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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How do you discipline children with adhd?

15 replies

stripeygiraffetail · 11/03/2026 11:37

Our dd does not yet have a diagnosis but is on the waiting list, I am diagnosed and so is her much older brother.
We are really struggling to discipline her as she just doesn’t care, she shouts swears and refuses to do anything she’s asked and I have set boundaries so if she swears she loses her phone that day, if she hits me or anyone else she loses her favourite toy which is a Barbie mermaid.
But after that she will carry on as if she’s lost them now so it doesn’t matter.
I try walking away when she swears and calls me names and explain I’m not talking to her while she’s like this.

I think she may have pda profile, she is also being assessed for autism so I try to focus on good behaviour, pick battles and have clear boundaries but she will continue to shout abusive words at me when she doesn’t get her way.
I have noticed an increase in her behaviour in the last few months after I have tried to make it clear that she will lose her phone every time and I mean it.

Her behaviour isn’t always bad and she’s a relatively quiet girl but I will not be sworn at called names and thumped but she’s still doing it and I need a new strategy without confusing her about the phone being a set condition of not telling me to F off or calling me a bitch etc.
I do not use language like that and will not tolerate being spoken to like that but it’s not working.
She gets plenty of attention as it’s only me and her most of the time as her brother is older and often out.

Her dad doesn’t cope well and ends up in a conflict with her and she just winds him up, this annoys me because he gets into a battle where he says stop something and she says no and merrily carries on while he gets more and more frustrated repeating himself until he’s overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted and she laughs at him, I think she enjoys this.
He thinks I’m too soft and often says a little bit of help please - when she won’t listen to him and I wish he’d just walk away from her instead of keep engaging and getting more and more wound up when she’s obviously not going to do something on the 33rd request and he’s just at point of despair.
She has absolutely no respect for either of us and she’s quite often in trouble at school.

I am struggling to know how to handle her but I can’t get on the same page with dh although we try to be a team and support each other, I explain to him he’s not helping by locking horns with her, he doesn’t seem to see he’s not helping and just says I’m not helping him and what ever I do obviously doesn’t work either so we end up blaming each other.
I feel like taking the phone is the trump card and once I’ve dealt that her behaviour gets worse.

OP posts:
stripeygiraffetail · 11/03/2026 11:40

I forgot to say she’s 10

OP posts:
BlatchFord · 11/03/2026 11:41

You need professional intervention. Speak to the school urgently for support.

AggroPotato · 11/03/2026 11:55

I have a child with ADHD and it's tough. She's a bit younger though.

Firstly, look at everything that can be a trigger and remove it if possible. Bad food and lack of exercise is a huge contributor to difficult moments.

Exercise, exercise, exercise. Fresh air every day. No exceptions.

Get rid of the phone and drastically reduce screen time. It's toxic.

Instead of giving instructions, state facts. I used to tell her "put your shoes on please", now I just say "it's shoe time".

blubberball · 11/03/2026 11:59

As hard as it is, you have to stay calm and never get into battles, back and forths or arguments with them.

When they're calm, you can have a little chat with them. This should be done one on one, in a quiet place with no distractions and no audience. Just you and them. It should be professional and almost business like. Calm and zero emotions. Ask them what's been going on? They might lie, they might blame everyone else, but allow them to just speak and have their say from their POV. So long as they're being calm and respectful, just say nothing and listen. If they start to become verbally abusive, the conversation is over and you walk away calmly. "Don't speak to me like that, I don't like it" and walk away. You can try again when they're calm.

Once they've said what happened from their POV, then you say "This is what I saw and heard..." and calmly say what happened from your POV. Stick to facts, and use words like "saw" and "heard" to make what you're talking about reality. We're not talking about feelings, emotions or opinions. "What I saw and heard was that when I told you it was time to do your homework, you became verbally abusive and disrespectful..." The rules are you need to be respectful when speaking to me. You know the rules. In this family, we speak to each other with respect. What can you do differently next time?

You can have the appropriate consequences in place like removing the privileges. I have to lock my ds's phone away. You can set a timer for one hour, or whatever time you think is appropriate up to 3 days. During this time, they need to be respectful to get their stuff back. This gives an end to the consequence so that they don't feel like you've taken the stuff forever. It also exercises the part of their brain that is about self control. Can they manage to be respectful for the next 5 minutes? Can they be respectful for 30 minutes?

