The little rebounder trampolines are a good option as well.

Ha, I hosted a playgroup yesterday and several of the kids were literally running in circles around our main floor. We have a good loop. It didn't bother me at all because it helped them get their energy out on a rainy day. My only rule (when at my own house) is no running while pushing wheeled toys around because our son likes to turn that into ramming the toys into our walls/furniture, and if other kids are over there's more risk of getting hurt.

That being said, I understand if your kid is younger/less agile and at risk of getting knocked over by the other kids. The kids at my house yesterday are all the same age and past that stage. You might suggest the nanny try to keep an eye out for it turning into something dangerous for your child if that's a real concern. But if you're just annoyed by the idea of kids running around you should probably just accept that that's what toddlers do. There's a lot of things toddlers do that kind of annoyed me when mine was smaller, but now that he's a toddler I realize you have to pick your battles. So much of toddler parenting is doing what you can to avoid a meltdown.

We only let them run around in the family room in the basement. They respect that most of the time because we allow carnage downstairs!

I love having a loop and would be worried about a toddler who wanted to stay still.

Why try to stop it? Mine runs his "circuit" multiple times a day and gets his energy out.

Anonymous wrote:The operative word here is "happily," OP.

+1.

I much prefer this to unhappiness, clinginess and whining. In fact, although we don't have a loop, I did encourage my toddler to run to the other end of the house and back as often as possible.

Why would you want to stop it? Kids are having fun and burning off some energy. We wanted a house with a circular floor plan for this very reason.

Thanks guys! OP here. I'm also extremely pregnant, and readily admit that the littlest things set me off. I needed the reality check!

So normal. And I second the pp who looked for a "loop"!

My ten year old still runs loops, and mixes it up with push ups and jumping jacks. They've got to burn off the extra energy somehow...

Normal and yes you probably have to accept it mine also likes to spin around and make herself dizzy. It's good for them to get out the energy!

The operative word here is "happily," OP.

No joke, when house hunting we specifically wanted a home that had a good "loop". How do you sneak up on someone, push wheeled toys around, or blow off steam in bad weather without one? Our house is small, but has a great loop

normal. you can place gates if you feel kicthen should be off limits (it probably should be when things are cooking, boiling) or if you want kdsi to stay out of living room (glass tables, sharp corners).

do I have to accept that toddlers will happily run around in circles all day, or is it reasonable to teach them not to? We have a nanny share, and our child is the youngest. It makes me crazy when they do this, but I honestly don't know if this is normal or if they can be taught not to do this. When I say circles, I mean living room/foyer/kitchen/dining room, not just spinning and getting dizzy and falling down