My child has always been extremely active... as soon as he could start to crawl he was off and away, and even before that wasn't happy lying there doing nothing.

At mothers club everyone else used to be able to put their kids down and they would stay and play nicely, but not my boy..

Now (he is 17 months), if we ever meet up to go to the park etc, i honestly spend the entire time chasing him around, he doesn't stop running or climbing (he is extremely strong and can lift himself up a good 35 cm off the ground by holding onto things).. He also has extremely good fine motor co-ordination

He is intelligent (i don't think i'm just saying that).. at 12 months he used to go get my keys and try and put them in the back of the deadlock to show me he wants to go outside for example...

But he just can't sit still for longer than 30 seconds... In the mornings (my husband mostly looks after him so i can rest a bit), he does amuse himself in the living room (we have a safety gate between kitchen and living room, so he can still see my husband), for longer periods of time with a toy, maybe up to 5 mins, and also if he can't see you he is ok, but from about 1.5 hrs after he got up, he just can't keep playing with 1 toy for a reasonable period of time before he needs to run around..

He can't sit on my lap for longer than 1 page of a card book (which has 1 sentance on it).. he wriggles all the time! He can't sit down or on the couch to drink a bottle of milk... you either have to hold him on your lap (not easy to do as he wriggles so much), or put him in the highchair, which he gets out of the straps and then stands up in etc...

We don't have a TV in the house, so i can't say whether he would sit still to watch it, but i doubt it.

Is he just a normal very active little boy, or is there some attention/concentration disorder here? How would i know, and who would i see about it???

He isn't naughty, just very inquistive (oh, i should add the only time during the day he would sit still for 5 mins quietly is if he has got hold of something he knows he shouldn't have, then he will play nicely!)...

His sleep pattern is : gets woken up at 8am ish (he would sleep until 9.30 if we let him, but if he does this his whole day is shot and he won't sleep during the day)... plays until 11... sleeps from 11 - 2ish... Goes down again at 8pm. Generally sleeps through the night (has been waking up recently, but we have all been sick so i think thats it).

He eats a lot also.. has 3 weetbix for brekky, 2 peices of bread with jam or cream cheese etc for lunch, meat & veggies (a whole bowl) for dinner. With snacks in between (planish bikkies, sultanas, yoghurt, cheese, fruit etc). Doesn't like fruit so much, but loves veggies. We don't give him processed stuff really, no sugar or sweets. He has 2-3 bottles of milk a day.

Anyway, if somebody could just tell me this is normal (but exhausting!), i would be happy... I hope his sibling will keep him more occupied, i don't have the time or energy to play with him all day long. I really hoped i would have a child who was happy to play on his own, but for the most part he isn't really.

Thanks...