You can have them write a little note. Not an apology necessarily, as kids rarely mean it. "Oh I'm so sorrryyyyyy" or "I'm sorry, but it was your fault for making me angry in the first place" They can write the words "I was wrong" This is them taking accountability and responsibility for their behaviours. It also can give them a sense of completion. "Dear Mum, I was wrong to be disrespectful. Next time I will speak to you nicely"

Then you can give them the stuff back, or start timers again if you need to. You might need to do several of these chats a day. It should take no longer than 10 minutes each time. If they accuse you of yelling at them, don't get into an argument about whether or not you were yelling. Write down what you're saying on a piece of paper and show it to them.

stripeygiraffetail · 11/03/2026 12:30

blubberball · 11/03/2026 11:59

As hard as it is, you have to stay calm and never get into battles, back and forths or arguments with them.

When they're calm, you can have a little chat with them. This should be done one on one, in a quiet place with no distractions and no audience. Just you and them. It should be professional and almost business like. Calm and zero emotions. Ask them what's been going on? They might lie, they might blame everyone else, but allow them to just speak and have their say from their POV. So long as they're being calm and respectful, just say nothing and listen. If they start to become verbally abusive, the conversation is over and you walk away calmly. "Don't speak to me like that, I don't like it" and walk away. You can try again when they're calm.

Once they've said what happened from their POV, then you say "This is what I saw and heard..." and calmly say what happened from your POV. Stick to facts, and use words like "saw" and "heard" to make what you're talking about reality. We're not talking about feelings, emotions or opinions. "What I saw and heard was that when I told you it was time to do your homework, you became verbally abusive and disrespectful..." The rules are you need to be respectful when speaking to me. You know the rules. In this family, we speak to each other with respect. What can you do differently next time?

You can have the appropriate consequences in place like removing the privileges. I have to lock my ds's phone away. You can set a timer for one hour, or whatever time you think is appropriate up to 3 days. During this time, they need to be respectful to get their stuff back. This gives an end to the consequence so that they don't feel like you've taken the stuff forever. It also exercises the part of their brain that is about self control. Can they manage to be respectful for the next 5 minutes? Can they be respectful for 30 minutes?

You can have them write a little note. Not an apology necessarily, as kids rarely mean it. "Oh I'm so sorrryyyyyy" or "I'm sorry, but it was your fault for making me angry in the first place" They can write the words "I was wrong" This is them taking accountability and responsibility for their behaviours. It also can give them a sense of completion. "Dear Mum, I was wrong to be disrespectful. Next time I will speak to you nicely"

Then you can give them the stuff back, or start timers again if you need to. You might need to do several of these chats a day. It should take no longer than 10 minutes each time. If they accuse you of yelling at them, don't get into an argument about whether or not you were yelling. Write down what you're saying on a piece of paper and show it to them.

Edited

She does call me away for little chats and she voluntarily apologises. She tells me she didn’t mean it later and sometimes writes me a note to say she loves me and is sorry but it’s usually followed up with so can I have what I’ve previously taken away and so if I do give it back it’s always on the understanding that she can have it back but I will take it back if she does it again and she agrees.
I think her behaviour is impulsive so she regrets it later once the consequence sinks in but in the moment she doesn’t care and it’s no deterrence.

She also talks to me about her day and her worries, she has a lot of anxiety and will cuddle up to me and tell me what’s on her mind and she’s like a different girl, she’s much younger than her years.
Her behaviour is impulsive aggression towards me and her dad when she doesn’t get what she want's and her refusal to do or not do anything we ask.
When she’s happy she’s lovely but her emotions are a roller coaster, sometimes she’s still crying when she’s laughing or she’ll just suddenly lash out over something, other days she’ll just shut down altogether and I’ll get no more than a grunt or a go away and she’ll want to be alone.

OP posts:
Burntt · 11/03/2026 14:50

I would remove the phone and she can only have it back when she has consistently not sword and hit you. I say this having a PDA adhd child myself and it’s counter to much of the advice you are given for this profile- but it does work! The essential thing is that is not all you do, you need to work with her to use better ways of managing her emotions and communicating her difficulties

Stompythedinosaur · 11/03/2026 14:56

Traditional behaviourist parenting (where you motivated with punishments and rewards) doesn't work well for lots of dc. There's an abundance of evidence it doesn't lead to long term behaviour change for any dc (because as soon as the risk of punishment is removed, the behaviour returns).

