When an infant becomes a toddler, one of a parent’s biggest growing pains is finding ways to wear out an energetic child who fights sleep because he wants to play all day.  With a new sense of freedom of movement, a toddler suddenly realises that there is a big world out there and not enough hours in the day to explore it.  Hence the reluctance to sleep and the boundless energy powered by adrenaline.

The Discipline Book by Sears also states that one of the reasons why a child plays up is because he hasn’t had enough “play time”.  Simply taking a child out to the park so he can run about and let loose all that pent up energy can help a child behave more appropriately at home.

For these two reasons, I started taking Gavin out on a regular basis to play.  I find that on the days he goes out, he usually naps earlier and he seems more agreeable in general. 

Ideally, I would prefer to take him to the park on a regular basis, but the weather being what it is means that it is usually too hot by the time Gavin wakes up.  Aside from that, the smog and pollution, the security issues and finding a suitable time to go also make it rather unconducive.

The next best thing is to take him shopping - which usually works a treat in wearing him down sufficiently so that he doesn’t fight me so vigorously when it is time for him to take his afternoon nap.  One of my favourite shopping malls to take him to is Midvalley Megamall because the Toys ‘R’ Us has a little play area outside consisting of their demo cubby houses. 

When he gets bored of that, there are the slides in Robinson’s children’s section in The Gardens.  Aside from these, some of Gavin’s favourite shops are there - namely “Brickboy”, the Lego shop in The Gardens; MPH bookshop; Toys ‘R’ Us; and ELC, the Early Learning Center.  By the time we get through those, Gavin is usually half asleep in my arms.

Taking Gavin out on a regular basis has several benefits:

1. We get lots of practice getting him to sit in his carseat.
2. It also means he spends less time in front of the TV (since he would inevitably be watching TV if he remained at home all day).
3. He gets to interact with other people (okay, so it is mostly the shop assistants and strangers that he chooses to wave at).
4. He gets exercise from running around.
5. All his senses are stimulated by an engaging environment which is good for his development.
6. He falls asleep more easily so we don’t have to do battle when it comes to nap time.
7. I don’t go mad trying to keep him out of the cupboards and drawers at home since he has an appropriate outlet for his curiosity.

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