Early ADHD symptoms in toddlers — any similar experiences?

[Sisiey]

Hello everyone. Our child is 16 months old, and after we told our pediatrician that he is a very difficult and restless child, she said she sees some red flags for ADHD.

During the appointment, he didn’t sit still for even a second, ignored the toys completely, and only wanted to open and close doors and bang on cabinets. She said he is still too young for any diagnosis, so for now we just have to wait and observe.

On the other hand, he follows commands very well, says around 5 words, and overall she said he is cognitively advanced for his age. His ASQ-3 scores were almost at the maximum. He is careful not to hurt himself, generally aware of his surroundings, responds to his name, points at things, and understands a lot, including “no.”

The main issue is that he absolutely cannot focus on one activity or toy for long, and whenever we are in a new place, he becomes completely uncontrollable :(

My question is for moms with children who have ADHD — what were the first signs you noticed, and how did you handle them?

This is a toddler and a fairly young one, barely more than a baby. They exist to be restless, curious and difficult.

I am astonished that a paediatrician said this.

Also astonished. Wow.

Are you in the UK? It is not common to see a paediatrician routinely and it is extremely rare to have ADHD flagged up so early. I don't know if it's different in other places though.

ADHD is a delay in the usual development of executive functioning skills but it is not usually showing symptoms at 16 months because very little executive functioning development has even started by then.

Crikey! That sounds like a normal toddle to be honest. What a shitty Dr!!

Yes, he really is very curious and never stops moving… she noticed it too after she wasn’t able to examine him properly. I"m from Bulgaria

Sounds like completely normal behaviour for a young toddler. They all have different personalities. I would be really quite annoyed with that doctor.

Completely normal - this is what toddlers are supposed to be like.

Schools are unable to refer for ADHD until children are 6 years old. A lot can change between now and then.

Looking back on it, the first potential signs with DC2 were: gave up daytime naps at 9 months, VERY sporty when VERY young, tantrums started at 9 months, exceptionally loud. I’d take your paediatrician seriously.

Our kid is also very loud and intense… what exactly do you mean by “tantrums”? Do you mean seemingly random meltdowns and crying, or does it also count when, for example, he takes a toy from me and then starts crying? What kinds of things helped, and is there anything I can do to support him better?

those of us with nd children can see early signs but this is with hindsight - all dc are very active at that age and curiosity is a sign of intelligence. It’s could be an early sign but equally it may not be. Try and enjoy your child’s early years, rather than looking for reasons to worry

A key indicator of ADHD for our DC was exceptionally early walking. Our DC walked at 7 months (I know that sounds like an exaggeration but we have a video of it!). Freakishly early.

Definitely energy levels but also concentration. And in contrast, some hyper fixations on things. Unusual noise levels. Total lack of risk awareness. Minor response to pain, not really reacting much and even when hurt, a very rapid recovery, as if the injury is totally forgotten.

Yes, some of these are also seen in any toddler, but it was always obvious with our DC that there was something additional going on.

TOTALLY TOTALLY NORMAL

By tantrums - I mean throwing themselves on the floor kicking and screaming.

I’m probably not the best person to ask about supporting toddlers with ADHD because I had no idea at that point that DC2 had ADHD. In general, with ADHD, I would say that encouraging sport is particularly important. It is really helpful for children with ADHD to move.

Lots of praise and positivity too because children with ADHD tend to get far more criticisms and tellings odd than the average child.

When your Dc is old enough, get a diagnosis organized- it is very helpful.

@Slightyamusedandsilly this sounds similar to my two year old. Walked at 8 months, riding around a pump track before she was two, keeps up with four year olds in the playground.
Has huge tantrums at home but other adults are amazed by her- she seems so much older and more aware of herself, great sense of humour.
She often seems to hurt herself and just carry on but when it’s serious (she broke a bone a few weeks ago) she will stop and cry.