I think you need to focus on helping her regulate her emotions and meet her sensory needs when she shows you with her behaviour she isn't ok. You also need to work together to recognise and anticipate when her internal state is escalating so you can do something to help before she gets to the point of showing you a behaviour.

If the issue is impulsivity linked to a neurodisability, punishing won't help. Her brain isn't necessarily capable of doing what you are asking her to do. She needs different scaffolds from the adults around her, because most dc don't actually want to misbehave.

Boughy · 11/03/2026 15:12

She's a bit on the old side for it but it might be worth having a look at "how to talk so kids will listen and listen so they will talk".

One technique from that, and it mirrors a similar one from Ross Green's explosive child IIRC is sit down with her and talk about what the problem is (eg her swearing) and listen to her views on why she does it and what might help. I think you are fighting a losing battle on that because she is not bought into your view that it's a problem. Know thine enemy! Approach her more peer to peer rather than top down, when she is calm and having a good day, and talk about it. Maybe brainstorm strategies, including some daft ones, write them all down, then go through the list and eliminate some.

I get the argument that you're the parent, you say it's a problem so it's a problem. But it'll be much easier to solve if you give her a chance to explain her side and you may get some good solutions that are easier and more effective than your current strategies. Plus it'll give you a chance to explain why it matters to you when her brain is in actual higher processing, thinking mode rather than reactive and emotional mode. Most people are absolutely awful at following rules they have no buy in for and don't understand, ADHD or not.

OrganisedOnTheSurface · 11/03/2026 15:21

Lots of small steps and no quick fix sadly.

As you have already noted consistency with consequences. Plan consequences in advance so you all know what certain behaviours will result in.

Try and identify what is driving the unwanted behaviour. Is she copying others.
Is it anexiety driven is she struggling to regulate?
If you can identify triggers then you can start to work on coping methods helping her to identify her triggers and choose more appropriate coping mechanisms. This isn't a fast process but does help. Talk about the behaviours once.evwryonw is calm.

If she is neuro diverse predictably and routines can work to help with emotional regulation. Regular exercise, guidance around screen time etc can all help.

If you can see her behaviour spiralling you can try some physical interventions before she looses control.
So v cold drink, with straw or an ice pop.
short rapid burst of exercise eg do 10 star jumps.
Crunchy snack
Fresh air
Cold water on face or wrists.

OrganisedOnTheSurface · 11/03/2026 15:32

Forgot to add
Loss of screen time (but we take it in chunks or by device)

Also natural consequences
Eg if not dressed/ ready when ask them we might not do the planned activity because we will be out of time.

Talking about how actions have made others feel and how to address differently next time.

drspouse · 11/03/2026 15:38

BlatchFord · 11/03/2026 11:41

You need professional intervention. Speak to the school urgently for support.

Excuse me while I laugh my head off. School have never had a clue with either of my DCs (DS diagnosed ADHD and has some other difficulties, DD awaiting diagnosis).
Short answer: you don't, you expect and reward. You join ADHD Dude.
Long answer:. Raise expectations even if you think she has PDA, if you remove demands they will make her more and more anxious until other things become the demands.
Screen time is earned positively not removed as a consequence. No swearing, get screen time.
Ignore new bad behaviours. Don't wind her up, you are right on that front, and ADHD Dude will tell you this too. We've started using Joon which rewards helpful or good behaviour with screen time or time with parents etc.

UnbeatenMum · 11/03/2026 15:41

If DS doesn't do something I have asked I usually help him with it. E.g. getting dressed or tidying up. But nothing fun is happening until it's done. He doesn't have his own device and my iPad is password protected.

If there's a behaviour I need to stop then I am currently trying making my reactions boring as possible. Using a really boring voice, giving him some time to comply and then physically stopping him.

The other side of the coin is keeping him as regulated as possible. So fighting for the right support in school, lots of physical exercise, predictable routine but with lots of novelty/variety built in. We're considering medication too but haven't done it yet. Reading your OP I'm wondering if your DD has the support she needs in school? School based stress and anxiety can make home behaviour so much worse. Also is she medicated?

