7yo child's behaviour

[Stumpholecavern]

Name change as I reveal too much!

I have a 7yo child who I have found a challenging child from birth and I still find I am having to actively manage her behaviour. Posting as I don't see other parents doing this and I'm not sure if others do this in an unwritten rule sort of way?

For example she has always had a lot of energy and needs this burning off or she 'bounces of the wall's. E.g. we need to be out the house walking, cycling or playground by 10am or her behaviour starts to detioriate e.g. fighting with siblings etc, deliberate winding people up and sometimes racing round the house or making lots of noise -singing/ shouting etc younger sibling not like this but does get dragged into situations with older one.

She is also very emotional and if she gets tired will have an emotional outburst - crying/ anger etc. Good as gold at school then has a big emotional outburst at home. So it's a fine balance between burning energy and not tipping her into this.

As a result I end up actively managing the day to meet her needs. I don't need to do this for her younger sibling.

I'm suspcious she is not neurotypical ( ticks a lot of adhd traits) but would like to know if others do this?

This has come up as we are on holiday and out of her normal routine it's made me realise how much revolves around her.

I think the first thing you need to do is speak to gp to try and get a diagnosis. Write down as much as possible about dc behaviour as a baby to now. You need to ‘present evidence’ and detail how it effects your family.

My (ASD) Dd sounds very much like yours - now, whilst the diagnosis doesn’t mean the challenges go away - it will help you understand a lot more, get access to some support and generally help you manage.

Sorry not much advice but I have a seven year old DD and she certainly has angry outbursts when she is tired, will say mean things 'I wish I had a different family' stomp stomp stomp upstairs where she will loudly cry. All very dramatic so in my experience that is normal. She's also very high energy however not as much as she used to be but full days in the house with her are very difficult, she is best when out and about and able to burn off energy.

Sorry I don't have any advice but just wanted to give you a view of what someone else's 7 year old is like.

She sounds very like my 11 year old son was at her age. He has ADHD.
It took us nearly 3 years on the waiting list to get an appointment so might be a good idea to make an appointment now. Getting a diagnosis has helped us to understand him and manage his behaviour so things remain calm.
He's calmed down a bit now he's older but he's still full of energy. Good luck with it.

Hard to say really - she might settle down with time or might actually have an issue. I would talk to your doctor about it as otherwise you will always be wondering.

I know a few children who were like this - several calmed down as they grew up and have no issues now. One was diagnosed with dyspraxia and a few, including my son, have autism.

I didn’t suspect my son had autism and thought it might be adhd but i was wrong about that.

Have a look at this: themighty.com/2016/05/rebecca-burgess-comic-redesigns-the-autism-spectrum/

Do you have a trampoline? My son has lots of energy and bounces for hours. It calms him down.

Go to the GP and get a referral for an assessment.

Keep note/ a diary of all behaviours.

Thank you everyone. I work with children and you start to see traits of adhd/asd in lots of children. We see the more extreme side of asd where I work.

It's the debate of what is the point where you feel it's impacting life. At the moment she has a happy life at the moment but I'm aware more demands come with time, friendships get more complicated and School gets harder. Then add on the 3 year waiting list.

And yes she does have a trampoline - thank goodness during lockdown!