ADHD children as babies

[em831]

Hi All,

Just wondering, those who have children with diagnosed or suspected ADHD, what were they like as babies? I am convinced my 5 month old has ADHD. I have an appointment with a paediatrician, to rule out some things, but it's not until December. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you x

He never slept.

All the other mums in baby group were cooing about how their little darling only woke up twice in the night or slept right through for 11 hours and I was surviving on around 3 hours sleep. For. Years.

Thank you for your reply. Yes exactly the same here. At baby classes all the other babies lie quietly whilst being massaged etc but my LO never does this. She's constantly active and I have to hold her legs down to get her to sleep, it's the only way 😩.

@em831

Thank you for your reply. Yes exactly the same here. At baby classes all the other babies lie quietly whilst being massaged etc but my LO never does this. She's constantly active and I have to hold her legs down to get her to sleep, it's the only way 😩.

My first was identical to this! He's a very calm and easy going 4 year old now. No ADHD.

@Foreverbaffled thank you so much for your reply. That's really good to know

My daughter has ADHD. She was the best sleeper as a baby. She was actually a really easy baby, very happy, slept well, ate well, laughed all the time. She met all of her milestones she was a great talker etc.

I'm unsure how a 5 month old could be displaying symptoms of ADHD to be honest.

For example... The majority of babies do not sleep all night.

@CP2701 Thank you for your reply. It's not just the sleeping. There are many other issues. Time will tell I suppose!

Once she was asleep at night she slept thru, still does, however getting her to sleep was difficult.
Gave up naps completely by a year, was down to one nap a day by 2mths,
Climbed before she walked.
Very fussy eater from weaning, I often blamed baby led weaning as I wasn’t putting it in her mouth like with traditional weaning but I now know it’s her tendency to get bored with eating very very quickly.
Not really bothered with toys for more than a second.

@Brendabigbaps thank you so much for your reply 😊

I mean this in the nicest way possible but what exactly do you expect a 5MO to be doing that your's isn't? They have pretty much zero social/communication skills or concentration skills at this age and most of them learn actively and don't sleep well so I really don't think you could possibly know. If there's concerns about delay then by all means talk to your HV but otherwise understand that you really shouldn't have any particular expectations of them at this age. Concentrate on spending as much time bonding with him. Talk to him, wait for him to talk back, play toys with him, sing songs. If he doesn't like baby massage sessions then try massaging him and taking that bit extra time when you're changing his nappy or bath time to massage him and incorporate touch. Worrying at 5MO whether he's got problems will only make problems more likely to arise. Enjoy him because they're not smooshy babies for long and just take each day at a time. Chances are in a year or 2 he'll be a happy, well developed toddler although quite possibly still not sleeping and still not listening to you Good luck xx

Mine never slept- from birth. At best it was four hours in 24 and never all together.
Constant high pitch scream - but not of pain- simply the kind of noise a toddler makes because they can and find it fun to do.
On the move of birth he was never in the place you put him down.
From birth was doing his best to hold his own head up and trying to lift himself. TBH he seemed pretty bored with being a newborn.
Was crawling very early and had to watched constantly.
Very low tolerance if anything frustrated him- which most things did. There was what he wanted to do and what he could do.

Son was diagnosed before 2 as the second worst case of ADHD tier 3 regional CAHMS had met. He was id’ed as gifted by ed psychs by 4 and education plans were put in place to support both needs. Early recognition and support made a huge difference.

Thank you all so much for your replies. Very much appreciated x

My sons now 5 but as a baby he never slept, he seamed to develop normally until his first birthday when things declined, at first he stopped smiling at me, then he stopped making eye contact, it was like he was going backwards instead of forwards. He still doesn’t sleep now he’s 5 he’s on different medications to help him but if he didn’t have any he would sleep an average of 3-4 hours for every 24 hours. I didn’t notice much else to be honest at 5 months besides the not sleeping, he was a poorly baby and was admitted to hospital for weeks/months at a time and him not sleeping was blamed on those long hospital admissions but I just knew it wasn’t. Since being diagnosed we’ve had the early help team who made an early help plan, speech therapy, occupational therapy, EAST team, we are almost finished his EHCP, it’s been a long bumpy ride.