BertieBotts · 11/03/2026 16:02

You need a really minor consequence which you can't "run out of" or alternatively you can use some kind of points system where she can earn points for meeting behaviour expectations. The points can then translate to something such as phone time, ideally for the next day or next period of the day rather than being immediate. It needs to reset every day so she always has a clean slate/chance to try again. Either way it needs setting up in advance and laying out what the red lines/expected behaviours are, and then everyone needs to stick to it, no ifs/buts, no exceptions no changes to the system, so that it's always predictable and clear. This allows you to be on her side against the rule, rather than it be you vs her. It also helps a lot if any rules about things like shouting are also adhered to by the adults.

There is no point trying to use consequences/punishment as a threat you wield to stop behaviour either in advance or in its tracks, as it will just antagonise things in the moment and as you've said, children with ADHD don't stop to consider the consequences before they act. That's part of the disorder that the "brakes" in the brain (technical name is inhibitory control) are lacking in power. Ned Hallowell describes is as having "a Ferrari for a brain but with bicycle brakes".

It's also really important (and really hard!) for adults not to lose control and lash out (verbally or with threats for example) which is basically what your points/minor consequence is all about - it's to give you a calm way to respond. Getting wound up as your DH is doing is just feeding the behaviour, it is better to ignore. OTOH if she has figured out that if she kicks up a fuss then you'll walk away and stop asking her to do the thing, that's not great either but the first priority is to stop the conflict. Getting her to do things you want her to do is secondary (IMO).

It's helpful to understand that in trying to stop unwanted behaviour you're really trying to teach/encourage a replacement skill or behaviour. You can get more effective results from trying to develop a behaviour than you can from trying to squash a behaviour. So it often helps to take some time to work out the most common conflict areas and make a plan for which ones you're going to tackle.

There are a few approaches for tackling.
Behaviour "shaping" - rather than increase a consequence for something not done or behaviour which repeats, you want to work out what the replacement behaviour you want is and then look out to reward any movement in the right direction ie with praise or e.g. points towards your system. If you can't see any movement, or this feels too random you can also break the expectation down into steps, so thinking about what you ideally want vs what she is currently doing. For example if she is currently thumping and swearing, the steps might be swearing but no physical violence, then shouting/rude tone but no swear words, then a neutral tone, then a politer tone. Which is counterintuitive because it means you would offer the reward/praise if she swears, as long as she does not hit. But this is one step in the right direction. It is sometimes too much of a jump to expect that she change all of her behaviour at once, and if that is the case then it will be highly discouraging to her if she does manage to stop herself from hitting but then gets into trouble anyway because she didn't manage to stop herself from swearing.

Scaffolding - where you basically take away some of the expectation of independence and set her up for success on certain things. This may also involve some practice on a smaller scale e.g. for a younger child who is struggling with appropriate/safe behaviour in shops, you might actively decide to take them on a few "training trips" to smaller shops so they can learn the expected behaviour with less chance of a full on meltdown or failure. Or this might involve environmental tools such as checklists or making items more visible.

Collaborative problem solving - talking without blame seeing the problem neutrally, in terms of it being a difficulty she is having and seeing if you can find a way around it together or genuine win-win solution. Dr Ross Greene's books The Explosive Child or Raising Human Beings set out this process really well, within a wider philosophy, or the free resources on his website Lives in the Balance can also help. I really like this approach because IMO it's the one which is most likely to be helpful for them in life going forward when they don't have a parent looking over their shoulder. But it is difficult if they won't collaborate with you and it does mean unlearning a lot of thngs so it's not a quick fix at all.

Ultimately, medication helps with the "brakes" and will help with a lot of organisational/self-motivational stuff and may also help her to be less exhausted and drained by school which may help reduce some of the stress type behaviours after school.

Skybluepinky · 11/03/2026 16:04

You need professional help, both parents need to have lessons in order to meet the child’s needs.

drspouse · 11/03/2026 16:12

Skybluepinky · 11/03/2026 16:04

You need professional help, both parents need to have lessons in order to meet the child’s needs.

Where does this professional help come from, please tell us?

@BertieBotts we use Joon for this type of small steps towards the ideal behaviour. I've had a bad couple of days with DD and I need to increase her rewards I know. They get points which they can spend on screen time, treats, or outings. It doesn't reset daily in that you can save points to use for larger things (DD lost her school tie so we asked her if she wanted to pay money or points for it and she chose points) but you don't have carry over in that it says "no fighting with your brother/sister" and if they fight one day they get to start again the next. We find this is helpful for bedtime routine e.g. DD needs to get her school bag ready and then her points will be waiting for her in the morning.

It's paid for but I have a free month for anyone that's interested (just PM me).

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