Kids with ADD & ADHD - when they were toddlers....

[goddessofdawn]

Your DD is still very young and a lot of her behaviour sounds normal. Do you or your DH/DP have ADD/ADHD or think you may have? A lot of the time it is genetic.

No, neither myself or DH have it..

My DD sounds exactly like your son, Trish .... She loves being outside, she'd live outside if she could!! lol
Obviously that alone isn't a symptom though lol. She does like reading books and doing crafts though
We've just started Play Group so that's giving me a good chance to scrutinise her behaviour with things...
I guess it's pointless for me to jump to any conclusions. She's a really smart kid & her memory and capacity for learning amazes me..... So you are right, if it turns out she does have ADD/ADHD it isn't the end of the world & we will get through it.

Thanks so much for your replies. I think I just needed someone to talk to.

[FabFiona]

I say this with love - stop reading the websites. My toddler (who is the same age) would have every disorder in the book if I read them all.

He sounds the same as yours, right down to the "rampant" episodes. We now say "is there a lion here" as he does a roar. That immediately diffuses the situation and rather than remember what he was frustrated about, he thinks he is a lion which is great fun.

Try and cut down the TV if it is worrying you but I wouldn't stress about it too much.

[goddessofdawn]

Thanks FabFiona You are right about websites - normally I don't look at them but this one was recommended by a friend because it had good advice on discipline & is by a child psychologist etc.... But yes, it didn't help in this case lol

We actually went "cold turkey" with NO TV and no iPad for 6 days straight - she stopped asking for it but it was very tough!
I wanted to continue without it for longer, but then her sleep turned to poo, and combined with her thrice-nightly waking and 5.30am starts to the day, the TV is back again... Not as much as before, though.

[Astrolady]

At the age of 2 I knew there wasn't something right with Lachlan. At the age of 2 he got told of for something, so he reached a ball point pen and stabbed all our vinyl kitchen chairs.
At the age of 2 he got a toy plastic hammer and smashed his dads laptop screen. There was other stuff as well, and being my 2nd I knew it wasn't normal "terrible two" behaviour, it never relented during the years 3 4 5 etc etc either.

3 days before Christmas in 2010 (aged 6) I had enough, and got referred to a paediatrician. We were told he was gifted. 2/3 yrs above his normal age. Got told to see a child pysch but the one she wanted me to go to was an hours drive away and around $120 a session and we needed at least 12 sessions. We couldn't afford it. I spent January ringing around places and nobody was willing to help us out.

Fast forward to this year, and a lot of his ADD tendencies have become paramount. ADD and giftedness apparently go hand in hand, but this year he is starting to slacken of in school work, where as before he was always excelling. I have really struggled to cope with him at home as well. So 2 weeks ago I saw another paediatrician and by the sounds of it he will classed as having ADD. We go back tomorrow for the official diagnosis. I watched a video last night "Understanding ADD" and it was Lachlan down to a tee.

We see someone from the Child and Adolescent Mental Heath Services on the 22nd.

[goddessofdawn]

Clover - Just saw your comments, thank you.

My DD is similar as she also had to be constantly rocked etc. She used to sit in her bouncer nearly all day as a baby, while I rocked her with my foot! She was never one of those babies who would just chill and sit there.
I just found a SPD website with a checklist, but she doesn't really tick any of the boxes.... She doesn't like getting her hair brushed, but that's because it always has knots in it
She was always a fidgety breastfeeder though, and still loves fiddling with my hair at bedtime etc, like a comforting thing.
I think that's probably more a quirky habit sort of thing... She was like that from birth though - I remember her grabbing my nightie and rubbing the material between her fingers when she was only a couple of days old!

I wasn't aware of SPD. It's good to be informed, thank you.