What's the difference between a toddler with adhd and a 'normal' toddler?

[cah1]

and is 14 months to young to be concerned?

what are the signs ?? what makes you concerned ??

Very bright boy - can follow 1 step instructions, fine motor skills shockingly good but always falling over.

VERY VERY busy, runs everywhere, always seems to be in motion except when asleep (good 12 hour sleeper).

Maintains eye contact briefy when in games and songs but is too busy at any other time.

Very social but gets very over excited with other children and sometimes pats them too hard, so I guess he gives them the odd smack by mistake

Will sit and read for 5 minutes then he is off, Seems to find it hard to sit still unless in the car seat or pushchair. Won't sit and watch tv.

Loud babble all day! Speech seems slow only really says hello, mumma, dadda. But understands a great deal.

I guess over all its his energy levels - he is never really still.

If it's any help my DS now 6yo was recently dx ADHD. If I am honest, the signs were there from around 16-18 months. This was also the time a HV flagged 'unusual' behavior traits i.e. hyper activity and not doing what was asked of him. It is very very hard to tell at this age as many toddlers do not conform and are incredibly lively (especially boys!!), but there was a difference, with hindsight. He lacked complete control, along with a moderate speech delay (brain going doolally and way too fast to process language skills or something). As ADHD is based on age appropriate behavior and the length of time symptoms have been present, my ds was not dx until now.

Thanks missionimpossible. Can you describe his behaviour at 16-18 months?

Your son sounds totally normal to me...

DS is 19mths old and is very similar. Think its normal toddler behaviour too. I have no worries

adhd todlers dont sleep, are hyper destructive, very demanding and exhausting, mainly not sleeping and not getting tired out after days at park/running around. best thing you can do is buy a large garden trampoline and sit and watch the little one jump for hours and hours and hours.adhd kids can be very impulsive and need constant supervision as they also have poor/missing fear of danger. try eye-Q suppliments and avoid artificial sweetners, might help. bonus is adhd kids are mostly very funny and very "up" kind of people.its not all bad!

dsrplus8, so do you think what I have described is typical adhd?

Lots of shouting rather than trying to talk. A real attention seeker. Taking him anywhere seemed to be a real effort and I was stressed at the end of any outing - I could never let him walk along side me, always had to have reigns on him as he would bolt like a horse. He was very bright and perceptive. Would follow instructions and good at following verbal instructions. A brilliant eater (carb freak). Very rough with other children though, would give them a real whack for no apparent reason. Also quite clumsy, as a result of charging everywhere I sopose.

All the above can be described as 'normal' at certain ages and certain times, but the difference with my ds was, it was all the bloody time. Strangely enough, he has got better as he's got older. Calmed down and can now talk very well with a great understanding of language. He's problem remains in the classroom and concentration/attention and hyper activity. His dx was mainly for this reason - to allow him to access their sodding curriculum

Not just boys who do not keep still! DD was like this from the moment she could crawl. She was, and is even now, constantly on the go. She is just starting to ask for bed when she is tired at bed time. But before these last couple of weeks she would run and run and run until she literally fell. We always used to call her the Duracell Battery!

She is loud, gets over excited, sometimes hits when she means to tap, she does not even sit still in her pushchair. She has always always got out of her straps, she is very determined.

In terms of falling over, that happens often with toddlers from what I have been able to read (worried about it with DD for a while), and can be linked to growth spurts.

I think it is completely normal behaviour, and I do not think the amount of words he is saying is slow for a 14 month old. Many many children do not start talking more than mama/dadda (some not even that) until 18 months +.

I think like missionimpossible says, some of the character traits displayed by some-one with adhd would be present in lots of toddlers. I think you are doing the right thing by researching, to ease your mind, and keep an eye over the years, like you would anyway, but try not to stress, he sounds like a handful and great.

speech not slow.

sleep good.

i dont think many toddlers do watch television...(even my googled eyed boy didnt so much as glance at it untill he was two yrs)

he sounds fine...(to me)

Thanks for your comments. Its very hard not to read and read and off course everything you do read always sounds like my toddlers hehaviour! But I guess that alot of adhd advice is talking about older children. I have read lots about diet though and was wondering if to limit diary and wheat and see what happens?

God no, dont be restricting the diet of a young toddler...if he needs the calories!

He just sounds like a toddler...please dont worry

Sorry I didn't mean to limit just to subsitute, perhaps soya milk, soya yogart, swap bread for wheat free????? I really hope he is normal and our baby friends are just different personalities at the moment and more limited in movement at the moment, but he really stands out.

Sounds exactly like my ds (13mo).

I don't think he has ADHD. His speech content is exactly the same as your ds, which is completely normal for his age.

No doctor in their right mind would diagnose ADHD in a child so young.

I'm coming to realise that some little boys are born to be exhausting.

Emma that's what my husband says! I was going to post in AIBU but here goes......

AIBU to ask DH not to play games where they roll all over each other, pretent to eat one another like tigers etc etc. I don't think this helps the social thing in toddler group!!?? DS often gets over excited by other toddlers and trys to get them etc.........maybe he is copying??

And little girls.

To be honest he sounds just like my 16 mnth old too. All sounds pretty normal.

your son sounds like a totally normal toddler boy much like all the ones I know.

Gosh, please don't substitute those things in your toddler's diet! He sounds normal, if you are really worried go see your GP but don't just change his diet.

I think if he WALKED everywhere and didn't run and fall down all the time I wouldn't worry quite so much. I can't change that can I?

I thinkyour boy sounds fine, the sleep is a good pointer!

Diet is looked at but its more about natural ingredients really, fresh produce, not ready meals or fizzy drinks..etc, lots of water!

No need for reduced dairy..

Lots of out door play etc.

Hope you dont mind me adding my thoughts. My 15 DS1 was dx very young with ADHD. He was not yet two.

He slept very well at night because he was so tired. He didnt sleep in the day at all from around 7 mths.

No impulse control so very hard to take him to the park etc. He would simply walk OFF the slide so a bit stressful.

He LOVED telly and would stare for hours if I let him. Only time he was quiet.

Early riser.

Clever but appeared to be deaf (he isnt).

When I took him to playgroups it was alway him that caused havoc. If things were a bit slow he would create a bit of excitment. This meant pushing someone over, spitting etc.

Turned lights on and off, taps ditto, obsessive about certain subjects, why why why why ALL day!

When very hyper he got that glazed look in his eyes.

I would often hear 'my boys just like that' but then they would watch him for an hour and change their mind LOL.

I used to dress him in orange, yellow etc so I could always see him.

TBH its really hard to tell at the age you LO is. I would keep an eye on him and if you are still worried in 6 mths explore a bit further. Its hard to get anyone interested at that age anyway.

My DS is pretty ok now. The ADHD is still there but its not so physical. We found it all a lot easier to deal with when we moved from a little flat with no outside to a house where he could play out.

He drives me nuts but he is a good lad

Oh gosh, I was starting to feel less worried. The turning off the lights and taps is something my son likes to do and is always pointing at lights........when do you say thats obsessive though?

How old is your son now?

Chegirl - do you mind me asking - did you use medication with ds?