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Behaviour/development

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ADHD

5 replies

Afsana1 · 21/08/2012 22:58

I am at the end of my tether u do not know what to do. Ds is 3.6 old and he is a pain, he has been like this for over a year I thought it was the terrible twos but it has just gone worse. He is very naughty always hitting, screaming he runs into the middle of the road and thinks its funny. Going shopping and anywhere is a nightmare I have left my shopping and have come home so many times I'm so embarrassed any where I go with him. I can go on and on about his behaviour. A few people have said this is not normal and deep down I do think something is wrong but don't know what to do. I don't want to label him but I can't take anymore. Any help or advice would be really appreciated. I'm sorry if I have rambled on. Thank you xxx

OP posts:
TodaysAGoodDay · 21/08/2012 23:02

Can you see your GP and get a referral for your son? It sounds like he's driving you mad at the moment, you need some sort of help with him IMO. Can you talk to your health visitor otherwise? She might be able to help or suggest where you go from here.

hattifattner · 21/08/2012 23:19

before you rush to diagnose him with something, please look at your own parenting. Im not saying you are a bad parent, but I think sometimes we are too quick to look for a label. ADHD is a very specific diagnosis that is currently in vogue. Sometimes it takes a big step of self awareness to change the way we parent and to change behaviours that maybe we are unaware of. Add to that mix inconsistent parenting between two parents and maybe some serious indulgence from devoted grannies....its no wonder kids can become wild.

For example, my friend is a lovely person and a lovely mum. But her boys are out of control because she threatens them with smacks/no TV/sitting on the step....then she threatens again....and again....and again. ABout the 10th time, she explodes in shouty anger and usually wallops them. By not being consistent and following through the first time, she sends a message that the first 9 times she says something doesnt actually count. She parents the same way her parents did. Gentle indulgence followed by explosive anger. Her husband goes from 0 to shouty in under 10 seconds and has no patience at all.

Look at your local childrens centre and see if they are running parenting classes - 123 magic is popular. I also recommend this book - neither of these offer a quick fix, but just challenge you to look at your own parenting and improve it by actually doing less shouting/punishing. Being more positive and setting sanctions that fit the "crime" - none of it can do any harm. You could still ask for a referral, but CAMHS take forever to give appointments (in this area at least) and you may end up being told much of the 123 magic strategies either way, as they are reluctant to diagnose very young children.

I have been where you are now...can you tell?

Afsana1 · 22/08/2012 00:17

Thank you so much for your advice.
Hattie: I will look at the 123 steps you are right about the parenting I do need to take a step back and see what's happening. Is this how you coped? He's good at nursery it's just home and everywhere else. For e.g he has a squint we had an appointment at the hospital and he would not sit down and take the test in the end the lady gave up and told us to come back. Afterwards I saw that her notes said something along the lines of 'hyper child' I do believe like you said about the parenting and being consistent I will really try Smile

OP posts:
hattifattner · 22/08/2012 11:12

afsana, they don't give us a manual about parenting - and they don't give our kids a manual on how they should behave - the only point of reference we have is our own parents!

Parenting is easy when you have easy going compliant children, but if you have wilful children, you have to change what you do.

If you keep doing what you're doing, you will keep getting the same result.

It takes some insight on your part and some hard work and it wont feel natural, but it is worth looking at what you are doing now and modifying your behaviour and parenting style while he is young. It leads to a much happier household in the long term, but it will take a couple of months to get things sorted - and you have to persevere.

I particularly like the book I reference because it talks about how we get into a "dance" with our kids, a typical pattern of requests and defiance that escalates and escalates until the adult is furious and the child is depressed.

He teaches you how to shortcut the dance and offer choice/consequence alternatives.

In our situation, we had an out of control 8yo DD who was so bad we seriously considered fostering her :( our lives were miserable. Her life was miserable. Our other children were scared to death of her. She was violent and out of control. :( It was an awful, awful time for us.

It took a big leap of faith to actually confront my own inadequacies as a parent and to understand that everything I knew about parenting was wrong.

We changed everything - it was not easy and also brought up some spectres from my own past (but in the long term, that was a good thing as it helped me understand the dysfunction in my own family). My DH also had to look at his approach, which was very different from my own but dysfunctional in his own way (boarding school from very young, over-compensating indulgent parents). We had to learn to back eachother up & follow the same rules.

Now 7-8 years on, my DD is delightful and smart and secure. SHe is still willful, but we have learned how to handle her. ANd we parent the other two kids more consistently as a result.

There are many different parenting classes - parenting puzzle is another one that is popular, but they all follow similar guidelines - positive parenting with firm boundaries and consequences - preferably immediate - for poor behaviour.

As an example, my ds2 has started scratching his brothers face. He is 9. So he has been told that if this happens again, there will be consequences - he will loose all screen time for a week (previously it was for 24 hours, but he has done it again). If he was 3, then it would be a lesser time - like no TV for the morning or early bedtime or in room for 5 minutes. And I will follow through if he does it again. Rigidly.

Give one warning. spell out the consequence. One punishment decided before the fact, so you do not overreact in anger when they push the boundary.

But also, lots of praise when they do the right thing. Simple rewards - like - if you walk nicely and dont run off, we will stay in the park for an extra 10 minutes and I will push you very high on the swing.

Sticker charts are very good at his age. 5 stickers in the day mean an ice pop or similar. DOnt take stickers off for bad behaviour. Just reference good behaviour. as in "Oh dear, only 3 stickers today. Maybe tomorrow you can get 5 then you can have an ice lolly"

Dont beat yourself up either, as you can only parent the best way you know how. Learning better ways is up to you!

Ninjahobbit · 22/08/2012 11:24

Hi there,

newbie here so appologise for jumping in.

I understand what you are going through and agree that looking firstly at home is a good thing, I also agree with trying to get some outside help (although I found CAMHS in my area very unhelpful) in fact I found all 'professionals unhelpful'. I read the 123 magic book and it gave me some good pointers. I also changed my sons diet and took away all e-numbers and this helped, but be careful and research them as some packaging doesnt list them as an e-number but rather their full name e.g Sunset yellow (E110) and you think there are no e-numbers... also Sweetners are known to set children off (my son is allowed no where near them!) as well as natural ingredients (ginger and the colour annatto) I had to do my own research into what set my son off because as usual the professionals refused to help.

I will point out that my DS was diagnosed at 7 with ADHD because he was uncontrolable everywhere and his nursery and school also believed he had ADHD as well as a peadiatrician he saw when he was 2 1/2. Take on board other peoples views and opinions but go completely with your gut instinct

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