their favorite 'consequence' for some behaviors.

Another thing we do, is as previous posters mentioned, reading before bed. We have story time, and then they can read in bed until lights out. We run into trouble when they don't have enough time, sometimes more than an hour, to read in bed before sleep. It means an extra early bed-time, but it is necessary because they need that time to wind down.

Sometimes, with some kinds of 'whirring minds' issue, particularly with one of my sons, I let him wind down with a bit of TV. If they get TV time to wind down, then I restrict the selections to certain DVDs that are easy on the brain, not hyper-causing, and help them sit down quietly for a few minutes. There are actually very few scenarios I use it for, but it does come in handy at times.