Hyperactive children

[bambi06]

how young were your children when you knew they were hyperactive? was it really noticeable at 2 yrs old...reason im asking is that my third child is completely off the scale in activity..always looking for trouble and searching for ways of doing something he shouldnt!! today he managed to empty 3 tubes of toothpaste all over bathroom and himself in a split second...daily empties fridge of contents..juice and milk cartons being his fav!!! he literally is like a whirlwind through the house constantly/annoys other children deliberately to get a reaction!1..cant get anything done as he needs watching contantly but he will think up ways to slip away and do mischief..surely its not just mischief making at the extreme..im getting worried and incredibly stressed ,especially as i already have an Autistic son!!

My boy was hyper at this age and I can certainly identify with not being able to leave him alone for a minute or he would find something destructive to do - but with my DS it tended to be the same thing over and over again (eg flooding the sink). He is now diagnosed autistic but I think he is also ADHD. The thing is that I had a girl first, so I really didn't know what was "normal" boy stuff and what was outside the norm. Now that I regularly look after another 2 year old boy, I see that though he is a bit hyper and a bit naughty, there is not the same degree of destructiveness and, crucially, he can be told what not to do and can learn from his mistakes. Plus of course he can talk, so you can reason with him, which my boy couldn't. But I do remember a long period of time where I had a hunch something wasn't right, but everyone and their dog kept telling me "boys will be boys". Trust your instincts. The other thing is to try some behavioural stuff - eg some penalty for every time he empties fridge, eg time out somewhere boring, or no TV. It has to be instant though at this age, for him to link it with the behaviour. Stick to it and drum it into him that the bad behaviour gets him the bad result. Then give him rewards for the good behaviour. We do behavioural therapy with my boy and I wish now that I had started it as early as 2. I don't know if that helps at all but I wanted to answer you.

DD1, I would say, is hyperactive. She is 3.9 now but it was noticeable from as soon as she could crawl. We have stairgates to restrict access, and all liquids are out of reach. First thing we do at friends' houses is request that shampoo/toothpaste is put up high.

DS1 has always been hyperactive as long as we can remember. He was pretty bouncy in utero, too. But he was a busy boy as a baby and has just got steadily busier and flightier.

How is his sleep?

DS has a bain injury, so hardly moved as a baby, crawled really lated, walked late, but once he start walking, I couldn't leave him for a second.
He is now 4.5 years old and I cannot go to the park on my own with him and my 2 year old because he doesn't stop moving and can disapear in a second.
He is better now, but still very hyper compared to an NT child.
Also, he sleeps well, but wakes up extremely early and won't settle back.

My son is dx ADHD. He got noticeably 'hyper' around 2. I thought it was a typical boy thing until is really started to affect our daily routine ie couldn't take him shopping unless he was asleep. He was a great sleeper btw and still is. He has a dx of 'mild', so I think he will probably get better as he gets older. He can already control his impulsivity and check himself when he gets carried away and his only just 7.

My son has never slept from birth ..always on the go.. from the moment his eyes open he`s off!!! Is very intelligent,,talked from an early age and is brilliant at speech for his age. I can have proper conversations with him..can hyperactive children concentrate on an activity? quickly pick up challenges..?
talks fluently in two languages... has excellent co-ordination/ good at sports but just doesnt stop getting into miscief and i dread going to peoples houses because of it..does this sound similar?

Yes, hyper kids can concentrate and pick up challenges .... as long as they are interested in them. My son will sit on PC/Wii or ds and play for hours, also loves to draw and make models. Ask him to sit down and eat dinner and all of a sudden his got fireworks in his pants His ADHD does not affect his intelligence and he too is quite bright - however, it does hold him back sometimes from listening and understanding fully what goes on in the class room. He can ride a bike, plays footy and rugby, does gymnastics and is a good swimmer. I can sympathise with visiting other peoples houses, as my ds often runs riot and turns all the toy boxes out. Can also be right in your face My ds had expressive speech and language delay, but has caught up and is now very chatty. One thing to remember is - they are all so different, with or without any kind of behavioral dx.