Modulating Movement
When you're working with wobbly equipment, one of the best and maybe only ways to stay upright is speed. Like a bicycle that needs to keep moving to remain on its wheels, a child with low muscle tone has to move it or lose it. If your child seems to be always in motion, consider whether it might be the only alternative to falling to the ground in a heap.
The problem with headlong movement without true control or support is that it tends to be a little heedless. Movements are big and fast and propelled by compulsion, which makes modulation — the sort of careful adjustments that make movements efficient and accurate — pretty much impossible. Kids with low muscle tone who use movement to keep their bodies together tend to crash into things, put things down too hard, touch things too roughly, and move things too quickly. The sort of balance and control required for careful work isn't available to them.
Keeping your child safe when he's running on all cylinders can be a challenge. Childproof your home as much as possible with soft padding on corners. Put gates on stairs and other areas that could cause a fall, and keep your eyes on that child at all times. He may find ways to get hurt you could never anticipate.
There are things you can do to help, but yelling “Slow down!” isn't one of them. Be a hands-on helper. Provide physical support. Use hands on shoulders to guide a child, work hand-over-hand to do things that require modulation, and put covers on cups so that abrupt movements won't cause spills. Adjust your expectations to allow for your child's particular needs, and the not-always-wise strategies she's come up with to meet them.