@Gonnaeatalotofpeaches I had no idea any of these things were significant until the ADHD assessment at 6. And when the paediatrician listed all the things above, I was shocked. I thought it was just normal albeit a little early, development.

This was like my child, he was just so different from other toddlers, the meltdowns were epic from a really young age. Had absolutely zero fear of anything. Never slept was constantly on the go, could never leave him unattended even for 30 seconds. He was diagnosed ADHD at about 8. I was a really early walker at about 9 months old, was also a difficult child, I was not diagnosed until an adult but the signs were all very evident throughout my life.

According to this, both accelerated early motor development (including walking) and delays are associated with ADHD. I thought that was interesting as my two children with ADHD were on the later side for walking - 16 months and 15 months.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/5/576

Genuine interest in how motor delay manifests in slow developers. Where did all the energy go if they couldn't move around?

It’s very interesting for sure how the early markers vary so much. I have dyspraxia myself and weirdly a lot of dyspraxic babies - myself included are early walkers!
Bizarre considering how awful our motor skills are in general!
Back to op though I wouldn’t worry about it too much right now, just lean into the things your toddler enjoys.

my first clue that my daughter had adhd as a toddler was in soft play when every other child would come out sweaty and tired and grumpy and my daughter would come out fresh as a daisy and still full of plenty of energy! She never stopped!

I am really taken aback a paediatrician would say that. In hindsight you could look back and see ND traits early on but it is much too early to discuss any diagnosis.

What you describe sounds like a perfectly normal toddler.

Oh my god thank you for posting this. My son is waiting to be assessed for autism, he's 3.5yo but I've always thought he seemed more ADHD like. Everything you described there could have been about my son. He also started walking at 8 months yet is still non verbal. It's such a pain that they can't be seen for ADHD until they're 6

I’m going to agree that too early to tell but also go against the grain and say we had very very obvious signs from about 6 months old.

-baby could not nap during day

-baby took up to 3 hours to fall asleep even when had been awake all day with no nap. 3 hours of screaming, hitting own head etc.

-as a toddler would rock herself so hard to get out her chair that the chair would topple over onto the floor

-would often ‘space out’ for several minutes

-didn’t respond to name when called

-when out walking would go ‘off course’ and wander into shops etc

-in toddler swimming lessons would just drift off into middle of pool while all the other kids were swimming and following instructions

-noticing different behaviour from other children when in groups- jumping up and down constantly, couldn’t sit in a circle with me in play groups

We had lots and lots of signs and had a very stressful time. The above were just some of the adhd signs, we had other signs of autism such as sensory issues, and biting/licking when stressed etc.

Aged 7 we are in a much better place and melatonin for sleep helped us get there.

WTF. As everyone has said, that is a typical toddler.

The main two signs in toddlerhood with my ADHD child were that he never slept. Ever. At your DS’s age he woke up every hour at night. No daytime nap. For the first year old his life he woke up every 45 mins. We had to drive him around in the car for hours to get him to sleep. I tried every ( medical) sleep specialist I could find. He started on melatonin at 3 as we were broken. The other give away was he hated bright light and would pull the curtains shut or hide in a wardrobe to get away from it. However those are both things kids can grow out of.

I have ADHD and the only signs as a toddler was zero impulsive or risk aversion. I don’t mean banging cupboards. I mean I had broken both my leg and collarbone (separately!) by age 4 because I would jump from huge heights if my mum looked away for a second.

Are there other things that concern you? I had a great paediatrician and a heavily impacted child, and he still didn’t get a diagnosis until school. 16 months is just daft, my main concern would be her!

My ADHD baby moved so much in utero it was like inhabiting a washing machine. Never slept as much during the day as standard issue babies even as a newborn. Dropped all naps pretty early and always very very lively, distractible and dreamy. With a side serving of intense hyper focus. Intense tantrums.

I would say it’s useful to have the possibility flagged, particularly because so many dc with ADHD struggle emotionally due to being criticised for behaviours they find hard to conquer.